Learn Perfect Pitch

Perfect pitch was once a skill believed to be attainable only by musical prodigies like Mozart or Mariah Carey but, according to new research, it’s possible for any human adult to acquire it. Researchers at the University of Chicago recently worked with 17 college students to train their brains into recognizing distinct music notes by listening to and then recreating them. The subjects were invited …

Lab-Grown Skin May Eliminate Animal Testing

The once-prevalent practice of testing cosmetics on animals has declined significantly over the past decade thanks to new legislation and awareness but, in many labs, it still exists. A recent partnership between cosmetic company L’Oreal and 3D bioprinting start-up Organovo may soon eliminate animal testing altogether, though, as the two companies are aggressively pursuing mass-produced, lab-grown human skin. If successful, the skin swatches will replace …

Ancient Manuscript Reveals Medicine’s Beginnings

When Syriac scholar Dr Gregory Kessel first handled the ancient medicinal manuscript “On the Mixtures and Powers of Simple Drugs,” he immediately knew he had encountered it before. Kessel recalled a stray page at a Harvard library that looked eerily similar and, it turns out, it was one of seven missing pages from the influential text. An ensuing international page-hunt provided five more strays leaving …