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About Massimo
Harnessing his dual expertise in molecular biology and digital communications, Massimo is a steadfast advocate for science, striving to weave it into the fabric of everyday life. As the founder and editor-in-chief of TheScienceBreaker, he is not just chasing a dream, but actively building a reality where society and science walk hand-in-hand. His aspiration is not one of distant admiration, but of close collaboration: empowering every individual with scientific understanding and fostering a collective enthusiasm for discovery. His vision is one of unity, where society acknowledges the integral role of science and technology in shaping our shared future.
Massimo is the editor of 352 Breaks:
Storm surge extremes are so SPATIAL
By leveraging spatial coherence in storm surge extremes, we have been able to quantify the likelihood of extreme events occurring along European coastlines with high precision, even at locations without historical sea-level data.
Dec 18, 2020 | 3.5 min readElpistostege: a fish with legs or a tetrapod with fins?
The recent discovery of a complete 375 million-year-old fossil from eastern Canada, Elpistostege watsoni, clarifies our understanding of the origin of digits and hands in tetrapods. This subject has puzzled evolutionary biologists for more than 150 years. The Devonian Elpistostege had digits embedded in its pectoral fin - a condition preceding the origin of hands in tetrapods.
Dec 16, 2020 | 4 min readMore droughts, more war?
Historically, violent conflicts tend to predominantly erupt in bad years, when droughts, floods, or heatwaves put the functioning of societies to the test. Does this mean that violent conflicts will become more frequent as extreme weather becomes increasingly common, globally, because of climate change?
Dec 14, 2020 | 3.5 min readMosquito travel diaries: destinations, routes, stowaways, and … cost
Half the world's population is at risk of illness or death from malaria, dengue, and other mosquito-borne diseases. This study shows that mosquitos are able to travel hundreds of kilometers- far longer than previously expected- forcing us to rethink how mosquitoes and pathogens travel.
Dec 10, 2020 | 4 min readA contributing gene for cannabis dependence
Individual variations in our genetic material contribute to more than we imagined and may combine with age and sex to influence how someone responds to drugs of abuse. Our results show that our genes might affect how much an individual likes marijuana due to underlying differences in reward regions of the brain.
Dec 8, 2020 | 3 min readCorals display bright colours to fight bleaching
Stressful conditions do not always render reef corals white. We found that mild or brief exposure of corals to heat stress or to unfavourable nutrient conditions does not only cause the loss of the vital symbiont alga but also switches on an optical feedback loop that results in a dazzling display of coral colours. The enhanced pigmentation is thought to help the corals to recover.
Dec 3, 2020 | 4 min read