Science

Ancient Greeks worshiped Helios, the “Sun God.” It’s not hard to see why they worshiped the personification of the great ball of fire in the sky. The sun provides warmth, heat, and now—energy. Here, science writer Kristen Pope provides 15 facts about solar energy you likely didn’t know.

Ever wondered why you can’t get “Gangnam Style” out of your head or why you find yourself singing along to pop songs you dislike? Hippo’s latest Ask Me Anything is your chance to put questions of music and mind in front of a recognized expert in this exciting field of study.

Media portrayals of Ebola paint a stark picture—hazmat suits, mass graves, evacuations. But what do past worldwide epidemics have to teach us? Medical student Mark Wien examines epidemiology’s history lessons.

From the first of a series investigating Freud’s legacy: “A lot of psychoanalysis is about imagining. And the implications of imagination, what happens as people imagine things? Real things happen as a result of people imagining things. Real things happen as a result of people dreaming things. And even more fundamentally, dreams and imaginings and fantasies and inner experiences are a real part of the world.”

In the US, health care accounts for 17.9 percent of GDP spending, the highest of anywhere in the world. Who are some of the frugal medicine innovators and why are their technologies critically improving healthcare around the world? This slideshow provides a few examples of frugal medicine.

How are green technologies being used in construction and architecture? Is there a way to make our homes not only energy efficient and cost-effective but also aesthetically pleasing? Architect and academic Dan Spiegel provides deeper insights on what it means to construct lived environments with a sustainable focus.

Surgery is nothing like you see on TV—what is the modern-day Operating Room like and what innovations are impacting surgical techniques and perspectives? In this interview, Dr. Alexander Langerman of the University of Chicago Hospital elucidates what happens behind the curtain.