Blogs

When we think about “life on Earth,” we instantly jump to dinosaurs, tigers, humans, forests, oceans… But the real founders, engineers, and day-one hustlers of our planet? Microbes.

Imagine a world where the solution to plastic pollution is not a machine or a law, but a microbe quietly at work beneath a pile of bottles.

When you look in the mirror, do you ever pause and wonder—how did we get here? How did a line of primates swinging through trees turn into humans who build rockets, decode DNA, and yes… binge on midnight snacks while scrolling Instagram?

Explore the world of forensic ballistics! Learn how investigators analyze bullets, firearms, and gunshot residue to solve crimes in our latest blog.

If dinosaurs were the flashy rock stars of the Mesozoic era, crocodiles are the quiet survivors. They’ve been around for more than 200 million years, and here’s the wild part: they look almost the same today as they did back then.

Explore the captivating role of Arthur Koehler in the Lindbergh Kidnapping crime investigation. Discover how forensic botany solved the case.

You might think pollen is just floating about in the air, happily so and ready to be sampled; however, in forensic cases, it is collected intentionally and carefully. Investigators don’t just grab a handful of dirt —or air, if the pollen is happily floating about —they follow strict protocols to ensure the pollen is not contaminated and is of the standard to be used as evidence in court.

Imagine a T. rex looking up at the sky, unable to fly, while its tiny feathered cousins were testing out their wings. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true: birds are living dinosaurs. Their story is one of survival, adaptation, and transformation—proof that even the mightiest of lineages can reinvent themselves.

Not all dinosaurs went extinct. A small group of feathered theropods managed to survive. They were small, adaptable, and could fly or glide—traits that gave them the edge when ecosystems collapsed.

Picture this: a population of organisms living their best life, all together. Then something happens, maybe a mountain pops up, or a river decides to split the gang. Slowly but surely, they start changing. Different vibes, different environments, different genetic makeovers. Fast forward a few generations, and boom, they can’t even reproduce with each other anymore. That, darling, is speciation.

Why don’t spacecraft travel at the speed of light currently? The answer to this involves a lot of complicated physics that Einstein and a lot of physicists were able to dumb down for us! Traveling at the speed of light requires a lot of energy, like an infinite amount!

The corpse found in Lindow Moss? Not Reyn-Bardt, Malika. Not even a corpse from the present day. It didn't appear to be a recent body, and something felt off right away. What happened next would clarify why.

Go behind the scenes of STEM MUN for Changemaking — a global student-led Model UN that brought together over 100 delegates from 42+ countries to debate science, ethics, and policy while raising funds for education. In Part 1, Mihika (the Secretary General) shares what it took to build the conference, from fee waivers to guest speakers, design chaos, and real impact.

One hundred years ago, Werner Heisenberg retreated to the island of Helgoland, where he built the foundations of the first full formulation of quantum mechanics. But let’s take a step back: who actually started the quantum revolution? And how did physicists begin to understand the concept of quantification?

Let’s say nature had a watch—one that didn’t tick but mutated. Sounds weird? That’s a molecular clock for you. In this blog, we’re decoding how scientists use DNA changes to track the timeline. Yes, it's real science. No, it’s not sci-fi. (Okay, maybe just a little.)

August morning, 1984, was a rather normal morning to some but not to all. Peat cutters at Lindow Moss, a bog in northwest England, unearthed something that would disturb both the past and the present- leather.

Let’s talk about mysterious particles that, at least in theory, could move faster than light.

Dive into forensic botany and secrets of pollen! Explore how palynology, pollen analysis, solves mysteries in crime and beyond.

Let’s be real for a second – breakups are never easy. Whether it's friends drifting apart or that one ex you thought was your soulmate, separation stings. But in nature? It’s literally how new life forms evolve.

Last time, we chatted about genetic drift, where random chance messes with gene pools in small or isolated populations. But what if genes don’t stay isolated? What if they… move? Travel? Get a one-way ticket to a new population?

We have been connecting the gut microbiome to a bunch of functions in our body for some time now, however until now, you could mostly come across healing teas and such. But don’t worry, science dove in head first and scientists are exploring all the ties between the gut and and the brain in hopes of discovering new underlying mechanisms and connections.

As I celebrate this personal milestone, it's fitting to look back at some of the groundbreaking biological discoveries that shaped 2024. Quanta Magazine highlighted several of these advancements, each offering a glimpse into the ever-evolving tapestry of life sciences.

For decades, the prevailing belief in genetics was that human DNA evolves at a relatively slow pace. However, recent research is challenging this belief, revealing that our genome may be changing more rapidly than previously thought. This shift has profound implications for our understanding of human evolution, health, and disease.

Mental health. Two words that carry so much weight, yet are often left out of everyday conversations. In a world that’s constantly moving, it’s easy to push our emotional well-being to the sidelines. But the truth is, mental health is just as vital as physical health. And it’s time we gave it the attention it deserves.