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Engineered Glow

Cover Story for Earth Island Journal’s Digital-Only Summer 2020 Issue

“Researchers are making huge strides towards creating functional, light-emitting plants. But the jury is out on whether these plants will offer environmental benefits or cause unexpected harms.”

Engineered Glow

Cover Story for Earth Island Journal’s Digital-Only Summer 2020 Issue

Researchers are making huge strides towards creating functional, light-emitting plants. But the jury is out on whether these plants will offer environmental benefits or cause unexpected harms. When my grandfather was young, he caught fireflies and smeared their abdomens on the window pane. Their bioluminescent guts made the window glow. Years later I would catch fireflies in my grandfather’s backyard and gaze at them through a jar.

The Little Fern That Could

Earth Island Journal's Winter 2021 Issue

Fifty million years ago, palm trees grew in the Arctic. Alligators lazed on land devoid of ice; rain fell heavily in the warm, thick air; swollen rivers flooded the ocean with freshwater. And a fern called Azolla covered the surface of the Arctic Ocean in a massive blanket the size of Europe.

Short Form Reporting & News

A hole in a Triceratops named Big John probably came from combat

Science News | April 7, 2022

A gaping hole in the bony frill of a Triceratops dubbed “Big John” may be a battle scar from one of his peers.

The frill that haloes the head of Triceratops is an iconic part of its look. Equally iconic, at least to paleontologists, are the holes that mar the headgear. For over a century, researchers have debated various explanations for the holes, called fenestrae — from battle scars to natural aging processes.

How scientists found an African bat lost to science for 40 years

Science News | March 30, 2022

Julius Nziza still remembers the moment vividly. Just before dawn on a chilly January morning in 2019, he and his team gently extracted a tiny brown bat from a net purposely strung to catch the nocturnal fliers. A moment later, the researchers’ whoops and hollers pierced the heavy mist blanketing Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park.

Grainy ice cream is unpleasant. Plant-based nanocrystals might help

You can never have too much ice cream, but you can have too much ice in your ice cream. Adding plant-based nanocrystals to the frozen treat could help solve that problem, researchers reported March 20 at the American Chemical Society spring meeting in San Diego.

School mask mandates in the U.S. reduced coronavirus transmission

Science News | March 15, 2022

The verdict is, once again, in: Masking in schools is effective.

During the COVID-19 pandemic’s delta variant wave, schools that required masking had approximately one-fourth the rates of in-school coronavirus transmission than schools with optional or partial masking policies, researchers report online March 9 in Pediatrics.

An extinct rat shows CRISPR's limits for resurrecting species

Science News | March 9, 2022

Before the early 1900s, if it walked like a Christmas Island rat and talked like a Christmas Island rat, it probably was a Christmas Island rat. But if one of these now-extinct rats ever walks the Earth again, it will most likely be a genetically modified Norway brown rat. And the rodent won’t be as similar to the Christmas Island rat as some would hope, a new study finds.

Scientists are arguing over the identity of a fossilized 10-armed creature

Science News | March 8, 2022

An ancient cephalopod fossil may be about to rewrite octopus history, but it depends on who you ask. At the very least, it’s offering up a lesson in how hard it is to classify some fossils.

Why kitchen sponges are the perfect home for bacteria

Science News | March 1, 2022

Ask bacteria where they’d like to live, and they’ll answer: a kitchen sponge, please.

Sponges are microbe paradises, capable of housing 54 billion bacteria per cubic centimeter. In addition to being damp, airy and loaded with food scraps, sponges provide an optimal physical environment for bacteria, researchers report February 10 in Nature Chemical Biology.

How lizards keep detachable tails from falling off

Science News | February 17, 2022

Lizards are famous for losing their tails, but perhaps the bigger question should be: How do their tails stay on? The answer may lie in the appendage’s internal design. A structure of prongs, micropillars and nanopores holds a lizard’s tail on tight enough to handle most jarring while remaining primed to drop the tail in case of emergency, researchers report in the Feb. 18 Science.

Gory footage confirms orca pods can kill adult blue whales

Science News | February 3, 2022

Killer whales are skilled assassins, hunting everything from herring to great white sharks. Now, for the first time, scientists witnessed a pod of killer whales bring down the world’s largest animal: an adult blue whale.

Torn Muscle? Hold the Drugs or Surgery – Massage May Be the Best Medicine

Nautilus | December 8, 2021

If you’re an athlete—even a very occasional one—odds are you’ve dealt with a muscle injury at some point. After all, muscle injuries account for 10 to 55 percent of sports traumas. https://nautil.us/blog/torn-muscle-hold-the-drugs-or-surgerymassage-may-be-the-best-medicine

They are small, furry and all around — too bad they are despised and feared

Ipswich Local News | November 24, 2021

The suburbs are no stranger to furry critters — mice, squirrels, raccoons — but rats have not traditionally been one of them. They are, after all, more the city-dweller type, keen to hide in damp alleyways and subway terminals.

Plants in small container indoors would take up two acres outdoors

Ipswich Local News | August 19, 2021

The national trend to shop locally has skyrocketed in recent years. And thanks to a couple global crises – a warming climate and a raging pandemic – it’s a trend that is here to stay. Increasingly, consumers want to buy ethically and closer to home; shopping locally achieves both. New research shows that 41% of consumers intend to buy more locally going forward.

Trustees aim to give salt marsh its mojo back

Ipswich Local News | May 22, 2021

About six years ago, Nancy Pau noticed that something was wrong with the Great Marsh. There were more mud flats and pools of open water. Some parts of the marsh were becoming wetter, and the distribution of grass species was changing.

How do you know if your coffee is sustainable?

Ipswich Local News | May 21, 2021

How do you know if your cup of coffee is sustainable? Fair-trade stickers aren’t as telling as you may think. Small farms, who may be 100% sustainable, often can’t afford the expense of certification.

Farmers find its in their best interest to grow sustainably as demand for specialty coffee grows

Ipswich Local News | May 21, 2021

On a humid Tuesday morning, while volunteering at a reforestation nonprofit in Brazil, I trekked through the Atlantic Rainforest to the nonprofit’s office. The forest was already wide awake and noisy with insects and birds. Inside the office, one of the nonprofit coordinators, Virgilío Dornelas, was making coffee for the two of us.

Lessons brought back from Brazil on how to tackle global warming

Ipswich Local News | April 25, 2021

When I was in third grade, I started to worry about global warming. We had learned in class that over an acre of rainforest was cut down every second, that ice floes were melting so fast that polar bears had nowhere to rest their heads at night.

An Umbrella to Combat Warming

Harvard Gazette | September 11, 2019

Research examines the possibility of spraying tiny particles into the stratosphere to block the sun a bit and cool the planet. Every morning, the Keutsch Research Group gathers for a meeting.

Part 1: Life lessons from raising an orphaned squirrel

Ipswich Local News | October 20, 2019

Little did I know I was about to make an endeavor of my own, though not one I would have ever expected. Before the day was over, I was to be the caregiver to an orphaned, three-week-old red squirrel.

Part 2: A squirrel’s genitals need to be managed properly

Ipswich Local News | October 27, 2019

First it was walking: a slow but bright-eyed wobble across the floor of his new cage. Then it was clumsy climbing, and then a big lifestyle change: less sleeping. For the first few weeks, Hazelnut woke only when it was time to eat (honestly, I get that).

Part 3: Tender moments slip away and squirrel is now a young adult

Ipswich Local News | November 3, 2019

All of a sudden it felt like he didn’t need me anymore. I hadn’t expected the tender moments to slip away so quickly; I thought I would recognize the last of these moments was near before it came.

Part 4: Humans are ready to let him go into the wild, but squirrel wants a nap first

Ipswich Local News | November 17, 2019

Sometimes, a friend told me, we have to go with the flow and trust the universe. My family opened the cage door on Sunday afternoon instead. Hazelnut spent a couple of hours running up and down all the legs in his proximity and timidly exploring the entirety of the deck.

Part 5: As winter approaches, keep an eye out for Hazelnut the squirrel

Ipswich Local News | December 24, 2019

It was hard to guess how Hazelnut would behave in his early days of freedom. Sometimes rehabbed squirrels disappear for weeks after they’re first released, while others don’t want to leave the cage.

Cool Fix for a Hot Planet: A Tiny, Carbon-Sucking Fern

Living on Earth | October 5, 2018

Within a million years, Azolla pulled trillions of tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Now scientists are researching the potential for Azolla to alter the climate once again.

A night at the museums

Harvard Gazette | September 20, 2017

At first, it seemed it was all about color. Magenta, titian, and canary zinnias dotted the room atop matching tablecloths. Cake pops, licorice sticks, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and vegan bark lined a long table.

Hospital Marketing

Improving Health Equity in Clinical Care and Research

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Website

Brigham and Women’s Hospital has a long and rich history of providing complex clinical care with a focus on healthy equity, diversity and inclusion. The Brigham has continued to build on its legacy by establishing clinical programs, engaging with diverse communities and conducting research that addresses health disparities, social determinants of health and structural racism in clinical settings and beyond.

$14.5M Grant Awarded for Glioblastoma Research

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Physician-Facing On a Mission Blog

E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has received a $14.5M Program Project grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his research on glioblastoma.

$12.5M Grant to Develop Targeted Glioma Therapies

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Physician-Facing On a Mission Blog

At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Tracy Batchelor, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Neurology, has received a Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The Brigham Expands Use of ECMO During Covid-19

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Physician-Facing On a Mission Blog

In March of 2020, Brigham and Women’s Hospital purchased four additional extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines to prepare for a possible surge of COVID-19. It wasn’t yet clear if ECMO could support critically ill COVID-19 patients, but early reports from China had shown promise.

A Tongue Cancer Diagnosis at a Young Age

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Consumer-Facing Health Hub Blog

As a healthy 29-year-old woman, Kat wasn’t the stereotypical tongue cancer patient. And so, when her dentist discovered an early symptom of the disease—a white spot on the side of the tongue—during a routine teeth cleaning in the spring of 2019, she wasn’t alarmed. Kat’s dentist thought she had probably just bit her tongue but referred her to an oral surgeon to be safe. Unconcerned, Kat decided not to follow up with the surgeon.