Articles

  In the Appalachian Mountains, a train hustles past snow-covered towns, chugging toward the eastern seaboard with 3 million gallons of crude oil in its tank cars. From the front window of a house in the West Virginia valley town of Boomer Bottom, a grandmother, son, and granddaughter take in the distant view of the…

It’s lunchtime. Time for a sandwich and one-on-one time with your smartphone. You have shopping to do. With one thumb wrapped around your sandwich and the other on your phone, you poke around and find that gift you want to buy for your sister, comparing coupon codes and free-shipping offers. By the time you get…

Risky Thinking The balloon inflates, growing fatter and fatter. Soon, the inevitable is going to happen. The mom pumping the balloon can almost hear the stretch of latex, almost hear the pop that must be moments away. But if she pumps this virtual balloon on a computer screen just a couple more times and it…

Wide Angle Byrne makes gene therapy click Black and white images of 20-nanometer particles beam out from a computer screen in a structural biology lab in Biomedical Science Tower 3. University of Pittsburgh scientist Leah Byrne examines the viral particles she engineered. Did she get it right this time? Or will she have to go…

Defeat Infection! Robert J. O’Connell   At a research clinic in Thailand, study participants became familiar faces during twice-weekly visits for blood draws. The volunteers had self-identified as being at high-risk for HIV infection, but they hadn’t tested positive. During the course of the study, some participants became infected with the virus. The frequent blood…

Inside the World of OCD Wardrobe change number 9 ** Winner of the 2016 Western Pennsylvania Press Club’s Golden Quill Award for Education Feature, as well as the Ray Sprigle Memorial Award for Magazines. **   The alarm went off at 6 a.m. Instantly, the question pushed into Hilary Zurbuch’s head: What am I going to…