Astronomers Detect Mysterious Signal From Space


Rabiah Mayas, associate director of Northwestern University’s Science in Society research center is back with another review of stories making headlines in the world of science.

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Mysterious Signal from Space

Astronomers from Canada have reported that last month they detected a mysterious signal from space. The signal was something called a Fast Radio Burst. Signals like this have been detected before, but scientists still have few ideas about what the source of the highly energetic emissions is.

Food Deserts in Chicago

A new study from the University of Chicago suggests that even as the city gets more supermarkets, the problem of food deserts continue to persist in racially segregated and low-income areas. 

Molecular Probe Illuminates Cancer in Mice

Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a molecular probe that makes it easier to spot cancer in stem cells by making the cancer cells light up. “Seeing them is the first step to understanding them,” said Illinois chemistry professor Jefferson Chan.

Sleeping With the Light On Can Raise Your Diabetes Risk

Researchers at Northwestern University have found that sleeping with the light on could increase your diabetes risk. Sleeping under a bright light drove up insulin resistance in volunteers for the study.

“Our preliminary finds show that a single night of light exposure during sleep acutely impacts measures of insulin resistance,” said Ivy Cheung Mason, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine.


Related stories:

NASA’s Mission to ‘Our Star’ Named After UChicago’s Eugene Parker

World’s Next Largest Telescope Hopes to Answer Question of Life Beyond Earth

Field Museum Scientist Develops ‘Easy-Bake Fossil’


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