Cultivating the next generation of scientists, engineers and energy experts
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
Paul DeJong has a second love outside of baseball: Science
Washington Nationals infielder Paul DeJong always had two loves: baseball and science. Those two interests had long competed for his time, until finally they converged when he was a student at Illinois State. Every semester, DeJong, a biochemistry major in the honors program, had the opportunity to do an extra research project. One of those semesters, he took genetics and focused on sports. The project provided DeJong a better understanding of himself and how he could apply what he learned to his own life.


Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Washington Post
Scientists discover less invasive way to collect babies' stem cells
Researchers have come up with a less invasive way to collect amniotic stem cells — a development they say could reduce dangers for pregnant women and other pregnant individuals as well as fetuses and help researchers grow cells that can help children born with congenital conditions. Scientists use amniotic stem cells to treat congenital anomalies such as spina bifida and heart defects.


Fast Company
20 hours ago
- Fast Company
Trump's budget cuts may hand Spain a scientific prize worth billions
BY As the U.S. backs away from key climate, aid, and scientific investments, Europe is stepping in to pick up the slack. Europe's latest intervention? Saving a plan to build one of the world's largest, cutting-edge telescopes. This week, the Spanish government offered to pay $470 million to take over one of the most ambitious astronomy projects in history, known as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). In the deal, Spain would also provide the unconstructed mega-telescope a home atop a rugged peak on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa. After massive proposed cuts to the National Science Foundation's $9 billion budget, the project faced a financing shortfall that likely spelled its doom. Trump's cuts, detailed in late May, slash the foundation's budget by more than half, jettisoning funding for the TMT while keeping another $3 billion telescope project, the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) – under construction now in Chile – alive. 'Faced with the risk of this major international scientific project being halted, the Government of Spain has decided to act with renewed commitment to science and major scientific infrastructures for the benefit of global knowledge,' Spain's Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities Diana Morant said. When constructed, the telescope will be a modern scientific marvel. Named the Thirty Meter Telescope for the size of its mirror, the project was designed to take on some of astronomy's most compelling questions, searching the deep skies for signs of extraterrestrial life, evidence of the universe's origins and clues about the nature of dark matter. Compared to images from the James Webb Space Telescope, a triumph of engineering itself, the TMT will produce images four times sharper. A controversial telescope Pondering the universe's biggest mysteries is a shared human experience, but the TMT's journey to investigate them has proven surprisingly divisive. The plan to build a mega-telescope with a mirror as big as a blue whale began in 2003. The project evolved over time into a consortium of scientists from around the globe, an organization now known as the TMT International Observatory (TIO). The group determined that the ideal site for the massive lens was the summit of Hawaii's highest peak, Mauna Kea. While Mauna Kea's high, dry summit attracts astronomy projects and already hosts thirteen other telescopes, the peak's history as a sacred place in Hawaiian culture prompted a public outcry from residents and conservationists who wanted the TMT built elsewhere. The mountain is known as the home of the god Wakea and plays a central role in native Hawaiian creation stories, a status that inspired a resistance movement against plans to further develop the area. It's not the project's first pick, but Spain's offer to host the project is a natural fit. The Spanish island of La Palma was already the telescope's backup plan, and like Mauna Kea it offers a remote, high perch with consistently clear skies and infrastructure already in place from other international observatories. 'In 2019, the Government of Spain already expressed its willingness for the TMT to be built on this island, and now, six years later, it is taking a decisive step with a strategic investment that will benefit the European Union, Spain, the Canary Islands, and especially La Palma,' Spain's Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities said. Trump-era cuts to science funding weren't the first time that the U.S. budget imperiled at least one of the two major next-generation telescopes in the works. With the GMT still on track, its counterpart might have a brighter future under an eager government across the ocean. 'While some countries are cutting science investments and even denying it, Spain is a refuge for science,' Morant said. The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is tonight, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Taylor Hatmaker is a writer and photographer based on the West Coast. She was previously a Senior Editor at TechCrunch, where she specialized in social media, gaming and online culture. More