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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Child Abuse: Aurore Gagnon Case Study
Providing and caring for children is a vow some parents break, choosing to neglect and abuse them. Sometimes, maltreatment can even lead to death, like in the case of ten-year-old Canadian Aurore Gagnon who was slowly beaten to death by her stepmother, Marie-Anne Houde, and father, Télesphore Gagnon, in 1920 (Brief Case 2023). Aurore, though…
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Getting to the Root of Plants – With X-Rays!
Studying things we cannot see has always been a challenge in science. Places like space, the deep ocean, and underground have always been lacking in research, simply because we cannot access them. One of these systems that we quite literally live and breathe is plants. Roots are the hidden half plants that biologists often disregard,…
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Stem Cells? There’s More to Them Than You Think.
With a reported cell mortality of roughly 60 billion every day, it’s a miracle organisms like humans continue to exist, often living to ages above 80 years (Liu et al., 2018). Nonetheless, despite these absurd numbers, babies grow into adults, and adults age until they ultimately pass away. The primary reason for this cycle of…
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Particles of the Fourth Dimension: Real or Imaginary?
In our universe, there are two types of particles that exist: the bradyons, particles that travel slower than light, and the luxons, particles that travel at the speed of light. However, scientists have been trying to prove the existence of another type: the tachyon, traveling faster than the speed of light (Asenjo et al. 2009;…
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Scurvy: the Death of the Sailors
From the 15th to the 18th century, two million sailors met their demise simply because they were unable to consume enough Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid (Asc) (Carpenter 2012). Though scurvy, a deficiency of Asc, was a menace to the navies during this historic period, it is something that can theoretically affect anyone…
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Is Beauty Pain? Benzoyl Peroxide and the Cancerous Allegations
Since the Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter and prescribed Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO), many people suffering from acne vulgaris have found a treatment for this very common problem (Matin and Goodman, 2024). Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disorder, that causes pimples primarily on the face, but can occur on the back, abdomen, and upper arms…
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Science and Religious Texts Coexisting: Scientific Theories Found within the Book of Job
The Scientific Revolution began in the 14th century, and it was a time where many scientific discoveries came to fruition. (World History Encyclopedia, 2024). In the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton discovered the properties of gravity (National Geographic, 2024). The theory of the water cycle was tested and substantiated by Pierre Perrault in the 17th…
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Navigating Pollution with a Grain of Salt
Table salt, or sodium chloride, is a mineral which is extensively used not only as a culinary seasoning, but also as a preservative, in road safety, and for numerous industrial purposes. It can be obtained through mining and from the evaporation of brines and seawater (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2024). It may also be…
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The Influence of Fitness Influencers on the Gym and Fitness Community
The rise of social media in the 21st century has remarkably impacted numerous sectors, like fitness and athletics. As of 2024, there are over 320,000 fitness influencers on Instagram and over 220,000 on YouTube (Tagliaferro, 2024). With the tremendous increase in fitness influencers, the gym and athletic community have changed, particularly regarding views of steroids,…
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What’s cooking your food?
After a late night of studying leaves you with a hole in your stomach, you decide to head to the kitchen and warm up a slice of left-over pizza in the microwave. You see it spinning and wonder how this little box can cook your food, well the answer is in the name itself- microwaves!…