Innehållsförteckning för The 2024 Science Edition från The Goodnewspaper

I have never imagined myself to be a woman in STEM. Despite the amazing efforts of leaders who hope to achieve equality in the sciences — and the many “Biology Barbie ” style products that have been marketed to me since kindergarten — science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have never come naturally to me. I'm just not wired that way. The one thing I am good at, though? Curiosity. It's what made it possible for me to still get a B in my required college algebra course. It's what makes me skilled and passionate enough to research all kinds of interesting breakthroughs in environmental technology and medicine so I can share good news with Good Good Good's readers. It's what keeps me open to understanding and solving the problems of…

When Sonia Vallabh's mother died as a result of prion disease in 2010, she quickly found out that she, too, had inherited a genetic mutation for the same disease that had claimed her mother's life. Prions are abnormally folded proteins that form toxic clumps in the brain and cause rapid neurodegeneration. There is no treatment or cure, and those with the genetic mutation have no idea when the disease might come for them. About 1 in 50,000 people have the same high-risk genetic marker as Vallabh. Thinking of her own morality and the lives of so many others, this devastating discovery activated her for good. Though she had already obtained her law degree from Harvard, Vallabh decided to retrain in biomedical engineering and now also holds a Ph.D. from Harvard…

Sick Of Misinformation, This Nonprofit Started A National Science Appreciation Day Between an over-politicized pandemic and the ongoing issue of climate denialism, the field of science has gotten a bad rap. But, as Science Saves founder Todd Stiefel will tell you, the experts behind the world's foremost scientific breakthroughs (vaccines, for instance), are superheroes, not villains. When COVID-19 reared its deadly head, and millions were inundated with misinformation, Stiefel knew he had to do something. In 2020, he started the #ScienceSaves campaign “to generate appreciation for the role of science in our lives.” A nonpartisan organization, the campaign tells stories of “how science has benefited human outcomes, unleashed human potential, transformed our lives, and how it offers humanity the tools to overcome the pressing issues of today, from the global…

The Sky's The Limit STEM Camp Champions Neurodiversity It's summertime in Beloit, Wisconsin — and a classroom of kids are about to learn about the biosphere. At The Sky's the Limit STEM Camp, director Michael Notaro stands at the head of a classroom, reading daily affirmations to the assembled campers. “Neurodivergence is wonderful,” Notaro reads. “The best science is done by a diverse set of scientists from different neurotypes, races, and genders.” The Sky's the Limit is a camp designed with autistic youth in mind. Here, kids can get up and move around, exploring the classroom and asking questions. Some campers sit, fidget toys in hand, sporting noise-canceling headphones. Notaro welcomes every type of camper. Notaro created the camp with his son Hayden in mind. As the father of an…

Introduced to the general population with a bang, mRNA — or messenger RNA — became a well-known acronym in late 2020, as whispers of a COVID-19 vaccine turned into the hot topic of the times. But, as it turns out, it took decades to make mRNA an overnight sensation. mRNA vaccine research dates back to the early 1990s, when infectious disease researchers Katalin and Drew Weissman discovered how to safely use mRNA to create new molecular combinations that could be used as therapy for diseases. Sickle Cell Disease Weissman's Penn Medicine lab has been working with mRNA technology for decades, especially on an mRNA influenza vaccine prior to the pandemic. But another major disease they hope to confront is sickle cell anemia, a painful genetic disease that affects about 20…