Author: isci
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Next Time You Have an Infection, Think of the Earth
The discovery of antibiotics is one of the most important medical discoveries in history (Hutchings, Truman and Wilkinson, 2019). Over the last century, we have seen drastic development of new antibiotics, which are used in a number of cases, such as treatment of infections, treatment of cancer, and in aquaculture (Hutchings, Truman and Wilkinson, 2019).…
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Do I Help My Sports Team Win?
The Effect of Fans on Sport While you can “take [yourself] out to the ball game” and “root, root, root for the home team”, will it really alter the game’s outcome (Norworth and Von Tilzer, 1908)? Many sports fans, as well as sports literature, believe that fans’ stadium presence with their team, wearing the team’s…
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Phantom Sounds in the Pandemic
Do you ever hear a sudden ringing in your ears that no one else does? You are not alone. In fact, roughly 10% of American adults experience this chronic condition called tinnitus (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), 2017). Tinnitus is often distressing as it disrupts focus and relaxation. To make matters…
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A Silenced Disease
Chagas disease is referred to as a silenced disease as it typically affects low-income communities, leading to a lack of motivation to find effective treatments (Alonso-Vega, et al., 2019). As a result, many people suffering with Chagas disease are driven into the cycle of poverty. This condition affects approximately 7 million people, mainly in Latin…
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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…
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The Dunning-Kruger Effect
If I were to ask you how good of a driver you think you are, or what score you think you would receive when given a standardized test, what would you say? Now if you were to actually undergo said driving or standardized test, would your score align with what you inferred? Probably not. This…
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The physics of teaching physics
Education has certainly evolved into the 21st-century, and the way in which physics is taught is not shy to this phenomenon. How is physics taught? What are some problems associated with these teaching methods? How can we fix them? Students in physics classrooms are often sorted into two groups: those who believe that physics consists…
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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…
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A Blast of Clean Energy
Serviceable fusion power is a near-ideal source of effectively limitless clean energy—its high energy density, safety, and sustainability distinguish fusion from any other energy source today. Despite this, the funds required for fusion research and its highly specialized conditions of operation hinder its feasibility in the market (Cowley, 2016). However, as global energy use continues…
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Magical Muons and Magma Movement
Volcanoes can threaten public safety, water supplies, land, and contribute to temporary climate changes (U.S. Geological Survey, 2018). Canada primarily has volcanic areas in British Columbia and Yukon, but is also exposed to volcanoes along the United States border that may erupt again in the future (Government of Canada, 2020). Volcanoes, therefore, pose a threat…