An older version of an ultra-stable ytterbium lattice atomic clock at NIST. Ytterbium atoms are generated in an oven (large metal cylinder on the left) and sent to a vacuum chamber in the center of the photo to be manipulated and probed by lasers. Laser light is transported to the clock by five fibers (such as the yellow fiber in the lower center of the photo). (Credit: Burrus/NIST)
Time, like money, only seems important when it’s running out. But to physicists, time is always a big deal ...read more
(Credit: GagliardiImages/Shutterstock)
More than 800 women die every day from complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Part of the reason for this is that scientists still don’t well understand how the placenta works, including how it is implanted into the uterus during a pregnancy.
Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have created mini-placentas that grow in a dish. The advance provides researchers the ability to study how the placenta works in the lab, with the ...read more
He talks to Matthew Porteus of Stanford during a panel talk following his presentation. (Credit: Ernie Mastroianni/Discover)
HONG KONG — Chinese researcher He Jiankui, who claims to have edited the genomes of twin infant girls to protect them from HIV while they were embryos, presented his work today at a conference at the University of Hong Kong.
The controversial claim was first reported Sunday by the The Associated Press and through a series of YouTube videos, though no pape ...read more
A collage of two images; on the left, the title page from the first Royal Society publication, andon the right, the cover for its recent greenhouse gas removal report.
England’s Royal Society, the national academy founded in November 1660, is still churning out loads of scientific excellence. In this blog, a current fellow shares how we can all help combat climate change.
On Nov. 28, 1660, English scientist Christopher Wren spoke at Gresham College in Central London, launching what is n ...read more
Image Credit: Pixabay
This fall, students everywhere were treated to a citizen science virtual field trip organized by Discovery Education and the Girl Scouts of the USA. “Unleash Your Inner Scientist,” the title of virtual field trip, featured SciStarter’s Founder, Darlene Cavalier, and was filmed on location at the 92-acre STEM Center of Excellence in Dallas, Texas. No worries if you missed it when it originally aired because the full-length virtual field trip video ...read more