Circadian clocks, which drive circadian rhythms, are entwined with many essential systems in living things including plants, fungi, insects, and even humans. Because of this, disruptions to our circadian clocks are linked to higher disease rates in humans, including certain cancers and autoimmune diseases. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Jennifer Hurley, Ph.D., Richard Baruch M.D. Career Development Chair and Associate Department Head of Biological Sciences, has dedicated her career to understanding the mechanisms that allow our circadian clocks to keep time.

Brianna Casey ’26 is one of 40 undergraduate students nationwide to be selected for NASA’s Europa ICONS (Inspiring Clipper: Opportunities for Next-Generation Scientists) internship program. The program supports the Europa Clipper mission, with the goal of determining whether Jupiter’s moon, Europa, has “conditions suitable to support life.” Scientists predict that an ocean lies beneath Europa’s icy shell, so massive that it is bigger than all of Earth’s oceans combined.

We all know that communication encompasses so much more than words. Facial expressions, intonations, hand gestures, and more contribute to our expressiveness. However, in social media, these intricacies are lost.