Alex Berezow

Category: Science

  • Drug Supplies: Track Marks

    MOST of the world’s supply of cocaine comes from just three South American countries: Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Much of it is headed for the United States and Europe. Law-enforcement officials from America patrol international waters in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, hoping to seize cocaine shipments before they reach their intended destinations. When they…

  • A New Way to Understand the World’s Rarest Minerals

    Two geologists have developed a system for classifying some of the most elusive substances on the planet. Read the rest at The Atlantic. 

  • Mosquitoes, This Time It Is War

    The Zika virus, which is spreading like wildfire throughout the Americas and is linked to a head-shrinking birth defect called microcephaly, is just the latest in a long list of mosquito-transmitted diseases that make the insects the world’s deadliest animal. It is time to launch a global initiative to eradicate them. Read the rest at USA…

  • Maths Study Shows Conspiracies ‘Prone to Unravelling’

    It’s difficult to keep a conspiracy under wraps, scientists say, because sooner or later, one of the conspirators will blow its cover. A study has examined how long alleged conspiracies could “survive” before being revealed – deliberately or unwittingly – to the public at large. Read the rest at BBC News. 

  • Hormesis: Is the ‘Low-Dose Effect’ Real?

    Though hormesis sounds like something a homeopath would invent, there is actually plenty of evidence that this effect exists.

  • How Chemists Plan to Sniff Out Bombs

    The suicide bombers in the Paris attacks used an explosive that is relatively easy to synthesise at home. Chemists, however, are leading an effort to develop sensors to sniff it out. Read the rest at BBC News.

  • The Bacteria that Live in Your Coffee Maker

    This article was originally posted on RealClearScience. Wherever you live, bacteria live. Wherever you can’t live, bacteria live. From hydrothermal vents to acid mines, microbes have the planet covered. They also have your Nespresso machine covered. Recently, Spanish researchers decided to inventory the microbial community that dwells inside George Clooney’s favorite coffee maker.

  • Cachexia: Why Cancer Patients Waste Away

    This article was originally posted on RealClearScience. One of the most pernicious conditions that arises as a consequence of cancer is a sort of wasting syndrome. More formally known as cachexia, it causes patients to lose body mass (including both muscle and fat) and to grow weak and fatigued. Whether or not a patient develops…

  • Red-Colored Microbes Decorate Flamingo Feathers

    A harmonious symbiosis between bird and bug.

  • New Sponge Absorbs, Releases Oil on Demand

    This article was originally posted on RealClearScience. As long as the global economy relies on oil, oil spills are a constant hazard. Devising innovative and efficient ways to clean up the messes is, therefore, a top environmental priority. Now, a team of Korean researchers has designed a “nano-sponge” that absorbs and desorbs oil on demand.…