The Beirut explosion may be the worst ammonium nitrate disaster in history, but it is not the first such calamity. Let’s go back to the early morning of April 16, 1947 when spectators flooded to...
In the early hours of April 15th, 1912, over the course of 2 hours and 40 minutes, the RMS Titanic sunk. It’s believed that upwards of 1500 people died in the accident, however, amongst the...
One of the questions I often get asked is if I worry about running out of topics to write about. Nope. The fertile pastures of science are planted with such a wide array of seeds that the only...
Just four months after Apollo 11’s historic landing on the moon in 1969, “Intrepid,” Apollo 12’s lunar lander, made a perfect landing. It was expected that in April of 1970, “Aquarius,” Apollo 13’s...
“Gentlemen, it is the microbes who will have the last word.” Those words spoken by Louis Pasteur a century and a half ago are unnervingly meaningful today as we confront the SARS-CoV-2 virus that...
Today it is COVID-19 that is sowing panic around the world but in 19th century England the fear was of cholera, a dreadful disease. It causes diarrhea so severe that a victim can lose as much as...
Infectious diseases have a long history. The first epidemics were probably caused by the variola virus that causes smallpox. The disease commonly spreads through skin-to-skin contact or contact...
The Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. is under pressure to fast track drugs that may be helpful in the treatment of COVID-19. Remdesivir, originally approved for Ebola, may be helpful, as...