Problems are more common at a hospital, with vaporizers or other equipment. The networks of pipes that move the gas through the building can be overwhelmed, especially when demand is high. Some pipes move pure oxygen. Others carry “medical air,” which has been filtered and dried. If the dehumidifiers that […]
Space Photos of the Week: 50 Years After Apollo 13
Fifty years ago, on April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Like Apollo 11 and Apollo 12, the goal of the mission was to land on the Moon. However astronauts Jim Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise would face a nearly fatal […]
How to Measure Pressure With a Phone and a Baggie
This says pressure is just force (F) per unit of area (A). If the force is measured in newtons and the area is in square meters, then the pressure would be in units of N/m2, which is called a pascal. But you can use other units too, like pounds per […]
Freshwater Mussels Are Dying–Which Is the Likeliest Culprit?
In some cases, humans have harnessed the shellfish’s ability to filter water. In 2019, for example, Pennsylvania invested $7.9 million in a mussel hatchery in Philadelphia aimed at improving water quality in the Delaware and Susquehanna watersheds, which together provide drinking water to more than 25 million people. In fact, […]
The Magical Thinking of the White House’s New Covid-19 Plan
Briefly, before starting any of the phases, under the plan states and localities have to fulfill “gating criteria,” including a two-week downward trajectory in new cases of Covid-19 and reports of the broad category of influenza-like illnesses that could be Covid-19, absent a confirmatory test. And the states must have […]
Here’s How Covid-19 Immunity Compares to Other Diseases
One of the many unknowns about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is how we might become immune to it. When you get infected with viruses, along with other baddies like bacteria, your immune system fights back by producing proteins called antibodies. These stick around for the long haul, and your body […]
So You’ve Found a Comet With a Weird Orbit …
On the evening of March 28, a small automated observatory on the Andean steppe in northwestern Argentina watched a previously undetected comet drift through the solar system nearly 500 million miles away. New comets are rare enough–astronomers only add a few dozen to the official tally each year–but this particular […]
Covid-19 Stalls Clinical Trials for Everything but Covid-19
The cancer center has continued running critical trials that are well underway, including through virtual checkups. “This morning I walked into the clinic with my stethoscope and iPad,” Herbst says. Fears abound over exposing patients to the virus, especially because many cancer drugs weaken the immune system to the point […]
AI Uncovers a Potential Treatment for Covid-19 Patients
Late one January afternoon, British pharmacologist Peter Richardson ran out of his home office and told his wife, “Got it!” She asked what he was talking about and offered a cup of tea. Richardson explained that he had identified a drug that might help people infected with a new virus […]
These Ferrofluid Sculptures Will Melt Your Mind
In the early 1960s, a NASA engineer by the name of Steve Papell dreamed up a career for modern-day artist Eric Mesple. Well, at least not directly. Papell was trying to figure out how to move fuel around an engine in zero gravity, and hit upon the idea of a […]