Category: 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.
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Can Volcanoes Power the World?
Volcanoes are commonly known for their majestic, yet frightening and dangerous, features. However, recent research has shown that there may be another use for volcanoes, one that could change the world. The ability to directly harness energy from magma inside volcanoes is currently the subject of much study in various locations worldwide and shows great…
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The Remarkable Process of Photosynthesis
Our historical perspective on photosynthesis has evolved greatly since the 18th century. With the advent of innovative scientific technology, we are capable of perceiving the near-perfect efficiency many photosynthetic life forms possess when converting light to electrical energy (Caffarri, et al., 2014). Researchers posit that by applying our current understanding of quantum mechanics to its…
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Cancer; Always healing, never healed
Scraped knees, leukemia, sore throats, and lymphomas have more in common than you would think. All of them are biological wounds that manipulate the body’s intrinsic wound healing pathways. There are many parallels between tumours and aberrant wound healing processes, to such an extent that a new hypothesis for cancer proliferation has been postulated (Meng…
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An Athlete’s Secret Ingredient
It is highly likely that at some point during a human’s life they will experience the rush of adrenaline coursing through their body. This process is especially common among athletes prior to and during competitions. Adrenaline’s effect on an individual’s physical performance has been positively correlated to various physiological and metabolic changes (Krahenbuhl, 1975). The…
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Epic Ozempic
In light of national diabetic awareness month, we should all take this month to acknowledge and be inspired by those who have been affected by diabetes. Managing diabetes can be tricky at times as it plays a huge factor in one’s weight, diet, and overall lifestyle. Today, traditional diabetic pharmacotherapies are negatively contributing to a…
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Mini Brains: Coming Soon
In 2011, a biologist named Madeline Lancaster was working on growing 2D neural rosettes. Neural rosettes are columnar cells that form a radial structure and express proteins that are also expressed in neuroepithelial cells of a neural tube (Wilson & Stice, 2006). In an interesting turn of events, the cells instead started growing into a…
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Like Eating Jell-O With Chop-Sticks: Analysis of Knuckleball Pitchers
“Not only can pitchers not control it, hitters can’t hit it, catchers can’t catch it, coaches can’t coach it and most pitchers can’t learn it” –American League umpire Ron Luciano (Freier, 2012) Baseball may be boring to some, but it is a romantic game to those who play it. None would agree more than knuckleball…
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UnbeLEAFable: the learning behaviours of the Mimosa pudica plant
Known by many names, such as Humble Plant, Shy Plant, and even Shameplant (Royal Horticultural Society, 2020), the Mimosa pudica is truly unique. As shown in Figure 1, below, M. pudica displays a bright pink flower and many smaller leaves. At first glance, it may seem like any other plant you might come across in the…
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Nanotechnology and Cancer: Shifting the Scales of Oncology
Nanotechnology, a field concerned with the properties, dynamics, and functions of vectors ranging in size from 1-1000 nanometers, is a relatively young discipline but is already of significant interest to many fields of research (Pucci, Martinelli and Ciofani, 2019). The integration of nanotechnology and medicine is commonly referred to as nanomedicine, a new approach to…
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The Use of Metaphors in Science Communication
It can be very challenging to understand the complexity of a given scientific concept; this is where the use of metaphors intertwines with science communication as well as how science can be grasped by the general public. Metaphors can be used as a form of truth to those who are unfamiliar with the nomenclature of presented…