Author: isci

Soap is a ubiquitous commodity that has been in the hands of humanity for thousands of years. In fact, the oldest known soap is believed to date as far back as 2800 BCE, originating in Ancient Babylonia, where it was used to clean materials like wool (Butler, 2000). Ever since then, the process of soap…

Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to withstand the damaging effects of radiation? Worry not, because tardigrades have recently become a source of hope. This micro-animal (Figure 1) possesses a protein, termed Dsup (short for Damage suppressor) that allows it to survive X-ray radiation (Hashimoto, et al., 2016). Interestingly, this protein can…

Ever since the earliest human civilizations, the sun has been an entity shrouded in mystery and awe. With the accepted heliocentric model of the universe, virtually all workings of Earth, from the inception of life to the daily changes in weather, have been attributed to the sun. Now, with increased scientific understanding and technological advancement,…

Sleep is an essential part of the day, one that most people disregard to their disadvantage. An indispensable device of sleep is the internal circadian clock, responsible not only for inducing sleep but also for controlling the many stages of sleep (Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, n.d.). Below in Figure 1, it can…

Whether you’re swiping left or right on Tinder, double-tapping an Instagram photo, or scrolling mindlessly through your Facebook feed, most of us have been victims of social media’s dangerous incentives. The copious surges of dopamine brings about obsessive pleasure-seeking behavior as the brain starts to desire these stimulations (Salehan and Negahban, 2013). Regular social media…

When out for a shopping trip, it can be difficult to resist the delicious odour of Cinnabon in the mall that seems to follow wherever you go. But have you ever considered the molecule that gives cinnamon buns their amazing taste and smell? Meet cinnamaldehyde (see Figure 1), a yellow oil produced naturally in the…

Science is a field that is unpredictable and challenging, yet fascinating. Throughout their careers, scientists have come face-to-face with successes, failures and rejections. They have put great amounts of dedication into projects and may have even experienced a light bulb moment when identifying a solution after working on a long problem. But imagine stumbling upon a…

An ecosystem is a highly complex network of interactions between plants, animals, and the environment. Within this ecological community, there are two groups of organisms that are completely essential. Plants and pollinators share a crucial type of relationship for genetic and reproductive purposes. From the plant’s perspective, it produces pollen as the male gametophyte (Komosinska-Vassev…

Do women have better handwriting than men? Do men have better geospatial senses than women? These are common questions that can come up in conversation to debate. However, there is no debate to men’s high suicide rates. Statistics Canada has consistently claimed men to be three times more likely to commit suicide than women (Figure…

Are you a fan of the incredible hulk? Ever wanted to be just like him in all of his green glory? Here’s your chance! Professor Tomas Egana from the Institute of Biological Engineering at the University of Chile created the concept of algae-infused artificial skin.1 As seen in figure 1, traditional artificial skin grafts use…