Two ‘bits’ of science keep exciting my pop-science brain at the moment. Graphene and CRISPR (specifically Cas9). Both seem so fantastically sci-fi, yet slowly coming into reality. I wish I was more science literate to fully understand their short term real world potential. In the meantime, news and stories keep me hopeful:
Graphene-based sieve turns seawater into drinking water. Given the world wide focus on water, sanitation and hygiene this feels like it has massive potential. While the result may not be a simple sieve, how fantastic would it be if desalination was machine free and pocket or rucksack sized.
Radiolab Podcast Archive: Update: CRISPR. The timeline expressed here is pretty crazy. I remember the podcast two years ago, talking speculatively and in a far future sense about the method, then within just two years it’s already leapt further than the hosts imagined possible.
With friends and loved ones suffering from diseases like Cancer and Huntington’s therefore, stories like, China Used Crispr to Fight Cancer in a Real, Live Human and Gene-editing method halts production of brain-destroying proteins are incredibly exciting.
Documenteering 