public posts

The select public posts from syn·op·sis, written and reviewed by iSci students at McMaster University. Each post is interdisciplinary in nature, and a wide variety of subject matter is covered. So sit back, relax, and start learning.

The Microscopic Elephant in the Room

Life as humans know it is slowly but surely being altered by the crucial issue of climate change (Tiedje, et al., 2022). Greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), largely contribute to this problem and are in surplus due to altered biogeochemical cycles. These gases are produced and Read the full article…


Impact of Climate Change on Grapevine Genetics and Wine

It is no surprise that our changing climate does not only affect humans. Plants are also greatly impacted by environmental fluctuations, especially grapevines. Viticulture is the farming of grapevines used in winemaking and this agricultural system is recognized as an indicator of climate change due to its climate sensitivity; the lifecycle of grapevines, is so Read the full article…


Heavy Metals and Crop Contamination

Implementing a sustainable framework for agriculture to promote food security and produce safe food is a facet of goal two within the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2022). However, as the world becomes increasingly industrialized, environmental contaminants are released from more and more anthropogenic sources, particularly from the fields of agriculture and industry, Read the full article…


Fly Away Little Salamander

Humans have long been fascinated by flight. As a dominant terrestrial species, the notion of sustained suspension in the air has created a wonder that transcends both cultures and generations (Alexander, 2002). While the flight of birds has created an entire industry, from bird watching to backyard feeders (Tobalske, 2006), many other species have mastered Read the full article…


Cichlid Speciation Explosion in Lake Tanganyika

Located in the heart of Africa lies the Great Rift Valley. Situated on a divergent plate boundary, this 7000 km series of trenches has fashioned a string of great lakes. The greatest of them all, Lake Tanganyika. As the second oldest lake and second largest lake by volume, Tanganyika has been an evolutionary powerhouse for Read the full article…


Thwaites Glacier: are we skating on thin ice?

The impacts of climate change are all around us and can be observed in our everyday lives. A direct and progressively concerning consequence of climate change is the rise of global sea levels. Conservative trajectories predict that the sea level will rise 49-56 cm by 2100 (Kopp, et al., 2017). Worst-case scenarios predict increases of Read the full article…


SPF 1000?

In 2020, the world’s largest reef, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, experienced its third mass bleaching event in the last five years (Nelson, 2020). Exacerbated by climate change, extreme heat waves bleach coral as their thermal tolerance and photosynthetic symbionts are exceeded (Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999). While bleaching does not always lead to organism death, it Read the full article…



Mathematics + Genetics = Molecular Computing

The interdisciplinary comprehension and use of mathematics and computing in science are essential for research and development. Mathematics aids in analyzing and visualizing patterns in data collected on computers, and allows for representation of scientific phenomena (Meredith et al., 2007). The use of math also allows for expanding existing ideas and discovering new ones. In Read the full article…


Learning How to Read Minds

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), despite being one of the most pivotal innovations of contemporary medicine, is markedly limited due to its safety, cost, and inability to discern micro-insults within the brain (Glover, 2011). In 1992, scientists introduced functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), a non-invasive technique intended to measure brain activity with unparalleled specificity (Soares, et Read the full article…


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