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.


Why Bad Smells Smell Bad

When you smell a new scent that you have never come across before, you never have to stop and ponder “hmmm is this smell unpleasant?” On a daily basis, we take 24,000 breaths, each one full of molecules that interact with our olfactory receptors, allowing us to smell the chemical world we live in (Agapakis Read the full article…



Global St(Warming)

The words climate change trigger thoughts of hot temperatures, mass extinctions and melting ice caps. Even though these are all frightening changes, one specific danger that is overlooked by the media is the increase in the incidence rate of violent thunderstorms. Thunderstorms  are one of the primary causes of catastrophic loss in the United States. Read the full article…




Toxicodendron: Getting Under Our Skin

The Gasserion neural system mediates facial itch sensations, beginning with the peripheral branches and leading to the cerebral cortex.

Itch, medically referred to as pruritus, is a nocifensive neural sensation most everyone has experienced. It can be induced by touches only microns in length, like the legs of an insect or the spines of a plant (Twycross, 2003). Unimpressive as they seem, brushing and scratching responses itch are important to our health. Without these evolved defences, we Read the full article…


The Physics of Ballet – It’s Harder Than LonCapa

On the surface, when you watch ballet dancers gracefully move across an empty stage filling it with their passion and emotion, it almost gives the impression that dance is quite effortless. Even after hours of endless rehearsals and tiring performances, ballet dancers make everything look calm, collected, and strong. On the other hand, when you Read the full article…


Amino Acids: a Scaffold to a Better Future

Modern Westernized medicine is constantly developing novel clinical and surgical practices. These practices have been created in response to rapid advancements in technology and society’s desire for better, faster and more reliable treatments. The current need for reliable clinical practices has created a relatively new discipline known as bioengineering (Griffith, 2001). Bioengineering incorporates molecular and Read the full article…


Translating Thoughts Into Actions

Translating Thoughts Into Actions

Our society is one that focuses on the needs of the few, rather than the needs of the many. Nowadays, people become fixated with what they cannot do, instead of appreciating what they can. For a short individual, this may mean a time-consuming climb to the top shelf of a library, just to get a Read the full article…