New Atlas

Medical Audio available

Intriguing results from first-ever placebo-controlled LSD microdose human study

Rich Haridy June 17, 2019

A fascinating new study from scientists at the University of Chicago is offering the very first placebo-controlled clinical research testing the mood-altering, physiological and behavioral effects of tiny LSD microdoses.

A new study chronicles the first placebo-controlled investigation into the effects of LSD microdoses on mood, ...

Biology Audio available

Cell division recreated outside of a cell for the first time

Michael Irving May 31, 2019

Cell division is one of the most fundamental biological functions, but there’s still so much about it that we don’t understand. In an attempt to find out more, researchers have now managed to recreate cell division outside of a cell for the first time, surprising even themselves.

Researchers have managed to recreate cell division outside of a cell

Space Audio available

Study suggests huge gushing rivers once flowed across the Mars landscape

Nick Lavars March 27, 2019

A new study has examined the riverbeds on Mars in close detail and found they were far thicker and dried out far later than previously thought, suggesting that for billions of years, Mars was home to gushing waterways even wider than those on Earth today.

A preserved river channel on Mars with color overlaid to show different elevations (blue is low, ...

Medical Audio available

How stem cells, CRISPR and skin grafts could help combat cocaine addiction

Michael Irving September 17, 2018

A novel form of treatment could help cut back on a person’s desire for cocaine and reduce its damaging effect in the body. The method involves removing a small patch of skin, introducing genes that produce cocaine-degrading enzymes, and then grafting it back onto the patient.

A new potential treatment for cocaine addiction involves skin grafts, stem cells and gene-editing

Physics

Can we use gravitational waves to detect hidden dimensions?

Michael Irving September 16, 2018

The universe as we know it is made up of three spatial dimensions, right? But some physics models suggest the existence of extra dimensions that we can’t perceive. In an effort to find evidence of these dimensions, researchers have studied gravitational waves and come up empty.

The collision of two neutron stars could help shed light on whether our universe is hiding ...

Space

Blue crystals in meteorites reveal the Sun's rowdy younger years

Michael Irving July 30, 2018

The Sun was far more active in its early years, but we only really know this from studying other similar stars. Now, researchers have found the fingerprints of this active young Sun in tiny, bright blue crystals preserved in meteorites from a collection at Chicago’s Field Museum.

Studying blue hibonite crystals (inset) has helped researchers get a better understanding of the Sun's early ...

Health & Wellbeing

Scientists developing an app that tells you how high you are

Ben Coxworth April 25, 2018

There are already portable breathalyzers that let people put a number to their inebriation. However, what's a person to do if they want to receive a score on how high they are? Well, in the not-too-distant future, they could use the University of Chicago's "Am I Stoned" app.

The "Am I Stoned" app could let users know how much cannabis affects them

Space

Dark Energy Survey spots remains of 11 galaxies devoured by the Milky Way

Michael Irving January 15, 2018

The first intriguing findings have been released from the Dark Energy Survey, a project studying the mysterious force that seems to be accelerating the expansion of the universe. The study has discovered 11 new stellar streams, the remains of other galaxies that our own Milky Way has torn to shreds.

Data released from the Dark Energy Survey has revealed 11 new stellar streams, the leftovers from ...

Biology

CRISPR-treated skin graft used to treat diabetes in mice

Rich Haridy August 3, 2017

A team at the University of Chicago recently developed a process to deliver CRISPR-based gene therapy to mice via skin transplants. The technique was effective in treating diabetes, but potentially can be utilized for a wide variety of diseases.

Skin transplants could prove to be an effective delivery system for CRISPR-based gene therapy

Biology

When and why whales evolved to be so huge

Michael Irving May 24, 2017

The blue whale may be the largest animal ever, but new research has found it only claimed the title relatively recently. By comparing the bones of modern whales to fossils, a team of scientists has traced the growth spurt to about 4.5 million years ago, when climate change increased the food supply.

Researchers have traced the evolution of whales back a few million years, and found that their ...