Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
May 1, 2025
May 1, 2025 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

Science & Technology



Mad scientists could create a new creature

The first successful instance of genetic modification came in 1973 when Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen successfully modified an E. coli to produce a Salmonella gene. Since then, the area of genetic engineering has taken off, producing new and different genetically modified organisms every year.



Bioethics Corner: Who is responsible for lowering healthcare costs?

The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article by Jon C. Tilburt et al., a former Greenwall Fellow at the Berman Institute, entitled “Views of US Physicians About Controlling Health Care Costs.” I sat down with Matthew DeCamp, MD, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, to talk about the results of the survey.



New prosthetics incorporate sense of touch

You’ve made it to the final round in a million dollar competition! There is one last challenge you must complete, and it seems elementary; they present two cups to you, and, while blindfolded, you must determine which cup has hot water and which cup has cold water. They blindfold you, and you put your hands out. You grab both cups and feel that one is hotter than the other. You have made your decision! Congratulations! You won!



Sunlight and wastewater could solve fuel crisis

Many Americans are rather familiar with the current energy crisis. As the world population continues to grow, available fuel deposits and supplies continue to dwindle. Some estimate that the Earth will reach an energy shortage epidemic in the next 50 years.


Fruit flies are becoming the next TBI animal model

Instead of studying burly 300 pound NFL linemen, a group of researchers at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UM) have turned to an enormously different sized individual, the common fruit fly, weighing in at a little less than one milligram.




Curiosity rover confirms water in dusty Martian soil

The Red Planet has long been the subject of many science fiction films and literature. Ideas of little green men and life on Mars have populated popular culture for centuries and are thought to be just the product human imagination and myth. After all, could the barren planet really be able to support life?


Apple stays competitive with new iPad updates

Three weeks ago, Apple announced to the world, “We still have a lot to cover.” With the iPads, Macbook Pros and Apple TVs all sorely needing a refresh to compete with other vendors, we were left to wonder what would be released. On Tuesday, we found out what Apple was up to.


Bioethics Corner: Can the government regulate your diet?

The American Medical Association issued a statement that labeled obesity as a disease this past June. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the health consequences of this disease include: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, endometrial, breast and colon cancers, hypertension and a host of other conditions.


MIT's M-block robots are capable of self-assembly

Self-assembling robots are a new breed of a once thought to be impossible machine of another world. Not just hunks of metal and buttons that can pick up and drop objects, more than the robotic carpet cleaner Roomba, and well beyond the mechanic dance move from the 1960s, self-assembling robots have catalyzed a new generation of automatic devices.



Brain activity measured during real-life situations

We have always been baffled by the link between mind and brain. Even after dozens of years of research, people have not come to a general consensus on how the brain controls memories and thought. A team of researchers at Stanford University, however, recently made a breakthrough in this field in understanding how the brain acts in real-life situations.


Big Tobacco continues to have influence on market

When most think of the tobacco industry in this nation, they think of one that is in decline. While Big Tobacco held incredible amount of influence and controlled significant mindshare among the citizens of this nation, this no longer remains the case.



Researchers inch closer to a cure for allergies

I watched, mildly terrified, as my paramedic instructor stabbed an EpiPen into a sheet of cardboard. The shot of epinephrine, used to stave off the lethal effects of an anaphylaxis reaction, forcefully splattered against the wall a good ten feet away. Talk about intense.


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