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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The Blue People of Kentucky
There are a lot of blues connected to Kentucky: bluegrass music, “Blue Moon over Kentucky”, and even the blue people of Kentucky. You heard that right, Kentucky has its own population of smurf-like humans (Roos, 2023)! In the 1820s, Martin Fugate immigrated from France to Kentucky, settling along the banks of Troublesome Creek (Phillips, Vatanchi…
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From Viral Invaders to Evolutionary Enablers: Viruses and the Mammalian Placenta
The placenta is a fascinating organ: not only is it temporary, but it has also enabled animals to give birth to live offspring. In fact, it is the first organ to form in mammalian development, and its ancestral form developed approximately 130 million years ago (Chuong, 2018). The evolution of the placenta brought about the…
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Homeostatic Impacts of PTSD at the Cellular Level
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after a traumatic event, with its impacts originating at the subcellular level (Girgenti, et al., 2017; Yehuda and Seckl, 2011). The pathophysiology of PTSD at this scale is characterized by a disruption of glucocorticoid (GC) hormone signaling which has implications on other cellular processes related to stress regulation. Cortisol,…
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Fel d1: The Feline Allergen That Purr-sists
In a world where whiskers and purrs captivate the heart, cat allergies hide in the shadows, eager to pounce. Approximately 10–30% of the population is sensitive to cat dander, saliva, and urine, with sneezing, coughing, and itchiness being common symptoms. The primary allergen produced by cats is a globular protein called Fel d1 (Bonnet, et…
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A Glimpse Into the Earth’s Future Demise: Death at the Hands of Its Creator
Some may find it poetic that the Sun from which Earth originated 4.5 billion years ago will likely consume the planet five billion years from now (Clery, 2023), as the star becomes a white dwarf. The Zwicky Transient Facility, or ZTF, is a wide-field camera attached to the Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory…
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Thorium, A New Horizon For Atomic Energy?
Often when discussing nuclear fuel, our minds jump to common ones such as uranium or even plutonium; yet a new material could significantly improve the safety and sustainability of nuclear energy. The idea of this new form of fuel was rediscovered from a thorium-based nuclear reactor (Vlasov, 2023). Thorium is the 90th element on the…
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Cosmic Cultivators: Bacteria’s Green Thumb!
Humans have always been captivated by the vast expanse of space and the mysteries it holds. As we aspire to travel further into the cosmos, the challenges we face are not only those regarding isolation or reaching light speed, but much more down-to-earth factors. While purée packet space food has evolved and may suffice for…
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How Special is Relativity?
On a warm, sunny evening in the spring of 1905, the notorious Albert Einstein embarked on a fateful ride home. As his tramcar sped away from a turret clock in the distance, the theory of special relativity was born. Einstein imagined that if the tram was to travel away from the clock near the speed…
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Botulinum Toxin: A Toxin Of All Trades
Before its cosmetic applications were discovered, Botulinum toxin (BoNT) known as Botox, was one of the most lethal biological weapons. Utilized throughout World War II, the number of casualties caused by its inhalation made it an effective military tool for attack (Tatu, 2021). Once infected with Botulism, the body experiences progressive weakness until full-body paralysis occurs.…
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Chemical Warfare: Naming Elements 101-109
All elements with an atomic number above 100 are called the “transfermium elements.” These synthetic elements are fairly new discoveries, and therefore were named most recently. While there had been 100 prior elements to set naming precedents, this didn’t ensure a smooth process for the nomenclature of the nine following elements (Elding, 1994). The International…