Scientific American Celebrates 180 Years with Stories of Scientific U-turns
In honor of SciAm’s 180th birthday, we’re spotlighting the biggest “wait, what?” moments in science history.
Drawings of Mars showing its ‘canals’ and polar ice caps in drawings created from observations made at the Lowell Observatory in 1907.
Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman.
Today we’re doing something a little different from our usual weekly news roundup. Scientific American turns 180 this year, and we recently celebrated with a collection of print features about times in history when science has seemingly done a complete pivot—a 180-degree turn, if you will. We thought it would be fun to take you on a tour of a few highlights from that package.
First up, we have a story from freelance health and life sciences journalist Diana Kwon about nerve regeneration. For millennia doctors and scientists believed that any damage to the nerve cells that carry signals throughout the body must be irreversible. While many instances of nerve damage are, indeed, difficult to treat, scientists have realized over the past couple of centuries that nerves can and do regenerate.
On supporting science journalism
If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Throughout this evolution in our understanding of nerves it was still widely believed that neurons within the central nervous system, composed of the brain and spinal cord,were incapable of healing. Now we know that even these most precious neurons can regenerate under the right conditions.
As research continues into exactly which mechanisms encourage (or block) neural regeneration throughout the body, scientists are also engaged in another debate: whether human brains are capable of producing new neurons throughout adulthood. The phenomenon of adult neurogenesis would have been unfathomable mere decades ago, but a growing body of evidence now supports it. Just imagine what secrets we’ll have uncovered about the nervous system 180 years from now.
In another example of a scientific turnabout, Scientific American senior features editor Jen Schwartz reminds readers that…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Scientific American Content: Global…