By Mariel Emrich, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School
Recently, there was a study by scientists, including the co-leader Jean Bennet, and Manzar Ashtari from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania that was published in Science Translational Medicine. The study showed successful gene therapy for inherited blindness for one eye. The particular disease is called leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).

The week surrounding Valentine’s Day makes us think about love and joy, whether we like it or not. Learning to identify people or pinpoint events and moments that make us happy is a good exercise, though. So we decided to sit down and list 5 reasons why we love being entomologists.

Gliding mammals sail silently from one tree to the next, maneuvering to their destinations with extraordinary precision and control, often in complete darkness. This unique ability is found in only about 60 species of mammals in the world, but those species include marsupials and placental animals, two very distantly related groups distinguished by the vast evolutionary differences in their reproductive systems. As a result, gliding mammals serve as a fascinating example of convergent evolution -- when similar physical and functional traits occur in unrelated species.

Insects as food is making headlines again. An article released by The Daily Mail in late January discussed how the European Union is spending 3 million Euro to explore insect protein as a food supplements, as well as using insects to combat food shortages. We decided to re-post our podcast about entomophagy (the eating of insects) in order to start the discussion here on Talking Science!

The southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus) arrived in Hawaii in the 1820s, its larvae likely entering the local water supply when contaminated water casks aboard a sailing vessel were dumped at the port of Maui. Up to that time, mosquitoes had been nonexistent on the islands, and hence native birds had evolved in environments without mosquito-borne disease, leaving them with no innate defense against infection. As a result, the arrival of avian pox (in the 1800s) and avian malaria (in the early 1900s), both of which are transmitted by Culex and presumably reached the islands in nonnative birds transported on ships, facilitated the near decimation of Hawaii’s forest birds.

Build a blimp and become an aerospace engineer! In this hands-on activity, kids explore the physics of force by creating balloon blimps with a propulsion system. They problem solve how to make their blimp buoyant while being propelled forward. The Girlstart girls enjoyed testing different amounts of weight added to their blimps to make them buoyant and propel specific distances.

Genetics represents a beautiful illustration of the unity of mathematics and biology.

In this exercise, poker chips are used to represent genes. Students draw tree diagrams to illustrate the chance for inheritance of multiple traits. This activity is borrowed with permission from Biology in a Box

by Caitlin Gee, High Technology High School, Lincroft, New Jersey
Intel released the names of the finalists for the 2012 Science Talent Search. Out of the 40 finalists chosen, 11 were from the tri-state area. Furthermore, out of the nine finalists who represent New York, three of them reside in New York City!

Aphids are very small insects, and they have rounded, soft bodies. They live on plant stems and undersides of leaves, and have a long mouthpart called a proboscis that acts like a needle to jam into the plant tissues to suck out the juices. Another totally cool feature of aphids is a pair of cornicles on their abdomen. They remind me of little biological exhaust pipes – but they secrete a kind of wax that coats the bodies of the aphids to keep them from drying out.

There is an easy way to distinguish blackmargined aphids from other species. The outer margins of their wings are lined with black (hence their name)!

Are you in the Philadelphia area? If so, you'll want to know about the new citizen science project: MyHeartMap Challenge! The project, a contest, is getting the public involved to make the first-of-its-kind map of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in Philadelphia. (And it's almost Valentine's Day so perhaps hearts are on your mind!)