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A pitch drop experiment on a table in which pitch is slowly dripping from a glass cone into a beaker below. The entire setup is covered by a glass dome. In the background, calendar pages are floating around with various years written on them.A pitch drop experiment on a table in which pitch is slowly dripping from a glass cone into a beaker below. The entire setup is covered by a glass dome. In the background, calendar pages are floating around with various years written on them.

Pitch Drop Experiments

Did you know that there is a Guinness World Record for longest continuously running laboratory experiment? An experiment that started back in 1927 is still running!

A person sleeping peacefully.

The Elite Sleeping Genes

“Everyone needs at least 8 hours of sleep!” How many times have you heard this phrase growing up? Certainly, we can all attest to hearing this from a parent after staying up binging our favourite show or pulling an all-nighter before a test. But in reality, do we actually need all 8 hours?

At the sea floor, two sponge crabs are tipping their sponge hats to one another. In addition, three sea-urchins are each wearing a hat.

Crabs Wearing Hats: Why Are Marine Animals Using Tools

In 2011, researchers came across something puzzling on 3.4-million-year-old fossilized bones: cut marks. Someone had cleaned and cut these bones—possibly using a pointy stone! The culprit? A member of Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy’s species.

The sleep-wake cycle represented in a 3-dimensional room that is split between night and day. A woman sleeping during the night is contrasted by a man waking up to the light of day.

The Most Influential Clock

It’s on the wall, it’s on your wrist, it’s built into your laptop, but it’s also within you in the form of a circadian clock. Plants and animals developed this form of time-keeping to adapt their behaviors to the environment in a 24-hour fashion.

Illustration of Dr. Marie Maynard Daly in a lab coat in front of a DNA strand. Chemical structures of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine in the background.

Leaders in Early Science: Dr. Marie Maynard Daly

Dr. Marie Maynard Daly was an American biochemist who characterized DNA modulators, identified key breakthroughs in cardiology, and worked to reduce barriers for other Black scientists.

Dr. Scott V. Edwards' face and babblers scattered around his name

Scott V. Edwards

Scott V. Edwards’s colorful career and lifelong passion for birds began in his backyard in New York City, when his neighbor took him birdwatching for the first time. Unfortunately, his family pushed him towards medicine, a field that seemed like an obvious choice given that his father was a doctor. As a volunteer at the Smithsonian during his undergraduate degree, he learned more about the natural history of life on earth and decided to change his career path.

David R. Hedgley Jr. holds up two images demonstrating the hidden line problem.

David R. Hedgley, Jr.

From an architect’s building design to your favourite video game, computer-generated 3D graphics are seamlessly integrated into our daily lives. One notably significant figure in this field is mathematician and computer scientist David R. Hedgley, Jr, who came up with an algorithm to solve the “hidden-line problem” of computer graphics.

Illustration of Dr. Patricia Bath holding an eye model. The background is composed of patterns that resemble a phoropter, an eye exam tool.

Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-2019)

Dr. Bath was an American ophthalmologist, researcher, and an advocate for the prevention, treatment, and cure of blindness. Pushing through obstacles of sexism, racism, and poverty, Dr. Bath made innovative contributions to the field of medicine which had long-lasting impacts on the communities she served.