By Rowan Obach, C2ST Intern, Loyola University

On Dec 19, 1944, Anthropologist Richard Leakey was born. Leakey’s most notable discovery was “Turkana Boy”, a vital piece in the puzzle of human evolution. 

In the current understanding of human evolution, there are 6 species that humans developed from. Homo Homo Sapiens is our current genus. The species, listed in order of genetic similarity (least similar to most similar) to Homo Homo Sapiens are Homo heidelbergensis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo habilis, Homo floresiensis, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens. These species act as the link between apes or monkeys and humans within the evolutionary cycle. 

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By Laura Tran, C2ST Intern, Rush University

December 6th to 12th was Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek¹). The idea behind the week-long celebration is to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, to raise awareness for computer science education, and to highlight the contributions of the computer science field. This event falls during the week of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper’s² (aka “the mother of computer science”) birthday (December 9th, 1906). 

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By Summer Seligmann, C2ST Intern, Loyola University

Recycling can be tricky–it may not always be clear what to put in those blue bins. Although we may have good intentions when we drop our plastics and papers into those bins, the unfortunate reality is that most of this material ends up in a landfill anyway. From January to August of 2021, less than 9% of Chicago’s 578,687 tons put in blue bins were recycled. The city’s low recycling rates stem from a variety of issues in sanitation, but a prominent one is the lack of resources to properly handle large items. Stoves, furnaces, and other household appliances contain metals that can and should be recycled, yet they end up in landfills. Recycling scrap metal can help with this issue, but at what cost?

Scrap metal is metal material recycled from different products; essentially, the leftover metal parts from objects like motors, transformers and faucets. There are two main types: scrap that contains iron (ferrous) and scrap that doesn’t contain iron (nonferrous). Scrap can be brought to a scrap yard where valuable metal material is separated and recycled. It might seem unnecessary to go to a scrap yard when the City of Chicago picks up bulky items for free, but given how low the city’s recycling rates are, there is no guarantee that what is set by the curb will be recycled. Bringing scrap metal directly to a facility reduces what ends up in landfills. 

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By Robert J. Kriss, C2ST Editor

Pfizer recently used the Advanced Photon Source (“APS”), a powerful x-ray machine operated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, to help them develop a pill that appears to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death among COVID-19 patients by 89%. Pfizer is now seeking FDA approval to administer the drug to patients. The process Pfizer used to develop this pill may be the blueprint for preventing future pandemics.

Continue reading “A Pill to Treat COVID-19 and the Shape of Things to Come”

By Rowan Obach, C2ST Intern, Loyola University

Ryan Lepak is a post-doctoral researcher at the National Science Foundation (NSF). He previously did mercury and food web research with the United States Geological Survey and now works for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). His recent research focuses on measuring contaminants, specifically mercury, in the Great Lakes and observing fish populations as bioindicators of the health of the Lakes. 

Continue reading “Diving into Ryan Lepak’s Great Lakes Research”