This issue of Basically, Science is all about Patterns.
Witness how geometry guides the early stages of life, discover a new tropical climate pattern hidden in plain sight, and learn about the carbon-emission cost of scientific conference travel.
Living tissues may appear messy, but their cells arrange themselves in surprisingly regular ways. Writing in Nature Communications, researchers show how geometry and mechanical forces guide the way cells pack together as tissues grow. The work links cell shape and neighbor interactions to the stable patterns seen in many living structures.
A previously unnoticed climate rhythm may be shaping weather across the tropics. Writing in PNAS, researchers describe a repeating pattern that links rainfall, cloud cover, and winds across tropical regions over several weeks. The newly identified “tropics-wide intraseasonal oscillation” could help scientists better anticipate conditions that precede tropical cyclones.
Glaciers high in the Andes help regulate water supplies for millions of people downstream. A study in Nature Climate Change explores how warming temperatures could reshape this system in the coming decades. The researchers project continued glacier loss across the tropical Andes, altering the timing and reliability of river flow. These shifts could affect communities that depend on glacier-fed water throughout the region.
Flying to conferences is a major source of scientists’ carbon emissions. Research in Nature Climate Change finds that academic travel can account for a large share of a researcher’s personal footprint, with long-haul flights contributing the most. The study analyses travel patterns linked to scientific meetings and explores how alternatives such as hybrid conferences and regional events could reduce emissions.
Cynthia Dwork: Differential Privacy and the US Census
It was a pleasure to welcome Cynthia Dwork from Harvard University to campus for an ISTA Lecture that sparked both reflection and discussion. Her visit brought one of the leading voices in data privacy to ISTA for a timely and thought-provoking talk.
Recently appointed assistant professor Xujia Chen works in geometric topology, a field that studies how shapes and spaces behave when they are stretched or deformed. Her research explores how complex spaces can be broken down into simpler building blocks and how these pieces fit together. By tracing these underlying structures, Chen investigates patterns that reveal when seemingly different shapes share the same fundamental form.
Join us on March 12 at the VISTA Science Experience Center, where biologist Nicolò Zava will explore how patterns found across the natural world form and what they reveal about the processes that organize life. The interactive talk offers visitors a chance to hear directly from a researcher and see how scientific ideas take shape in the lab.
