a burgundy zine
May 21, 2021
Experts from iDiveBlue explain what marine engineering is and explore advancements in the field that are mitigating the impact of oil drilling on sea life.
May 14, 2021
Mushrooms: everybody’s favorite quirk of nature. From the psychedelic genus psilocybe and the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis that “mind control” ants, to the mushrooms that clean up oil spills and the mushrooms that may serve as planetary habitats, researchers have found yet another use for fungi: radiation protection.
“The greatest hazard for humans on deep-space exploration missions is radiation,” says a preliminary report in the bioRxiv journal. “Certain fungi thrive in high-radiation environments on Earth, such as the contamination radius of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant… These organisms appear to perform radiosynthesis, using pigments known as melanin to convert gamma radiation into chemical energy. It is hypothesized that these organisms can be employed as a radiation shield to protect other lifeforms.”
Radiosynthesis runs parallel to photosynthesis — but instead of eating sunlight (UV radiation), these shrooms are eating gamma radiation. And it’s all possible through melanin, the same pigment that determines hair and skin color.
August 19, 2020
Cancer, one of the leading causes of death worldwide, appears to have afflicted the ferocious beasts the roamed the Earth with our prehistoric ancestors.
Earlier this month, research published in The Lancet Oncology Journal diagnosed a dinosaur with bone cancer. And this isn’t the first time researchers have made such a diagnosis based on dinosaur fossils.
May 30, 2020
Austin Stoltzfus sheds light on the possibility that we’re simply puppets to mind-controlling parasites.
April 30, 2020
Blue is all around us, from the oceans to their reflection in the sky, but it’s very rare that you’ll see blue anywhere else in nature – unless you’re flipping through a Dr. Seuss book.
Wildflowers sporting a bluish-hue, which includes purple and violet flowers, only account for about 15 to 20 percent of all flower colors, says a 2018 Breeding Science journal review.
“Many ornamental plants with a high production volume, such as rose and chrysanthemum, lack the key genes for producing the blue delphinidin pigment or do not have an intracellular environment suitable for developing blue color,” the review explains.
While recent advancements in genetic engineering have allowed scientists to synthesize blue roses, chrysanthemums, orchids, and dahlias, the process isn’t as simple as “editing a few genes” (granted, gene editing isn’t such a simple process, either).
January 19, 2020
NASA recently announced they’re exploring new, green ways to sustain human life in outer space through the help of our beloved fungal friends: mushrooms, or rather, their mycelia.
October 14, 2019
Serotonin is a hormone associated with mood regulation and well-being, but its functions go far beyond that.
Countless research over the last few decades has linked serotonin to regulating stress, long-term memory recall, sleep, digestion, blood pressure, and body temperature.
The hormone has also been critical to furthering the understanding of various neurological, behavioral, and emotional conditions, such as depression and migraines.
October 6, 2019
As you’re laying in bed, toughing it through another night of your thoughts running laps around your brain, you glance over at your phone. The clock reads “5:24 AM.” You have to be up by 6:00, but you haven’t slept a wink all night.
June 28, 2019
The handmade cosmetics company, Lush, known for their vibrant, fragrant, delicatible soaps and bath bombs, is holding the ‘Shark Attack’ campaign to support the Sharkwater Foundation from June 8 through the end of the month.
Last week, we visited Lush at the King of Prussia mall to get an inside scoop on their campaign. We also learned a bit more about their company as well as their products.
June 23, 2019
Gray whales are a speckled, 45-foot, 1,500-pound marine mammal that are native to the Pacific Ocean, according to the Marine Mammal Center.
This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared an Unusual Mortality Event due to the increase in strandings, so we reached out to the NOAA to dive further into the issue.