Science Matters

Question Your World: Orbiting Refuel and Repair Stations?

Consider yourself lucky if you’ve never run out of gas while driving your car. This small and easily preventable inconvenience can be a real problem for getting to work on time or just looking smooth on a date. The problem becomes way worse when you’re far from the closest gas station. It’s bad enough to be stranded fifty miles away, but imagine being hundreds of miles away from the Earth’s surface and running into the same issue. Running out of fuel in such a hostile and foreign environment would be a really dangerous problem.

Question Your World: What’s the Deal with the Phrase “Sleep on it?”

You don’t have to be Jerry Seinfeld to ask questions about the sleepier parts of your life. The average human spends nearly a third of their life sleeping! While you’re busy catching z’s, your brain is busy working on other tasks! Everything from healing your body to creating your memory structure happens while you’re off in dream land. Want to know more about sleep - one of the most important parts of your life?

Question Your World: What do Looms and Laptops have in Common?

If you’re reading this you must be using some sort of computer. Most of us have an idea about the origins of our modern computer units, but sometimes explaining the lineage of these machines leads only up to the first design. The big question is - how did we get all the way to a computing machine? We could not have gone from fire or the wheel straight to iTunes, right? What’s responsible for the giant leaps and bounds in technology that make our life what it is today? The process of science, that’s how!

Question Your World: New York to Tokyo in 45 Minutes?

So, who’s up for grabbing lunch in Tokyo today?

Knee Replacement Patients at Higher Risk of Gaining Weight

Charles Fishburne in Science Matters

Patients who undergo knee replacement surgery may be at risk of gaining more weight than their peers who have not had the surgery, according to a five-year study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University professor.

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Over The Counter Supplement May Help Prevent Alzheimer's

Charles Fishburne in Science Matters

Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and Northwestern University have discovered an over-the-counter nutritional supplement that may help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Charles Fishburne has more in this Science Matters report.

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VCU Scientists Believe MS Drug May Help Colorectal Cancer

Charles Fishburne in Science Matters

Scientists at the VCU Massey Cancer Center have discovered that a drug now used for multiple sclerosis may one day treat colorectal cancer. Charles Fishburne has more in this WCVE Science Matters report.

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Question Your World: Why Can’t We Stop Thinking?

Try to stop thinking for five seconds. Ready?…steady…GO! Okay, now you’re just reading this and not-stopping-your-thinking! So why can’t we stop thinking? Well, this is the handiwork of our old friend, evolution. A long time ago moment-to-moment readiness was necessary for survival. In those days people had to worry about things like lion attacks, leopard attacks, monkeys stealing berries, scorpions, falling rocks, drowning, giant snakes, and so on. This required a brain that was constantly working.

Maggie Walker Junior Wins Neuroscience Prize

John Ogle in Science Matters

In March, Maggie Walker Governor's School Junior Samantha Marquez will travel to San Diego as one of the four national winners of the 2013 Neuroscience Research Prize.