May is the unofficial start of summer, what with the pool parties, beach vacations, and Memorial Day barbecues. That’s the part that most of us look forward to.

But it is also a month of airport anxiety, body shaming, and frenzied moms hoping for the perfect gift as least once in their lives. However, there are ways to cope with all that stress in the month of May. So read on, and we hope that this list will lend some insight.

10 Y’all Remember Carrie?

May is the height of prom season. Although it is one of the most important of all high school social functions, the prom produces more anxiety in the student body than final exams. There is picking out the right dress—or tux—as well as the popularity-based, cliquish issues such as which table to sit at and with whom to socialize.

This is all important stuff to teens, many of whom are still wearing braces and chewing bubble gum. What if you’re a dude who doesn’t know how to dance and your date is a ballerina? Or worse, what if you’re a girl with a pink gown whose date brings you an avocado-green corsage?

In the weeks before the prom, boys have anxiety issues about asking a girl out for a date, often to the point that they chicken out and both end up missing the dance. Money issues add to this stress as gowns, tuxedos, and limo rides can be rather pricey. Then peer pressure that night sometimes involves alcohol and drugs.^[1]

Nowadays, many kids are just sitting it out because the event is too lame, too expensive, or too intrusive upon their evening social media time.

While prom season can be taxing for any teen, students suffering from social anxiety find it to be so stressful that they often choose to stay home. As for those who choose to attend, many are going stag or as part of a group of friends. It seems the less stress, the better time to be had, no matter how you get there or with whom you go.

Although if there is a painfully shy girl in attendance wearing a pig’s-blood-red gown, listen to your anxiety and run!

9 National Too-Much-Awareness Month

“They” say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Thus, a deluge of awareness might just be catastrophic. And for some reason, May is chock-full of one-day, all-week, and month-long observances devoted to specific causes and conditions, many of which are depressingly dispiriting.

We have hepatitis awareness, lupus awareness, and HIV vaccine awareness. It is also global employee health and fitness month with a food allergy awareness week and even a heat safety awareness day thrown in for good measure.

And let us not forget that May is melanoma and skin cancer detection and prevention month (surely a welcoming prelude to tank top and pool party season), not to mention about 20 other special observances. We all know that awareness is a good thing, but perhaps it’s better in small measures. So how do we deal with all this awareness?

In 2015, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that there are almost 200 official awareness dates and many of these observances have little to no effect on the cause they are highlighting. Studies show that spreading awareness via social media without constructive campaigns or money-raising enterprises doesn’t really do much except for possibly collecting thumbs-up responses.^[2]

The criteria for finding the right activist campaign, it seems, is to search for causes with tangible activities that either collect donations or provide services. If an awareness campaign is only asking you to change your Facebook picture for a day, nothing really gets accomplished.

So, find a cause you believe in that does actual good for the community it represents and stick with it. Then reward yourself by attending a pool party.

8 Pre–Mother’s Day Anxiety (For The Kids)

Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in May, and the weeks leading up to the celebration can often bring a level of anxiety into the lives of sons and daughters who feel obligated to buy their mom the perfect gift.

Every year, we are deluged with shopping suggestions in periodicals, on morning shows, and throughout lifestyle websites. They tell us how to buy the perfect gift for that lady of honor. But they usually offer general, across-the-board notions, whereas each and every mother is a priceless prize of individuality.

Beyond that, a recent Google search using the keywords “mother’s day shopping” brought in a whopping 229 million search results, each one guaranteeing to make that special matriarch a happy camper. Also, many daughters who are adults with children themselves feel likewise overwhelmed by the holiday. Thus, they often neglect to buy their own moms anything for Mother’s Day, a cycle that might just repeat.^[3]

But, however stressful the preholiday period is for the kids, there is one person who might become even more agitated on the actual day . . . 

7 Real-Time Mother’s Day Anxiety (For The Moms)

Every mom hopes for the perfect gift on that special Sunday in May. Approximately 1 percent of the time, her wish will come true. But that’s all right. Moms seem to be experts at the fine art of smiling while offering gratitude for crappy gifts all throughout the year, not just on Mother’s Day.

Honestly, some moms would rather skip the holiday formalities and just ride with the sentiment of honor and respect for which the occasion was actually intended.

In 2018, Americans spent a whopping $30.3 billion on Mother’s Day, which boils down to $124 per shopper. Of course, spending fluctuates per state. Oregonians are the most frugal with their average gift costing $30, while Texans outspend everyone with an average $248 per gift.

According to a government study revised in 2017, middle-income parents in the US spent an average of $233,610 to raise a child from birth to age 17. Certainly, the financial trade-off falls on the side of the kids, which might explain why there is no official shopping season for the National Children’s Day observance in June.

However you choose to celebrate Mother’s Day, whether with C-notes and caviar or a bouquet of wildflowers and a kiss, do so with the true meaning of the holiday in your hearts.^[4] Perhaps the one thing moms want the most is a heartfelt thanks—for all the cooking, cleaning, guidance, and even all the scolding. For all this, we should thank our moms!

That being said, a third part to this tirade could have been entitled “Post–Mother’s Day Anxiety (For The Dads).” If they fail to buy the right gift for the other half, payback’s an expletive and their day is coming up in just one month.

6 Pollen And Pool Parties

May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. More people suffer from allergies in spring than in autumn. The major allergen culprits in May are pollen from trees and grasses, but people allergic to insect bites and stings should also be wary. There are plenty of bugs and bees out and about this time of year.

People who never suffer from allergies sometimes take the subject lightly, but this is truly a serious matter. One in five Americans are afflicted with chronic allergic reactions, and about 10 people die each day from asthma.

If you suffer from one of these afflictions, it is important to keep your home clean from pet dander, dust mites, and mold. However, people who suffer from allergies have much less control over the environment when they are outside, and no one wants to stay inside during the month of May.^[5]

This is the time of year when people like to go outside and socialize. Spring is in its prime to the point that it feels like summer, and Memorial Day is right around the corner. But nobody wants to attend a pool party or a backyard barbecue just to sneeze and wipe at their eyes during the entire event.

There are steps you can take to prevent this. Check pollen counts every day, and wear sunglasses to keep pollen out of your eyes. Check for high pollution levels, and be a bit more careful on those days. If you jog, do so in the evening as pollen and mold counts are lower. Also, if you are allergic to bee stings, don’t wear scented perfumes or hair products and always make sure you leave the house with your EpiPen.

Keep in mind that house pets can also suffer from allergies and asthma. So if kitty frequently hacks as if trying to cough up something but nothing comes out, you might want to take her to see the vet.

5 Gypsy Moth Mania

They hatch in a multitude in early May, with each about 0.16 centimeters (0.06 in) long. Within six weeks, they have morphed into long, slithery, hairy monstrosities up to 7.6 centimeters (3 in) in length.

And they’re everywhere—writhing, crawling, and devastating the spring foliage of thousands of acres of trees. They’re on our houses and in our yards. They’re pooping on us from above as we try to relax on our porches and at picnics. We can even hear an odd, unearthly hum from above as they chew in unison and gnaw in legion.

Does this sound like a cheesy horror flick? No—it’s actually just lower New England in the midst of a gypsy moth caterpillar infestation.

In 1869, gypsy moth larvae from France were blown from a window sill in Medford, Massachusetts, where they were being evaluated for the production of silk. Throughout the 1980s, they became a widespread, creeping nuisance and one of the most damaging pests in the United States. They feed and prey mainly upon hardwood trees.

The ghastly epidemic has spread as far as Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan. By the end of June, these little buggers have bunkered down in cocoons, only to emerge in July as fully formed moths. They will eventually mate, with the females laying hundreds of eggs per pop on trees, houses, and even lawn furniture. Then the cycle begins again.

To make things worse, these little creepazoids have few to no natural enemies to control their proliferation. For a while, a fungus was killing the caterpillars, but extended droughts have decimated the fungus in recent years. As a result, the gypsy moth rapidly begets and proliferates again.

These caterpillars look horror-film hideous, what with their writhing, brightly spotted bodies covered with long, eyebrow-like hairs and their little yellow heads that look more like larvae demons than moths. As appalling as it is to have one of them fall from the trees upon you, it’s just as grotesque to have them crapping on you.^[6]

Just like you can hear them chomping away in large numbers, you can also hear them defecating. These group poop sessions sound similar to rainfall. Also, the hairs from these caterpillars can cause an ugly, itchy rash lasting up to two weeks. So, be careful not to handle them. But honestly, who would choose to?

Although they eventually turn into harmless little moths, even then they’re not a picture-perfect, Kodak moment. The adult male gypsy moth has dark, triangular eyes with large, feathery antennae resembling bat ears. Up close, these guys look like evil little fiends.

The females are not capable of flying. After emerging from their pupal stage, they just creep and crawl about much like the caterpillars they once were. Unfortunately, ugly never skips a generation with gypsy moths!

4 Bikini Or Muumuu?

May is the harbinger of pool party invites and the official start of public beach season. Each year, we all go, “Yaay!” Then most of us look in the mirror and scream, “Booo!” Body issues and body shaming have become epidemic in our society, and they turn lethal this time of year whenever we shop for swimsuits.

Females of all ages fear, fret, and fuss while shopping for beachwear, not to mention when actually wearing their selections to the sandy shores. But is this dilemma exclusively for women or do men suffer from swimsuit phobia, too?

Men also have body issues, which generally start in school and continue throughout their lives. An equal number of men suffer from body dysmorphic disorder in which they have irrational perceptions of their physiques (just as women can).

One man for every 10 women suffers with anorexia. Eating disorders in general, including bulimia, are increasing for males. The term “bigorexia,” or muscle dysmorphia, pertains to men who just can’t get big enough through bodybuilding. They will often ignore social events to get to the gym, even when suffering from a joint injury due to weight lifting.

The use of steroids is epidemic with men suffering from this syndrome. Most of them remain untreated because they don’t believe they have a problem even though they are constantly looking into mirrors.^[7]

According to recent surveys, men are more concerned about their appearance than their health, career, or family. Approximately 44 percent feel uncomfortable wearing a swimsuit. Likewise, 60 percent of women would not feel comfortable posting a beach picture on social media. In fact, one-third of Americans would rather go to the dentist than wear a swimsuit in public.

This issue is not going away anytime soon. As long as beauty and fitness magazine covers portray perfectly toned and tanned models, most people are going to retain negative body issues. It seems to be part of life for the average American, but so is cannonball diving and beach volleyball.

So, unless you’re Mrs. Roper from Three’s Company, skip the muumuu and just have some fun. Smiling is one aspect of our bodies that’s always welcome in any venue!

3 Memorial Day Mayhem

Not only is Memorial Day celebrated in honor of our fallen soldiers, but it is also the unofficial start of summer. It is a day to barbecue by the pool, camp out, fly the flag, and, of course, drink plenty of beer!

It is also the first of the summertime patriotic holidays celebrated each year. Even though we plan this event (which falls on the last Monday in May) meticulously with guest lists, shopping lists, and liquor store runs, mayhem still often ensues.

A recent poll showed that 60 percent of Americans planned to barbecue over the Memorial Day weekend, which is also the second busiest time of the year for beer sales. This combination surely contributes to the 25 percent increase in home cooking fires on this particular holiday.^[8]

Memorial Day celebrants are notorious for sucking suds, with beer sales for the holiday averaging $381 million (21 million cases). Likewise, 44 percent of traffic deaths are related to alcohol, and an estimated 47,000 injuries from car accidents occur on this weekend each year. It only takes a quick search on YouTube to find a slew of brawls caught on camera during this festive weekend.

So let’s keep the sentiment of Memorial Day in mind as we party and do so responsibly this year (no brawling or at least no cameras). Even if we’re holding a Bud Light in one hand and a fire extinguisher in the other, let us remember to thank our veterans for serving and to honor those who never made it back for us to thank.

2 Walley World Syndrome

Memorial Day weekend unofficially inaugurates the start of vacation season—that time of year when we drive, fly, or backpack out of town to celebrate summer and work on our tan lines. According to a Finnish study, the ideal length of a vacation is eight days.^[9]

So, fine, with that time frame in mind, we can start planning a trip. We need a destination, a budget, and a mode of transportation. Most importantly, we need to keep one thing in mind and Murphy said it best: “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong!”

Let’s start with departures. Airlines often overbook a flight because up to 15 percent of people with reservations pull a no-show. If you travel frequently, this is bound to happen to you. If Murphy is right, it’ll probably happen even if you fly just once in your life.

Nobody likes getting bumped from his scheduled flight, but throwing a tantrum at the gate will not help in the least. However, there are steps you can take to prevent getting bumped.

Remember to check in online from home before you even try to arrive at the airport early. If you can, book a nonstop flight and get a seat assignment when you do. If possible, fly first class or business class as you are more likely to be given preferential treatment. If you still get bumped, get a confirmed seat on another flight. Don’t just settle for a priority standby. You might just get bumped again.

Now let’s talk arrivals. You’re probably going to want to rent a car, and we all know how consistently unreliable these companies are with their reservations. Then there are the other issues like billing discrepancies and poor vehicular conditions.

This problem has become so bad with a few US rental car companies that the Better Business Bureau has actually requested that law enforcement in several states get involved. Also, rentals are frequently stolen these days. Don’t be surprised if you’re held responsible for all damages, which might include the price of a replacement vehicle. Having comprehensive auto insurance, both personally and at the rental counter, will help tremendously in the event of such misfortune.

When you arrive at your hotel, you might find that you’ve been bumped. You might even lose your dinner reservation. When you hail a cab, you might get bumped by the door as someone else jumps in first. And when you finally find a fast-food restaurant, you might get bumped from behind into the counter face-first.

As terrible as all that might be, take heart that it’ll all be over come Monday morning and you’ll be back at work with a hefty hangover, wishing you were still on vacation.

1 Enough With The Fluff

All right, so you finally made it through the chaotic month of May in one piece. Then, just as you’re starting to plan for the supposedly better month of June, you find yourself suddenly engulfed in the most terrible infestation of spring. Yes, it is time once again for that most horrible of all invasive and intrusive nuisances across America—cottonwood tree fluff.

It usually begins late in May and continues throughout June. The cottonwood tree (Populus deltoides, P. fremontii, and P. nigra) is native to North America and can grow well over 30 meters (100 ft) tall.

These are beautiful, sturdy trees with rich golden autumn foliage, and they are probably too massive for a small yard. But if you do choose to purchase one, may we suggest that you buy a male tree?

In the spring, the female trees produce seed pods surrounded by fuzzy cotton-like fibers called catkins. They spread by the wind far and wide in great numbers so that it often looks as if it’s been snowing. These catkins end up on every surface, including water, and they often clog pool filters as well as fences.

They travel throughout the neighborhood and get into people’s yards, into their gardens, and even inside their homes. Catkins are particularly hazardous to HVAC systems. This cottony plague is so overwhelming that neighbors often complain to municipal officials—with just cause as piles of this fluff are known to be very flammable.^[10]

But come autumn, after all the fluff has been raked, shoveled, and hauled, the cottonwood trees with their brilliant, golden leaves return as tokens of American beauty. All will be fine for a good six months until spring rolls around and we all begin again to dread the advent of the merry month of May.

All things considered, 2019 is shaping up to be an enthralling year for science and technology. Here, we review 10 of the best scientific breakthroughs that made waves or may have flown under the radar over the past month.

Papers have been published on everything from a ketamine-related antidepressant nasal spray to a potential new method for treating Alzheimer’s. A stellar new species of frog rubs shoulders with a male contraceptive pill. Fascinating stuff.

10 Hangover-Free Alcohol

Researchers have produced a synthetic drink that replicates the feeling of alcohol without having to suffer a hangover the next morning.

The drink, named Alcarelle, contains a synthetic molecule known as alcosynth which can target the enjoyable areas of the brain while carefully avoiding the unpleasant areas. Alcosynth, much like regular alcohol, induces tipsiness by stimulating the brain’s GABA receptors. Unlike regular alcohol, it bypasses the receptors responsible for adverse, nauseating side effects.

Professor David Nutt, who created alcosynth with David Orren, lost his job working for the British government after he controversially claimed that alcohol is more dangerous than Ecstasy and LSD. In spite of this, he has remained dedicated to improving the safety of the drinks industry.

At the moment, Alcarelle is not available outside of the lab. The drink still has to be safety tested and regulated before it is deemed fit for consumption. However, Nutt hopes it will be on the market in as little as five years.^[1]

9 Starry Dwarf Frog Discovered

A group of researchers has unearthed an entirely new species of frog while out in the mountains of India. The newly discovered amphibian is around 2–3 centimeters (0.8–1.2 in) in length with orange-and-brown skin which is speckled with tiny starlike spots. Scientists have decided to call this species Astrobatrachus kurichiyana, which translates as “starry dwarf frog.” The name was given due to its distinctive bright markings.

The research team, which hails from the US and India, believes that the starry dwarf frog is the last surviving member of an ancient lineage. Their most recent common ancestor is said to have lived around 57 million to 76 million years ago.

The team first came across the speckled frogs hiding under leaf litter while they were surveying wildlife in the Western Ghats mountain range back in 2010. Subsequent assessment has confirmed that Astrobatrachus kurichiyana is a new species of frog descended from a completely new subfamily of Indian and Sri Lankan amphibian.^[2]

8 Subconscious Magnetic Sense

Are our brains able to tune in to the Earth’s magnetic field? According to Joseph Kirschvink, a geobiology professor at the California Institute of Technology, the evidence suggests that they do.

For their studies, Kirschvink and his team sat individual participants inside a six-sided wire cage. When a current is run through the wire coils, they produce a magnetic field similar to Earth’s. (The exact strength and direction depends on the current.) The researchers would then manipulate the cage’s magnetic field while an electroencephalogram measures the participant’s brain activity.^[3]

Kirschvink found that the participants responded to the experiment by subconsciously “freaking out,” suggesting that our brains can sense changes in the magnetic field on some level. Similar magnetic senses—or, to use the technical term, magnetoreception—have been observed in cattle, turtles, and pigeons.

7 Electronics Made From Skin

One day, we may be building electronic devices from our own skin. Melanin, the pigment responsible for coloring our skin and hair, could be one of the building blocks of the bionic implants and technology of tomorrow.

Using a newly discovered technique, scientists can drastically improve the pigment’s ability to conduct electricity. In fact, Italian nanoscientist Paolo Tassini and his colleagues have managed to increase the conductivity of melanin a billion times over.

Typically, eumelanin, the most common form of melanin, is composed of millions of sheets piled chaotically on top of each other. The group of researchers has discovered a method for heating up the material in a vacuum to radically improve its conductivity. During the process, the sheets are brought out of disarray and arrange themselves in a parallel configuration.

It is thought that eumelanin may take the place of metals in bioelectronic devices like brain implants in the future. The pigment is naturally produced in our bodies, and for that reason, our immune system is more likely to accept it than a substance like copper.^[4]

6 Worm Regeneration

As any mildly sadistic child will tell you, an earthworm has the amazing ability to grow back its body after being cut in half. At Harvard University, a group of researchers is exploring the origin of these incredible powers of regrowth while making a number of discoveries about the genome.

Led by Professor Mansi Srivastava, the team has identified the master control gene that is responsible for regeneration in three-banded panther worms. This master control gene, known as early growth response (EGR), masterminds the regeneration process by effectively switching sections of DNA on and off. This is only possible due to the dynamic nature of DNA, an area of biology that scientists are still trying to unlock.

In her research paper, Srivastava also explores why other species that use the EGR control gene, including humans, are unable to regenerate. It is hoped that future research can further our understanding of DNA—the blueprint for all of human life—as well as potentially enhance our abilities for regrowth and repair.^[5]

5 Alzheimer’s Treated In Mice

Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating chronic condition that currently has no known cure. However, neuroscientists at MIT’s Picower Institute have made a potentially great stride forward in developing a treatment. The group has discovered that exposing mice to flickering lights and rapid clicking noises seems to keep Alzheimer’s at bay.

The strobe lights and high-speed clicking also appear to improve the memory skills of mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. These external stimuli induce brain waves that positively alter the composition of proteins in the brain. According to the research findings, mice that listened to the clicks for an hour a day performed faster in maze challenges and had considerably better object recognition skills.

There is still a large amount of research that needs to be carried out. Exactly how these brain waves enhance the cerebral capacity remains a mystery. Also, scientists have yet to determine whether similar treatments will translate from mice to human patients. If so, this could be the first step in a revolutionary new technique for addressing neurodegenerative diseases.^[6]

4 Male Contraceptive Pill

It looks as if we are one step closer to getting a male contraceptive pill. A recent trial found that the drug brought down the levels of hormones that lead the testes to produce sperm. Scientists will now need to determine whether the sperm count itself has fallen by a sufficient amount.

During the trial, which was led by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle, 40 healthy volunteers took a capsule each day with food. Three-quarters received a dose of the contraceptive drug 11-beta-MNTDC, and the remaining 10 just consumed placebos. Scientists discovered considerably lower levels of certain hormones among the men that took the drug, a decent indication that fewer sperm are being produced.

Although no significant side effects were reported by any of the volunteers, a few experienced headaches, lessened libido, and mild erectile dysfunction.

While women can choose from a broad array of different contraceptives, men are limited to either condoms or vasectomies. A “male pill” would open up the range of options available to men as well as alleviate women of some of the responsibility for not getting pregnant.^[7]

3 Growing A Tiny Brain

The human brain is a thing of exquisite beauty. It is also phenomenally complex. Neurons fire off messages at breakneck speed across an intricate web of pathways. Every one of our thoughts and actions—everything from complex emotions to jerk reflexes—is controlled by that great cerebral nexus. Creating a replica human brain would be a prodigious challenge. We aren’t even entirely sure how it works in the first place.

In a staggering feat of science, researchers at Cambridge University have managed to grow a miniature, simplified human brain the size of a lentil. In some senses, the tiny bead of gray matter resembles the brain of a human fetus after three to four months of pregnancy. In terms of size, it sits somewhere between a cockroach and a zebra fish.

In recent years, scientists have produced a number of faux human brains, each more advanced than the last. This latest development goes further still, introducing a primitive kind of central nervous system.

Biologist Madeline Lancaster and her colleagues attached a spinal cord and muscle tissue to the droplet brain. The organoid automatically reached out and connected to the spinal cord, firing off electrical impulses that caused the muscles to twitch.^[8]

By studying systems like this, scientists hope to further their understanding of conditions such as motor neurone disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

2 Antidepressant Ketamine

In 1996, California indie band Eels achieved underground stardom with their debut single about taking novocaine for the soul. It now appears they might have been better off trying ketamine instead.

Experts are celebrating a potential watershed moment in mental health treatment after a ketamine-related antidepressant was given the green light earlier in the month. Esketamine, which will be branded as the nasal spray Spravato, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment when traditional psychiatric drugs are not appropriate.

Although there is a vast array of different brands and styles, all currently available antidepressants work in effectively the same way. Typically, patients are required to wait weeks before they feel the results of their treatment, whereas esketamine is said to be rapid-acting. The effects kick in within a matter of hours or days.

Despite FDA approval of the drug, some experts remain skeptical. They are concerned by the long history of people abusing ketamine as a recreational hallucinogenic. However, this is not the first time that the drug has been used for medical purposes. For decades, surgeons have relied on ketamine as an anesthetic. In the early 2000s, the drug was introduced as an intravenous treatment for depression.

This marks the first time that esketamine has been approved to treat depression. As such, it is still in its infancy. There are a number of setbacks that need ironing out before the drug can be rolled out on a mass scale.

Due to the potential for abuse, it can only be administered by trained professionals in approved clinics. The price is hardly cheap, either: The initial month of treatment will cost somewhere in the region of $4,720 to $6,785. Nonetheless, psychiatrists remain optimistic that the FDA’s decision could usher in a new class of rapid-acting antidepressants.^[9]

1 Patient Cured Of HIV

A patient in London has made history after becoming the second person to be cured of HIV. This anonymous patient became free of the virus after receiving a bone marrow transplant.

The donor of the transplanted stem cells has an unusual genetic mutation which makes them resistant to HIV. In the 18 months since the London patient stopped taking his antiretroviral medication, there have been no indicators that the HIV has returned.

Scientists will never be able to consider bone marrow transplant as a large-scale cure for HIV. The procedure comes with a number of serious risks. However, the success of the London patient and of Timothy Brown, the first person to be cured back in the 2000s, serves as confirmation that recovery is possible.

Anton Pozniak, the president of the International Aids Society, announced, “These new findings reaffirm our belief that there exists a proof of concept that HIV is curable.”^[10]

The remarkable treatment, carried out by a team of experts from University College London, suggests that the cure for HIV may lie somewhere within gene editing. In particular, the CCR5 gene located on the surface of white blood cells causes immunity to HIV.

That said, gene editing is a controversial practice. Chinese experimentalist He Jiankui raised the ire of scientists worldwide after revealing that he artificially modified the DNA of human embryos in an attempt to create HIV-resistant babies. He has been branded unethical and unbelievably reckless, while others believe that his actions mark the beginning of a groundbreaking new area of biological research.

The scientific community must now decide where to draw the moral boundaries on topics as contentious as gene editing and human experimentation.

Almost halfway through the year, headlines have once again been swarming with an array of fascinating new studies. Scientists from across the planet have been working away to learn more about the bizarre, fascinating world in which we live.

This month, a mind-controlled hearing aid has been invented that decides how to act by monitoring its wearer’s brain activity. On the subject of brain activity, neuroscientists have found the region of the brain that is activated when a long-term fan looks at a Pokemon character. Elsewhere, a gold-digging fungus has been uncovered in Western Australia, and quantum physicists have been using laser techniques to recreate the Mona Lisa.

10 Fungus Discovered That Extracts Gold

Scientists searching near Perth, Western Australia, have been taken aback after coming across a fungus that draws in gold from its environment. The unique fungus—Fusarium oxysporum—collects particles of gold from its surroundings and attaches them to its spindly strands. It is believed that the fungus coats itself in gold to promote growth and spread quicker than other fungi in the area.

Australia has a thriving gold industry, the second largest in the world. However, resources are dwindling, and new reserves need to be found. Research scientist Dr. Ravi Anand hopes that the fungus could be used to locate large deposits buried underground. Similar techniques involving gum leaves and termite mounds are already in use.^[1]

9 Suicidal Thoughts Could Be Detected By Brain Scans

A potentially huge step forward has been made in mental health treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) sufferers. Researchers from the Yale University School of Medicine believe they may have discovered a biomarker that highlights suicidal thoughts in the brain.

The group’s preliminary findings, published in the scientific journal PNAS, suggest that it is possible to recognize suicidal thoughts by focusing on a specific brain receptor: metabotropic glutamatergic receptor (mGluR5). People with PTSD already have elevated levels of mGluR5. The researchers found that, from a group of 29 people with PTSD, those suffering from suicidal thoughts had even higher levels of the receptor on the surface of their brain cells.

More research needs to be done before any conclusive links can be made between suicidal tendencies and mGluR5, but the findings offer a glimpse at a new, more effective form of PTSD drug therapy. Currently, there is no treatment available in the US that is specifically tailored to PTSD-related suicidal thoughts.^[2]

8 The First Mind-Controlled Hearing Aid

Scientists at Columbia University in New York have created a mind-controlled hearing aid that, for the first time, allows users to hone in on specific voices. The device is said to vastly improve the experience of people with hearing loss in loud, crowded environments and busy social occasions.

Unlike conventional hearing aids, which amplify all sounds together, this one simulates an impressive psychological phenomenon known as the cocktail party effect. This remarkable feat of selective hearing allows the brain to focus in on one particular voice amid background chatter. Previously, hearing aids were unable to recreate the effect, which could make conversations in noisy areas particularly difficult for wearers.

After years of research, scientists have finally come up with a solution that incorporates artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art brain monitors. The advanced hearing aid uses an algorithm to pick apart the numerous voices and then tunes in to the wearer’s neural activity to determine which one to amplify.^[3]

7 Why Our Brains Love Pokemon

Psychologists at Stanford believe they have uncovered the region of the brain that causes some people to love Pokemon.

Researchers found that the brains of adults who played the game often as children responded more firmly to images of the Japanese creatures compared to those who did not. The team invited 11 Pokemon fans and 11 novices to take part and monitored their neural activity using a functional MRI scanner while showing them images of characters. They identified the occipitotemporal sulcus, an area of the brain found right behind our ears, as the region that activated when the fans were presented with Pokemon characters.

Jesse Gomez, one of the main authors of the study, told reporters how the experiment was partly inspired by his own childhood love for the franchise.^[4]

6 Mayonnaise Helps With The Study Of Nuclear Fusion

Mayonnaise may be able to teach us more about nuclear physics than we first thought. Arindam Banerjee, an expert in material dynamics from Lehigh University, believes that the condiment could provide the solution for improving fusion modeling techniques.

In order to effectively study nuclear physics, scientists sometimes rely on the technique of internal confinement fusion (ICF). In ICF, pea-sized pellets of gas are heated to millions of degrees Kelvin using the energy from highly intense lasers. However, this method is not efficient. Due to the intense burst from the laser, the pellets often explode before physicists get the chance to study them properly.

To better understand the dynamics between the pellet and the gas, scientists exposed a container of Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise to the same conditions as the metal pellets. Mayonnaise, Banerjee claims, was chosen because it exhibits many of the same properties as molten metal. This is one of the few rare uses of household condiments in cutting-edge research.^[5]

5 Quantum Physicists Recreate The Mona Lisa

Classic art has finally entered the realm of quantum physics. While investigating the unknown origins of fluid flow, a team of researchers at the University of Queensland decided to render some famous pieces of art in quantum form.

The miniscule “paintings” are only 100 microns wide—around the same as a human hair—and include the Mona Lisa and Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night. Researchers used a laser technique known as light stamping to project the classic images onto a gas of ultracold rubidium atoms.

When kept at a fraction of a degree above absolute zero, certain atoms like rubidium take on a number of abnormal properties. The particles start to coalesce into an exotic form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Quantum phenomena that are usually only noticeable using sophisticated microscopes can be seen on the macroscopic scale.

While they are a fantastic achievement, the tiny works of art were never originally meant to be created. “We never aimed to do this,” quantum expert Tyler Neely revealed in a statement. “We just happened to create some of the world’s smallest masterpieces.”^[6]

4 Shark Vomit Throws Up Unexpected Result

Researchers have been taken aback after discovering traces of land-based birds in the stomachs of young sharks. A team of biologists from Mississippi State University analyzed the DNA found in the stomachs of baby tiger sharks and were perplexed to find that some belonged to doves and meadowlarks.

The project began in 2010, after one of the sharks gobbed up feathers from a land bird off the Mississippi-Alabama coast. Researchers pumped the stomachs of 105 tiger sharks between 2010 and 2018 to investigate the contents of their diets. Again, they were surprised to discover evidence of land-dwelling birds being consumed.

So how do the remains of a bird that lives on land wind up in the stomach of a shark? The researchers saw that the bird remains typically showed up at one time of year and concluded that the sharks were feasting on songbirds that had fallen into the ocean. They could have fallen due to fatigue or plummeted into the water during a storm.^[7]

3 Mammals Are Getting Smaller

By the end of the century, animals will have shrunk by unprecedented amount, scientists say. A recent study in Nature Communications predicts that in 100 years’ time, the average body size for mammals will have reduced by 25 percent. To put this in perspective, over the last 130,000 years, mammals experienced a 14-percent reduction in body mass—around 0.001 percent per century.

On top of this, researchers found that larger, less adaptable species face a greater threat of extinction. Using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the team listed the animals with the highest probability of becoming extinct.

As part of the project, the team examined more than 15,000 birds and animals, looking at five key characteristics: body mass, litter size, diet, habitat, and the time gap between generations. The Sumatran orangutan was found to have a mere one-percent chance of surviving to the end of the century, whereas the Amur tiger, which is also considered endangered, has a chance of two-in-three.^[8]

2 A Record-Breaking High-Temperature Superconductor

Superconductors are one of the most fascinating scientific discoveries of the 20th century. These materials are able to conduct electricity with perfect efficiency. An electrical current can flow through one without losing any of its energy. In theory, superconductors have a huge range of cutting-edge applications. They should be the perfect material for building state-of-the-art supercomputers and high-speed rail systems.

However, there is a fundamental issue with superconductors: They will only operate at extremely low temperatures. Traditionally, these materials stop working once they become more than a few degrees warmer than absolute zero. Scientists have yet to find one that can retain these incredible properties at room temperature.

In new developments, researchers at the Max Planck Institute have set a potential temperature record after producing a material, lanthanum hydride, that acts as a superconductor at minus 23 degrees Celsius (–9°F). To create the compound, they subjected a soft, ductile metal called lanthanum to immense pressure by compressing it between two diamonds. According to the team, they used a device known as a diamond anvil cell to exert over 150 gigapascals of pressure—over 1.5 million times the pressure at sea level.^[9]

1 The First Living Creature With Fully Synthetic DNA

For the first time in history, scientists have built an organism with entirely synthetic DNA.

Researchers from the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge artificially recreated Escherichia coli—a bacterium typically found in the lower intestine. The synthesized microbes are not genetically identical to their real-life cousins; scientists made over 18,000 alterations to the E. coli genome, often removing superfluous DNA sequences. Following this, the team created new cells that contained the redesigned genetic structure. With four million genetic letters, this is by far the largest artificial genome in history.

The synthetic bacteria, known as Syn61, could be used for various medical applications. E. coli are a key component in the production of insulin, but the process is sometimes scuppered if the bugs become contaminated by viruses. Syn61’s designer DNA makes it highly resistant to virus invasion. What’s more, genetically programmed organisms could one day be used to produce proteins, drugs, and other materials.^[10]

Schools in the United States have set aside the month of February to teach history as it relates specifically to African Americans, their impact on sociopolitical events, and their contributions to society as a whole. Every kid who grew up in America knows of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but there were thousands of amazing people who fought for civil rights and did wondrous things for humanity.

The real unsung heroes in American history aren’t just African Americans; they are African American women who often took a backseat to the accomplishments of men. Here are ten amazing women you likely never learned about during Black History Month, presented in no particular order.

10 Diane Nash

Diane Nash was born in 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, where she was raised far from the disturbing segregation that was rampant in the South at the time. She planned on becoming a nun in honor of her Catholic upbringing, but that all changed when she attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. There, she saw and experienced racial segregation for the first time under the banner of Jim Crow laws when she was forced to use a “Colored Women” restroom for the first time in her life. That event changed her, and she abandoned her plans and became a full-time activist for civil rights.^[1]

She threw herself into the Civil Rights Movement and was instrumental in integrating lunch counters via sit-ins. She also participated in the Freedom Riders and helped to desegregate interstate travel, co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and worked on the Selma Voting Rights Movement, which further helped to push the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Her efforts helped make it possible for millions of African Americans to vote in the United States.

9 Ella Baker

Ella Baker was a civil rights activist born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1903. She spent the better part of 50 years of her life working behind the scenes alongside some of the biggest names in the movement. Baker spent years organizing events for the likes of Thurgood Marshall, Martin Lither King Jr., and many more, but her influence extended to those she mentored. Baker had numerous mentees under her belt over the years, including the aforementioned Diane Nash, Bob Moses, and Rosa Parks.

Baker was the primary advisor and strategist of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and has been called one of the most important African American leaders of the 20th century. In her own words, she described why she wasn’t as well-known as her peers: “You didn’t see me on television; you didn’t see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don’t need strong leaders.”^[2]

8 Katherine Johnson

When people think back to the early days of NASA and the Apollo missions, they tend to focus on the men who set foot on the Moon. There’s nothing wrong with that—they achieved amazing feats of daring exploration, but they never would have made it there had it not been for the work of Katherine Johnson. Johnson worked for NASA as a mathematician who calculated complicated orbital mechanics. Her manual calculations of complex equations made it possible for the astronauts and engineers to point a rocket to the sky, land men on the Moon, and bring them home safely.^[3]

Her work began before NASA even existed and helped the Mercury program with calculations of trajectories and launch windows. She was instrumental in launching the Space Shuttle program and has contributed a great deal of information and expertise for NASA’s various missions to Mars. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 by President Obama and was a lead character in the 2016 movie Hidden Figures, which focused on the female mathematicians who made space travel possible.

7 Septima Poinsette Clark

Septima Poinsette Clark was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1898. She grew up to become a prominent civil rights activist who focused her work on the teaching of literacy and the education of children. Her belief was that the Civil Rights Movement followed the path that “knowledge could empower marginalized groups in ways that formal legal equality couldn’t.” Her focus on education brought her to the attention of other civil rights activists, including Dr. King, who called her “The Mother of the Movement.”

Though she was a prominent figure who played a pivotal role in the movement, her work was somewhat unappreciated by some prominent leaders. This was the result of the gender inequality that was not only going on throughout American society at the time but within the Civil Rights Movement itself. Her impact on the movement centered on the creation of “Citizenship Schools,” which taught adults in the Deep South how to read. Spreading literacy throughout the American South helped to fuel the movement and impacted thousands of people.^[4]

6 Esther Jones

At the height of her fame, most people in Harlem knew who Esther Jones, otherwise known as “Baby Esther,” was. Jones was a regular performer in the Cotton Club, where she entertained the masses by singing in her signature “baby talk” style. She recorded Helen Kane’s “I Wanna Be Loved By You” with multiple uses of the words “boo-boo-boo” and “boop-boop-a-doop.” Those may sound familiar if you’ve ever seen or heard the famous cartoon character from the 1930s called Betty Boop. Though she is drawn to look like a white woman, she was directly inspired by Jones.

Jones’s story is a common one in African American history, as her likeness and singing style were appropriated without her consent. Kane brought a lawsuit against Fleischer Studios claiming the character was a deliberate caricature of her work, but the trial determined that Baby Esther was responsible for the “baby” style of singing, which proved to be the original inspiration for Boop. Jones never received the money or fame she deserved while she was alive and has since gone on to be known as Betty Boop’s “black grandmother.”^[5]

5 Mary Kenner

Mary Kenner was born and raised in Monroe, North Carolina, where she grew up to become an inventor. She found an early love of discovery from her father, which helped to push her to become the inventor of the sanitary belt. Her device inspired modern-day menstrual pads, but thanks to racial prejudices, it languished without a patent for 30 years.^[6] The company she originally pitched it to scoffed at selling it once it was revealed that Kenner was an African American woman. Today, versions of her invention are sold across the planet to hundreds of millions of women regardless of their race or Kenner’s.

Throughout her life, Kenner invented numerous devices still found commonly throughout the world today. All told, she was issued five patents for household and personal use items, including a bathroom tissue holder that kept the next tissue in the roll outside the box and readily available, a carrier attachment for an invalid walker, and a back washer mounted on a shower wall and bathtub. She never made a lot of money from her inventions and instead hoped to make life easier for people.

4 Marian Anderson

Marian Anderson was a prominent singer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, back in 1897. While there were many talented African American performers throughout the early 20th century, Anderson holds the distinction of being the first black person to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1955. Her rise to fame came out of the turmoil of racial persecution and segregation. In 1939, she was forbidden from performing at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC, by the Daughters of the American Revolution due to the fact that the audience was integrated.

The incident brought her talents to the attention of the international community as well as to some prominent Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt recognized her abilities and helped to bring Anderson to Washington to perform an open-air concert on Easter Sunday 1939 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.^[7] More than 75,000 people made up the integrated audience, with millions more tuning in to listen on their radios. Her accomplishments earned her numerous awards over the course of her life and helped pave the way for other talented African American musicians performing in a divided nation.

3 Claudette Colvin

While most people in the United States and around the world know the name Rosa Parks, far fewer are aware of another pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement named Claudette Colvin. Nine months before Parks refused to give up her seat, Colvin did the same at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama. She was arrested and became one of five plaintiffs challenging Montgomery’s segregated bus laws the following year. Browder v. Gayle went all the way to the Supreme Court in 1956. Colvin was the last to testify in the case, which ultimately determined the Alabama laws unconstitutional.^[8]

She wasn’t recognized by many of the black leaders in the movement at the time due to being so young. She was also unmarried and pregnant and had no civil rights training, but she wasn’t bitter about not being recognized in the same way as Parks: “I’m not disappointed. Let the people know Rosa Parks was the right person for the boycott. But also let them know that the attorneys took four other women to the Supreme Court to challenge the law that led to the end of segregation.”

2 Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells was born into a life of slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1862. She was freed via the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War and became the provider for her family at the age of 16 when both her parents succumbed to yellow fever. Eventually, she became a teacher in Memphis, Tennessee, where she co-owned a newspaper called the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight—the first of many important publications she would put her name upon. She rose to prominence as an investigative journalist following her work covering numerous lynchings in the United States.^[9]

This brought the ire of whites who sought to intimidate her by destroying her newspaper office and printing press, but that only pushed her to further action. She moved to Chicago, Illinois, and became one of the most outspoken African American activists in the burgeoning women’s suffrage movement. She helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 by joining others in the “founding forty” and helped spark the flame that would ultimately become the Civil Rights Movement in America.

1 Dr. Mae Jemison

Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1956 but moved with her family at the age of three to Chicago, where she could take advantage of a better education. That education served her well, as she is best known for being the first African American woman to travel into space. She was a part of the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor on September 12, 1992. All told, she spent 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in space, but that was hardly the only amazing achievement in her life. Prior to joining NASA’s astronaut corps, she served in the Peace Corps for two years, during which she used her training as a physician in Liberia and Sierra Leone.^[10]

She remained with NASA until 1993, when she left to found a company that researched the application of technology in daily life. Her work with NASA earned her an appearance on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which she played Lieutenant Palmer. She holds nine honorary doctorates (in addition to her Ph.D.) in engineering, science, letters, and the humanities.