Science

December 27, 2024

Katelyn Tran

Erythroblastosis fetalis, or hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN), is a potential pregnancy complication resulting from differences in blood type between a mother and her fetus. When newborns have blood cells that contain antigens that their mothers' blood cells do not, high contact with the fetus’s blood provokes an immune response in the mother’s body because her immune system perceives the antigens as a foreign threat, responding with the production of antibodies. This triggering exposure is called a sensitizing event...click here to read more

December 25, 2024

Matthew Fang

On November 24, 2021, NASA launched its first venture into asteroid deflection: the DART mission. Although not a threat to Earth’s safety, DART successfully struck the asteroid Dimorphous in September 2022, knocking its orbit around a larger asteroid, Didymos, off course. Now, the spacecraft Hera is going back to the impact site in order to observe and analyze the results. Launched on October 7th of 2024, Hera intends to return to the two asteroids in order to map out their surfaces, study the structure and composition of the asteroids to determine their masses, as well as inspect the impact crater that DART formed...click here to read more

December 23, 2024

Dylan Nguyen

What if your future self traveled back into the past and told you everything that would happen? Would everything still stay the same? Or could your future self even tell you what would happen, or could the knowledge itself change everything? For decades, the concept of time travel has fascinated scientists and people alike, inspiring countless works of Sci-Fi movies. From paradoxes that defy logic to breakthrough theories in physics, the question of whether time travel is possible challenges our understanding of the universe and our place in it. We get one step closer to our own Back to the Future with every new discovery. But the question is, how close are we?...click here to read more

December 20, 2024

Ares Nguyen

Have you ever wondered what makes chocolate so toxic to dogs, but normal for humans? Maybe even healthy in some aspects. Or has it ever come to your mind that “it can’t hurt to give him a little bit!” This question often circulates the minds of many dog owners. To be frank, chocolate can, unfortunately, be the most poisonous thing you feed your dog...click here to read more

December 18, 2024

Uy Pham

You’ve seen the classic crime solving in laboratory scenes in your favorite shows and movies. The scientist places a sample of DNA into a machine, and the sample yields a match within a database — the DNA has been matched, and the crime has been solved. Yet, how does this machine work? How is the DNA sample collected, and how is the DNA matched with a person to solve countless crimes in the world?...click here to read more

December 17, 2024

Sydney Pastor

DNA was first discovered by Swiss biochemist Friedrich Miescher in 1869. He denoted DNA as “nuclein” when he first discovered it by primarily isolating the component from the nuclei of white blood cells. Prior to Miescher's discovery, various scientists believed that proteins held genetic material due to their abundance within the body. Additionally, many scientists understood that proteins were made up of different amino acids and thought that this translated into the fact that they hold a plethora of genetic material. Miescher discovered DNA by accident...click here to read more

December 16, 2024

Bradley Truong

Looking up at night, some may be curious as to how the brightest object in the sky came to be, and how it ended up in Earth’s orbit. Astronomers and other scientists were no exception, as throughout the years, many different scientific hypotheses were formed to explain how the Moon came to be. The main hypotheses involve fission, capture, accretion, and giant impact, though the last of these is the most widely accepted...click here to read more

December 13, 2024

Ethan Thai

The earth requires sustainable energy solutions, and artificial photosynthesis has been proven to be a very promising technology. It is something that can change and revolutionize clean energy production. Artificial photosynthesis, by emulating the natural process other words, photosynthesis which plants convert sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into glucose and oxygen, may provide a new route for unlimited clean energy production with active mitigation of climate change...click here to read more

December 11, 2024

Biruk Fantu

Over the last 50 years, all the way back to the 1970s, Florida’s Coral Reef has lost almost 98% of the staghorn and elkhorn coral that used to densely pack the quickly fading coral reef. The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species has listed these two species as “Critically Endangered”, which is one step away from “Extinct in the Wild”. If nothing is done to stop these rapid changes to continental America’s largest coral reef system, irreversible damage could be caused to more than 40 species of coral and the millions of plants and animals that depend on the coral...click here to read more

December 10, 2024

Tracy Huynh

If you are reading this article, then your body is most likely facilitating cellular respiration right now. Cellular respiration is the process of taking in oxygen, glucose, and other molecules in the body and turning these resources into valuable energy in the form of ATP, also known as adenosine triphosphate, as well as water and carbon dioxide...click here to read more

December 6, 2024

Snika Gupta

AI expansion is rapid and expanding daily. In the medical field, AI is making significant strides. By collaborating with specialists in various fields, AI can assist in analysis of medical data. Significant innovations are emerging from the integration of AI, introducing new methods to improve treatments, patient care, and diagnosis. However, it's crucial to emphasize human oversight in health care...click here to read more

December 5, 2024

Snika Gupta

Since the 1950s, plastic production has grown immensely. Because of this relatively short time span, the long-term effects of plastic exposure have not yet been thoroughly researched. However, the existing findings are more than alarming in themselves...click here to read more

December 3, 2024

Lily Sharkey

Why do we sleep? Some evolutionary scientists theorize that sleep is for human safety. It also has restorative effects such as repairing brain tissue and supporting muscle growth. Sleep also plays a key role in memory consolidation, a purpose most relevant to the demographic who gets the least sleep...click here to read more

December 2, 2024

Jayden Chung

Imagine surviving a heart attack, only to learn that your heart’s ability to heal itself is painfully limited. For millions of people, the diagnosis of heart damage feels like a life sentence, with scar tissues replacing healthy muscle and limiting the heart’s function. But what if science could offer a second chance, a way for damaged hearts to regenerate, beating with new strength?...click here to read more

November 29, 2024

Vincent Hoang

Sitting alone in the dark, cold expanse of space sits a supermassive celestial giant, capable of eating anything and everything that manages to make its way into its inescapable gravitational pull. Its incomprehensible size and mass dwarf all that exists in our observable universe. Black holes are a widely discussed topic among many notable physicists, such as Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein, who devoted their lives to studying this astronomical phenomenon...click here to read more

November 26, 2024

Jayden Chung

In a single, devastating moment, a spinal cord injury can turn an active life into one bound by immobility, stripping away independence and shattering futures. The sudden loss of movement and sensation is both terrifying and overwhelming, yet stem cell therapy offers a new glimmer of hope in this profound and often permanent change...click here to read more

November 25, 2024

Jessica Park

Is there such a thing as going too far for science?  Could our experiments result in irrevocably changing a human being’s life?  Questions like these often circulate in many people’s minds when hearing about the Little Albert Experiment, an experiment that became a guiding principle on the ethicality and moral code of science...click here to read more

November 21, 2024

Abram Tran

What happens when you leave a piece of meat out overnight? Overnight, the meat will become covered in a thin layer of a slimy substance accompanied by an unpleasant odor. If someone ended up consuming the meat in this phase, they would notice the food was incredibly bitter, and after a while, they would begin to experience stomach issues...click here to read more

November 19, 2024

Chrinnah Torres

As the Earth goes through its changes, New York as well is taking the initiative. Every year since 2009, the annual New York Climate Week hosted by the Climate Group assisted by the United Nations General Assembly occurs to ensure our globe is being taken care of by discussing climate change, striking an acceleration of good deeds in these issues...click here to read more

November 15, 2024

Freddy Buncay

The grandfather poses a complex problem for which there is no definitive solution. As far as we know, time only moves forward, but if you go back in time, a famous paradox occurs. What if you killed your grandfather when he was a child? If you had killed your grandfather when he was a child, your mother or father would not have been born, and you would have ceased to exist. This implies that you could not have traveled back in time to kill your grandfather in the first place...click here to read more

November 13, 2024

Alexis Gogue

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an indisputable, substantial influence on our society, affecting teenagers especially. Adolescence is a crucial stage of growth. These years shape a person's emotional, social, and behavioral qualities and play a crucial role in developing self-identity and maturing brain structure. Scientists have performed studies demonstrating the noticeable change that COVID-19 has made to adolescent brain structures, which has been more pronounced in girls. It has proven to have matured the teenage brain drastically with up to 4.2 years faster in girls and 1.4 years faster in boys. This research reveals similarities between brains that have undergone traumatic events such as violence, neglect, and family dysfunction...click here to read more

November 12, 2024

Monique Nguyen

These days, everybody is worried about the type and quality of food that they intake on a day-to-day basis. Well, add metal contaminants in food to the list of things to watch for. By definition, heavy metals are chemical metals and metal compounds that have an adverse effect on human bodies. Unsurprisingly enough, ingesting small concentrations of heavy metals is quite common because metals can accumulate and leave residue on foods and beverages. Major common foods that are known for higher metal content are fish, shellfish, rice, wheat, mollusks, mushrooms, fruits, wine, meat, vegetables, chocolate, etc. Even canned baby food has been proven to include high metal levels!...click here to read more

November 11, 2024

Daniel Le

Have you ever broken a bone? If so, there are many different types of fractures one could unfortunately experience: transverse, linear, oblique, greenstick, and comminuted to name a few. Despite the various classifications, most fractures follow the same process of bone regeneration. This is made possible because of the osteoclasts, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes collectivity working together on the area of a fracture...click here to read more

November 7, 2024

Sofia McGrath

Jellyfish are often thought of as very simple creatures, as they are ninety-five percent water and lack a brain, blood, bones, and even a heart. Even so, this elastic jelly-like marine animal is more complex than it is perceived. In fact, a certain species of jellyfish can reverse its aging through transdifferentiation in specific environmental stress, making it “immortal.” Medical professionals have gained invaluable insight through jellyfish reverse aging that can help revolutionize medicine in the future, or at least pave the way forward...click here to read more

November 6, 2024

Lily Sharkey

On October 7, 2024, The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announced that the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. The Massachusetts-based scientists made this discovery while investigating the processes responsible for the timing of cell development. This revelation offers remarkable insights into gene regulation processes, which are essential for multicellular organisms. As a result, scientists now have a deeper understanding of organismal development...click here to read more

November 4, 2024

Amy Nangia

Biodiversity indicators are tools used to measure and assess the health and variety of living species within a specific environment. They provide critical data on ecosystems, species populations, genetic diversity, and the services that ecosystems provide to humans. These indicators are essential for monitoring the impacts of climate change and human activities on biodiversity. As global temperatures rise and ecosystems face increasing pressure, tracking biodiversity is a key element in understanding how climate change affects the planet and in developing solutions to mitigate these effects...click here to read more

October 30, 2024

Abram Tran

Skincare is more than just a cosmetic routine, it is a science rooted in the biological processes that keep our skin healthy. The skin is the largest organ in the body, with the average adult carrying eight pounds (3.6 kilograms) and an impressive 22 square feet (two square meters) of it. With it being so large, this fleshy covering plays a huge role in our survival, doing jobs such as protecting us from external factors, regulating body temperature, and even communicating with our environment. To truly care for our skin, it is essential to understand the anatomy of it...click here to read more

October 18, 2024

Ashley Castaneda

Do you believe in the existence of dinosaurs? As the world evolves and humans gain new knowledge, scientists now can prove the existence of many species that have gone extinct before the first man walked the earth. Scientists or paleontologists, an individual who studies past geologic periods, can prove the existence of dinosaurs through fossils. Fossils are the remnants of an organism throughout the years that have been preserved in the earth’s crust. The first-ever discovery of a dinosaur fossil was founded by Mary Anning, who is the first and youngest woman paleontologist...click here to read more

October 10, 2024

Reggie Dao

To model diseases and do multiple tests for the benefit of the human body, organoids come into play for this role to allow scientists and hospital workers to delve deeper into the unsolved questions of medicine, disease, and organ development. Research of the human body has benefited thanks to these organoids, which are replicated miniature organs in a dish to serve as testable objects, saving many lives. This new way of cultivating artificial organs has expanded scientists’ knowledge of individualized diseases and drugs...click here to read more

October 8, 2024

Juan Valenciana

Beneath the hood of a car is a symphony of controlled explosions that propels the vehicle forward. Automotive engines were first introduced in 1807 when Francois Isaac de Rivaz developed an engine powered by hydrogen and oxygen rather than typical steam engines. Although the design was originally limited in success, it provided evidence that a gaseous-powered car could produce mechanical work...click here to read more

October 7, 2024

Aisha Chloe C. Camaquin

Neuroethology is the study of animal behavior and how it is affected by the nervous system. It combines concepts from neurobiology, the study of the nervous system, and ethology, the study of human and animal behavior, to explain why an animal acts the way it does in its natural environment. Let's take a look at toads and Jörg-Peter Ewert’s experiment to better understand this concept...click here to read more

October 4, 2024

Jayden Chung 

What if your brain has the power to repair itself, even sharpen its abilities? Our brain possesses the ability to repair itself and even sharpen its abilities. The brain’s hidden potential can build lifelong health and resilience. The brain constantly evolves and adapts to every new experience, skill, and challenge...click here to read more

September 27, 2024

Belinda H. Li

For decades, lasers have been essential tools for physicists, utilized in applications ranging from medical imaging to particle manipulation. Recently, however, the scientific community has begun exploring sound waves as a promising alternative. Unlike lasers, sound waves (ultrasound) interact with matter without causing heat damage or electromagnetic interference, opening up new opportunities in fields like medical research, materials science, and quantum computing...click here to read more

September 25, 2024

Mahmuda Tabassum

The study of epitranscriptomics, particularly in bacteria, offers a fascinating insight into the dynamic world of RNA, transforming our understanding of these essential molecules from mere genetic messengers to versatile regulators of cellular function. Traditionally, RNA was seen as a simple conduit for genetic information, merely transcribing the DNA blueprint into proteins. However, epitranscriptomics reveals that RNA is much more than that—it's a key player in regulating gene expression and maintaining cellular equilibrium through a series of intricate chemical modifications...click here to read more

September 24, 2024

Freddy Buncay

Algae are considered one of the most diverse groups of organisms due to the amount of different species. When one thinks about algae, the first thing that comes to mind is the green plant's figure. Scientists have started to think of new ways to use algae as a renewable biofuel. What makes algae special is the way they store their energy. Algae stores energy in the form of natural oils; extract the oil and you have enough energy and material to produce renewable fuels. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, algae can potentially produce up to 60 times more oil per acre than land-based plants...click here to read more

September 19, 2024

Khloe Ferniz

Is plant-based meat healthier than real meat? What is the purpose of plant-based meat? To start, meat production is land-intensive, and using cattle and herds to produce it takes up significant water, land, and energy. These in turn put more greenhouse gasses and methane into the air, contributing to more climate change. This harms our Earth’s resources, whereas switching to a sustainable practice of plants would take up less energy, time, and water...click here to read more

September 17, 2024

Hiba Syed

In recent years, there has been a shift in societal perspective towards the use of marijuana in medicine as an increasing amount of scientific evidence has displayed the potential benefits in healthcare. Historically, the most popular way of ingesting marijuana was in a form called tincture, which is a liquid herbal extract from plant material. It was introduced to British medicine in 1842 by Dr W O'Shaughnessy, an army surgeon who had served in India. The therapeutic effects served as a remedy for a variety of ailments, including muscle spasms, menstrual cramps, rheumatism, and the convulsions of tetanus, rabies, and epilepsy. Even Queen Victoria used marijuana against menstrual pains, according to her personal physician. However, The scale of drug abuse increased dramatically during the 1960s, with cannabis being the most trafficked and abused drug worldwide...click here to read more

September 17, 2024

Reynold Borja

A bushfire (also known as a wildfire) is a natural disaster that can occur in many parts of the world. These fires can be unpredictable, devastating, and challenging to control. However, wildfires tend to be more frequent in drier regions like Africa, Australia, South America, Asia, and some parts of the United States, such as California, Oregon, and Arizona. Bushfires are typically caused by several factors including, dry weather, humid temperatures, and sometimes even human activities, such as neglected campfires and discarded cigarettes. Depending on the surrounding weather and terrain, these fires can rapidly expand across grasslands, forests, and other vegetation, creating immense destruction in the process...click here to read more

September 16, 2024

Jayden Chung 

There are trillions of bacteria in your gut that could be key to preventing or even curing autoimmune diseases. The role of gut microbiota in shaping our immune responses has emerged as a groundbreaking frontier. These microscopic organisms are now recognized as significant regulators of immune activities.The gut microbiota is a complex community of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms that live primarily in the intestines and play a crucial role in maintaining the body’s overall health. Beyond aiding digestion, the gut microbiota can communicate with the immune system, influencing its response to various threats...click here to read more

September 13, 2024

Arielle Nguyen 

Have you heard of The Sims, a best-selling series of life simulation games? The Sims presents the player with choices regarding their character’s entire life, from their appearance to personality to strengths. What if that game could become a reality? Could you imagine how anarchic the world would become? Parents fighting for a baby to pass the intelligence of Einstein; models competing for the most stunning baby to enter the job market; sick people genetically modifying their children to not suffer their diseases…the list goes on. And yes, The Sims has it all, and for a long time, we didn’t have these advancements. Until the gene-edited babies known as Lulu and Nana came along...click here to read more

September 12, 2024

Faith Freeman 

The Red Planet, also known as Mars, is where elemental sulfurs’ discovery takes place, prompting a series of questions such as how, why, and what the rover found that makes us curious and compels us to continue reading this article. On May 30, 2024, NASA’s Curiosity (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located in Pasadena, California, and run by Caltech, the organization that constructed Curiosity) ran over a rock that broke it open and revealed yellow crystals. Later, scientists identified what exactly these yellow crystals are, elemental sulfur. Elemental sulfur may sound intriguing, but what exactly does it contain? More specifically, why is this so significant to our lives? Let’s explore these questions in more detail...click here to read more

September 10, 2024

Janessa Angela Alerre

In the past 3,500 years, CHamorus have taken advantage of the coconut – locally known as the niyok – and found a variety of ways to use it. For instance, coconut meat can be grated and used in kelaguen, a dish made with shrimp or chicken, and grated with coconut and lemon. It can create a sweet treat that’s popular among young children, coconut candy. However, people aren’t the only ones enjoying the niyok, as an invasive species has come to share it with us. On September 11, 2007, an invasive species, the coconut rhinoceros beetle, was discovered in Guam.  The beetle’s population then skyrocketed, as prior to the invasion, coconut trees were the second most common tree on the island. So, how has this tiny creature affected the environment?...click here to read more

September 9, 2024

Henry Le

Have you ever wondered why children resemble their parents? From a regular standpoint, it makes sense that a mom and a dad come together and have a child who often shares features of both. But from a scientific point of view, what’s the reason behind this? Cells that aren’t involved in reproduction are called somatic cells. In the case of humans, most somatic cells have 46 chromosomes, bundles of DNA containing the genetic information that encodes for our body functions and traits. However, sex cells, or gametes (sperm and egg cells), only have 23 chromosomes...click here to read more

September 6, 2024

Rose Alexia Diño 

The primary concern with fossil fuels is their impact on global warming. When coal, oil, and natural gas are burned, they produce energy while releasing large amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere—increasing average temperatures. Additionally, since fossil fuels are finite resources, their continued extraction will eventually lead to depletion. These issues create a growing need for cleaner alternatives to combat this issue – biogas being one of them...click here to read more

September 3, 2024

Lily Sharkey 

The first Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) therapy to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offers new hope for 20 million people across the world who live with sickle cell disease (SCD). Friday, December 8, 2023 marked the beginning of a new era of treatment for SCD patients dealing with chronic pain, vaso-occlusive crises, and frequent hospitalizations. But what is CRISPR therapy and what does it mean for the future of chronic illness treatments?...click here to read more

September 2, 2024

Snika Gupta 

Imagine a world where new genes can be created. Well, it’s here now. Ongoing research is developing new bases for DNA, meaning new proteins that build up in our bodies. We are close to being able to make and write DNA that can undergo the process of protein synthesis. Protein synthesis is the process of creating proteins. The two processes that make up protein synthesis are transcription and translation...click here to read more

August 30, 2024

Aashna Chavan 

Imagine something so delicate that even the slightest mistake can alter it, whether by hours, minutes, or seconds. Time is one of the most fragile concepts that humans have discovered. Time must be handled with precision, or it risks being lost or disturbed. This understanding emerged as early as 45 BCE. Julius Caesar was behind the origin of the leap year even though his astronomer Sosigenes did all the calculations. Before Julius Caesar’s reform, the Romans used a 355-day calendar with an additional 22 or 23-day month added into the calendar every two years to keep festivals aligned with seasons. Inspired by the Egyptians, who were the first to develop a solar calendar with twelve months...click here to read more

August 28, 2024

Aleksandra Gavrilovic 

A new recessive syndrome was discovered through researching the protein complex COPI. The endomembrane system which is made up of vital organelles like the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the Golgi apparatus, and the endoplasmic reticulum-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC), is where the modification, packaging, and transport of proteins occurs. With each transport vesicle, protein coat complexes such as the COPI complex are also included, primarily involved in transporting proteins from the Golgi Apparatus back to the ER...click here to read more

August 27, 2024

Alex Moss 

The modern view of cholesterol is slowly shifting as new research shows the truth behind this misconceptualized hormone. This story begins in 1958 when Dr. Ancel Keys, the leading researcher, published the Seven Countries study. This was one of the first studies that researched the effects of a person's diet and health; in this specific study, Dr. Keys had supposedly shown a positive correlation between heart disease deaths and fat consumption within the human diet. Dr. Keys hid the fact that his study had handpicked seven countries from a randomized plot graph and as a matter of fact, in the original graph, there was no correlation...click here to read more

August 26, 2024

Alex Moss 

With about 280 million people around the world suffering from depression, it has become one of the most common mental disorders affecting people. According to the CDC, in 2020, 18.4% of adults reported being diagnosed with depression. Approximately one-fifth of Americans had a diagnosis of depression. The disorder can present as a spectrum as there are many different ways it can manifest itself in someone's life. Treatments for depression vary severely. The most common method of treatment is a medication branch known as antidepressants. Currently, the four main branches of antidepressants consist of...click here to read more

August 22, 2024

Miles Charm Manalo 

Humanity, like all living species, relies on Earth every day; however, scientists anticipate that other planets have an even greater potential than Earth to sustain life. Since plants are fundamental to the majority of our everyday resources, researchers have decided to examine them further. In 1946, the first attempt at growing plants during spaceflight was executed within the proximity of V-2 rockets, but no plant growth was recorded successfully at the time...click here to read more

August 21, 2024

Helaina Leuca

This article summarizes research by Sohail Tavazoie, a professor at Rockefeller University, highlighting a link between Alzheimer's Disease and exhausted immune cells. Alzheimer’s Disease afflicts 6.7 million people in America alone, according to a 2023 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Using experiments on mice, Tavazoie found that microglia — immune cells found in the central nervous system – become overworked as Alzheimer’s Disease develops in their brains, leading to exhaustion. This is caused by the APOE4 gene...click here to read more

August 20, 2024

Kathlyn Phan 

In recent years, AlphaFold has emerged as a groundbreaking tool within the artificial intelligence industry by predicting protein structures with incredible accuracy. Developed by DeepMind from Google, AlphaFold has been widely used by researchers and scientists for its 3D protein structure prediction and modeling capabilities since its debut. Although the tool has some limitations, AlphaFold is still highly regarded as the top protein structure prediction method according to CASP14. Through deep learning, this new technology holds the power to enhance disease detection and help scientists with drug discovery that could revolutionize the world of medical science...click here to read more

August 14, 2024

Sarah Nguyen

What is a revolution? A revolution can be defined as a sudden radical change or overthrow of one’s government. What made the Scientific Revolution so “revolutionary”? It was neither a sudden radical change nor an overthrow of the government. By its name you may infer that it was a sudden eruption of knowledge; however, the revolution was anything but far from sudden. The Scientific Revolution, occurring in Europe from the 15th to the 18th century, was characterized by a surge of innovation and abstract reasoning...click here to read more

August 9, 2024

Alex Moss

The exact origins of who discovered the microbiome are not known, however, scientists such as Theodore Escherich, Joshua Lederberg, and Sergei Winogradsky helped pave the way. Residing within each of us, mainly in our gastrointestinal system, are trillions of bacteria. It is approximated that we hold up to three pounds of bacteria within our bodies. This collection of bacteria is known as our microbiota. Our microbiota plays a significant role in overall human health through communication with our brain known as the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB axis)...click here to read more

August 8, 2024

Lily Sharkey 

Everyone tells you to avoid them, but what are they? A genetically modified organism (GMO) is a plant, animal, or microbe whose traits have been modified to achieve a purpose; this is done through genetically engineering the genome, either introducing, multiplying, or deleting genes in a sequence. Although the genetic engineering required to edit organisms is very modern, humans have been utilizing a process to manipulate organisms for thousands of years. Cross-breeding or selective breeding plants and animals to produce the most desirable traits are examples of early genetic modification; in some ways, purebred dogs are GMOs...click here to read more

August 7, 2024

Adrienne Ma

Gladys West is a name that may not be familiar to many, but her contributions to science have had a profound impact on our daily lives. Specifically, her life work laid the foundation for the development of the Global Positioning System, more commonly known as the GPS. Gladys West was born on October 27, 1930, in rural Virginia and lived on a small farm with her family. Growing up, she often assisted in harvesting crops. In her community, she had limited opportunities for her future as most young girls of color became workers at tobacco plants or on farms. However, she wouldn’t let that dictate her future...click here to read more

August 6, 2024

Ela Selin Akgün

Dr. Jamie McGowan, a postdoctoral scientist at the Earlham Institute, analyzed the genome sequence of a microscopic organism—a protist—isolated from a freshwater pond at Oxford University Parks​. Mcgowan was working on sequencing single cellular organisms and he came upon Oligohymenophorea sp. PL0344. This organism had a unique way of translating RNA codons into proteins.  While examining the genetic structure of Oligohymenophorea sp. PL0344, Dr. McGowan discovered that, unlike most known organisms, this ciliate uses only TGA as a stop codon, causing a paradigm shift in genetics...click here to read more

August 2, 2024

Mahmuda Tabassum 

Over the years, extensive research has consistently shown that cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. Despite significant advances in technology and medicine, a definitive cure for cancer still eludes us. As our knowledge and understanding of cancer continue to expand, so does our ability to adapt and coexist with the disease. The development of cancer can be attributed to errors or abnormalities in genes. Genes, which are specific segments of DNA responsible for encoding proteins, are prone to changes that lead to the uncontrolled production of abnormal cells through a process called mutation. This mutation process can result in the transformation of proto-oncogenes into oncogenes, which are activated genes with the potential to spur the development of cancer...click here to read more

July 31, 2024

Monique Nguyen

There are diamonds in the rough, but what about diamonds in the sea? Seabed mining aims to extract precious underwater minerals as an alternative option to terrestrial mining. To do so, vehicles will rummage the seafloor to find and retrieve mineral deposits such as polymetallic nodules, polymetallic sulfides, and cobalt crusts, which would be brought up to the surface for extraction. Deep-sea mining allows access to a world of underwater resources and information for future global development, covering a gap that terrestrial deposits cannot solely fulfill. However, this new type of mining poses several threats to numerous fragile ecosystems and species that lay previously undisturbed in the deep ocean...click here to read more

July 29, 2024

Lauren Coursey

Humanity has searched for life around other stars for nearly 85 years, propelled by a deep desire to learn its place in the vast cosmic expanse. The vast majority of existing data indicates no signs of extraterrestrial life’s existence. However, this does not necessarily mean humanity is alone in the universe. Consider the fact that 85 years is only slightly longer than a single human lifetime in the 300,000 years of our existence as Homo Sapiens. Also, for most of that period, our methods of investigation were incomplete...click here to read more

July 22, 2024

Snika Gupta 

Like us, plants require more than just water and sunlight to survive. And for them, their nutrients come from fertilizers. Thought to have existed for eight thousand years, farmers have used fertilizers to support their plants for ages. The Babylonians, Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians have all been recorded using fertilizers on their crops. Throughout time, fertilizer has become fundamental in modern farming...click here to read more

July 17, 2024

Armita Rohani 

Chances are you’ve heard of Schrödinger’s Cat Experiment, where Schrödinger hypothetically puts a cat in a box and proposes the idea of the Observer’s Paradox. Well, it’s much more complex than it seems, and the effects of the hypothesis have revolutionized physics to unheard extents...click here to read more

June 28, 2024

Artiom Peshkur 

The escalating global challenges of antibiotic resistance have prompted the search for alternative antimicrobial agents. In a previous study that explored the antimicrobial potential of apple cider vinegar (ACV) against Escherichia coli and other bacteria.1 Their investigation provided the basic framework for this experiment to compare the difference in the minimum dilution of “antibiotics” required for growth exhibition on several microbial species. The study also highlighted that microbial cultures exposed to ACV impaired cell integrity, organelles, and protein expression in the microbes. Key enzymes and proteins involved in cellular processes were found to be absent or downregulated following ACV exposure. These findings displayed the broad-spectrum antimicrobial potential of ACV and its ability to disrupt microbial physiology at the molecular level. It also underscores its potential as a therapeutic agent in the fight against microbial infection and as an alternative antimicrobial...click here to read more

June 24, 2024

Claire Story

Alzheimer’s disease is, unfortunately, a common yet destructive neurological disease. This disease destroys the memory and cognitive skills of affected individuals, leading to memory loss, behavioral changes, trouble completing simple tasks, and getting lost easily. It is mainly caused by amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and misconnected neurons in the brain. Diagnosing Alzheimer’s consists of preliminary cognitive tests, such as a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and interviews with family members; the next steps in the diagnosis include extensive neuro-imaging and fluid-based examinations. Alzheimer’s can be early-onset, occurring in a person’s thirties to sixties, or late-onset, starting in a person’s mid-sixties. Depending on age, an individual may live anywhere from three to ten years after diagnosis. Because of this and the severe symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s, this disease is incredibly emotionally taxing on both affected individuals as well as their loved ones...click here to read more

June 21, 2024

Uy Pham 

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. A line from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita recited by Julius Robert Oppenheimer on national television in 1965 when describing the extent and implications of the development of the atomic bomb, and an iconic line uttered by Cillian Murphy, who plays the role of Oppenheimer in the respective 2023 biographical film. In the summer of 2023, the “Barbenheimer” craze struck movie theaters across the country with intrigued viewers flocking to watch two simultaneously-released movies: Warner Bros. Pictures’ Barbie and Universal Pictures’ Oppenheimer...click here to read more

June 12, 2024

Blair Joselson

Natural disaster losses, especially hurricanes, are increasing. Of the 363 billion-dollar weather disasters since 1980 (as of August 2023), tropical cyclones have caused the most damage: over $1.3 trillion in total, with an average cost of $22.8 billion per event. These event costs continue to increase as factors like global warming cause hurricanes to become more destructive...click here to read more

June 10, 2024

Arielle Nguyen 

If you live on the Western Coast of the United States, you’ve probably heard of (or, if you’re lucky enough, seen) the bioluminescent sea shuffling up on beach’s shores. Have you seen that bright, neon blue wave wash onto the sand? Or, more commonly, seen a firefly during the night? The phenomenon is known as bioluminescence, a type of light that seems to have been sparked from science fiction rather than reality. It’s not too common on land, more in the ocean’s pelagic zone — an ecological terrain that includes the entire ocean water column, from the Epipelagic to the Hadopelagic; the highest and lowest zones. Typically, it’s frequent amongst fish, squid, and animals that are mostly made of water; all of which live between 200 and 1,000 meters deep in the ocean...click here to read more

June 5, 2024

Sydney Pastor

Incidences of PTSD in the minds of American adults have increased significantly within the past years, with about 3% of the adult population suffering from PTSD-related symptoms. These symptoms often include experiencing event flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety stemming from pervasive past traumas (Bison et al., 2015). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the prevalence of this disorder in the minds of those all over the nation. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, also referred to as PTSD, is a mental disorder that develops after exposure to exceptionally threatening or horrifying events (Bison et al., 2015)...click here to read more

May 31, 2024

Juan Valenciana

Brain cells, also known as neurons or glial cells, make up the structure of the nervous system. Astrocytes are a type of glial cell that provides energy for neurons, forms the blood-brain barrier which manages the passage of substances between the blood and the brain and contributes to synaptic connection in the brain. These functions of astrocytes in the CNS, including when astrocytes undergo physical and chemical changes, emphasize their importance in understanding brain health and disease progression...click here to read more

May 24, 2024

Suri Le 

The universe works in mysterious ways. Even though we question the universe, is it questioning us back? On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope team based at the European Space Agency (ESA) publicly released a stunning image of a pair of young stars forming almost 1,500 light years away from Earth. Upon further analysis of the photo, viewers noticed an object in the background resembling almost a perfect question mark icon. Across social media, the zoomed-in image went viral with references to popular Sci-Fi culture such as The Matrix and more...click here to read more

May 22, 2024

Paul Pham

The question of habitability beyond our home planet Earth has long been one of humanity’s largest, most pressing questions. For centuries, a myriad of thinkers have dug deep at this seemingly unanswerable question, in attempts to justify extraterrestrial life in our cosmos. Perhaps, though, the key to unlocking the mystery of life beyond our Earth lies in the existence of exoplanets throughout our universe...click here to read more

May 1, 2024

Jessica A. Dennehy 

In the past few centuries, the human pursuit of industry and wealth has greatly upset the balance of the ecosystems and environments that make up planet Earth. All aspects of the environment have been negatively impacted by the rapid industrialization of society, from the atmosphere to the waters that comprise the oceans and seas. With hundreds of species now extinct, air quality radically impaired, and landfills currently towering taller than the Statue of Liberty, there have been decades of repercussions felt by the environment. Yet, amidst the continual environmental degradation, an unexpected reprieve came in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. Or did it?...click here to read more

April 29, 2024

Artiom Peshkur

This research focuses on the extraction of green fluorescent protein (GFP) from Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) utilizing hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) and recombinant DNA. Despite initial challenges with heat-shocking for the E. Coli to uptake the plasmid, successful culturing in LB broth led to GFP over-expression, as visible under the ultraviolet light. Subsequent centrifugation and cell lysis led to GFP extraction from the supernatant. HIC purification yielded fractions containing GFP, with varying concentrations across samples. This work underscores the viability of GFP as a biomarker for gene expression in biological systems...click here to read more

April 26, 2024

Arielle Nguyen

Don’t get me wrong; I would love to be paid to sleep. It would be my dream job. But occasionally, sleep feels unnecessary, especially on days when I’m extremely busy. Sometimes you just wish for more hours in the day, and to retaliate against the ancient Egyptians who started 24-hour days, you choose to stay up. And for good reason, probably. Maybe you have a pile of homework waiting to be finished, or your projects must be checked on. Maybe you’ll never regret not sleeping… until you wake up. And then, that question begins to impale like a… Well, I’m not exactly sure. Did you know that lack of sleep affects your memory, too? Why do we sleep despite our hatred for rest?...click here to read more

April 15, 2024

Jessica A. Dennehy

Genetic modification is the umbrella term indicating the process of altering the genetic makeup of an organism. Modifying an organism's DNA can range from deleting segments, adding new segments, transferring segments from one organism to another, or even intentionally altering a singular base pair. Any organism that has been genetically modified would fall under the category of a genetically modified organism (GMO); they are typically used to improve a characteristic or trait, ranging from decreased susceptibility to disease to increased fertility. Various gene-editing technologies can be used in tandem or separately to genetically alter organisms; one of which is CRISPR/Cas-9...click here to read more

April 12, 2024

Claire Story

The SYNGAP1 gene, located on chromosome 6, has recently been discovered to have novel implications. It was originally discovered in 1998 by Richard Huganir, Ph.D., from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was known for controlling learning and memory in mammals. It was previously thought that the gene solely encoded proteins to regulate the formation of synapses, links between brain cells that strengthen as a person learns something new. Recent experiments have revealed a new function of the SYNGAP1 gene, and this discovery may alter the methods and treatments used for children with SYNGAP1 irregularities...click here to read more

April 2, 2024

Jasmine Nguyen

For decades, plastic consumption has been a significant threat to our environment. The consequences of overconsumption have been made apparent through wildlife endangerment, polluted habitats, and food contamination. Scientists have taken action, recognizing these recurring issues due to plastic pollution, and increased their focus on combating these issues. The carbon structures of plastic make it much harder to decompose in a natural process. Scientists have been working hard to understand and reveal the works behind breaking down plastics. So, how have scientists combated the study of decomposing plastic? In what ways have they developed the process of breaking down these stubborn bonds? Is there a way to assess this problem without further damage to our environment?...click here to read more

March 29, 2024

Ela Selin Akgün 

The US Environmental Protection Agency, also known as the EPA, is an institution responsible for the protection of human, public, and environmental health within the United States, utilizing tactics such as including the regulation of pesticide usage, marketing of chemicals, and cleaning up chemically contaminated lands to safeguard the environment. The EPA has authorized the use of OX5034 GM Ae. aegypti mosquitoes for release in counties in Florida and Texas. Genetic modification is a process of altering the gene sequence of an organism with laboratory-based technologies by using methods like nucleotide insertion, deletions, and gene replacements...click here to read more

March 27, 2024

Lily Sharkey

Scientists believe that about half of all human DNA descends from viruses that infect the germline of our ancestors with viral nucleic acid. Indeed, the human body contains ten times more bacterial cells than human ones. Microbes such as these exist all throughout our bodies and carry out processes that synthesize vitamins, digest food into nutrients, and stimulate immune systems. The ten trillion microbes found in the gastrointestinal tract protect the gut from disease-causing microorganisms, called pathogens...click here to read more

March 26, 2024

Audrey Tran

Stronger than steel and thinner than human hair, spider silk has remained a fascination to scientists. The liquid silk is secreted by glands in the abdomen and passed through the spider's spinnerets, leaving the body as a dry material. With its high tensile strength, flexibility, and lightweight nature, this natural fiber is extremely difficult to replicate synthetically. Its unique properties can be used in clothing and rope and its biodegradability and biocompatibility present much potential in medical applications...click here to read more

March 22, 2024

Monique Nguyen

With the exponential growth in the healthcare industries, medical ethics is involved in even the most basic of operations. It is loosely defined as the moral obligations involved in a healthcare worker’s decisions to ensure a patient’s safety. As the concept has been developed, basic principles have been integrated as standards in procedures. This includes beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence, and justice. Beneficence is ensuring patient safety, autonomy is considering the patient’s will, nonmaleficence means doing no harm, and justice means providing fair treatment...click here to read more

March 22, 2024

Caroline Cronin

Climate change has been gradually affecting our planet since the 1950s. For the past 50 years, the Earth has warmed by 0.13℃  (1/4 of a degree Fahrenheit). While this may not seem like a lot, the impacts are detrimental and continue to worsen as more time passes. Scientists predicted that in the next twenty years, our planet will warm up 1 ⁄ 3 of a degree Fahrenheit. While climate change affects many things, its effects on agriculture are quite damaging. With the increase in heavy rains, nutrients in the soil are rapidly being expended. If crops can not be grown, then supply cannot keep up with demand, and the economy will as a result of this catastrophe...click here to read more

March 7, 2024

Mouzdalifa Boughris

From the sniffles to HIV, viruses are the microscopic troublemakers that cause it all. Although our immune system does its hardest to fend them off, we occasionally require more assistance. Antiviral drugs are specialist pharmaceuticals that are intended to interfere with the plans of viruses. However, what are these medications precisely, how do they function, and how are they different from their cousins in prevention, and vaccines?...click here to read more

March 4, 2024

Aliyan Nadeem

Pollution is an intractable issue that has been persisting for centuries. More specifically, air pollution is the deadliest type of pollution, with around 99% of the global population breathing air that exceeds the WHO guidelines. Consequently, the combined effect of environmental and household air pollution leads to seven million annual premature deaths. To tackle this pressing issue, a team of researchers in the Institute for Multidisciplinary Research of the University of Belgrade, Serbia, developed a photo-bioreactor that they call Liquid 3. Liquid 3 essentially mimics the photosynthesizing functions of a tree– that is, cleansing the environment’s air by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing oxygen (O2) into the atmosphere. As such, Liquid 3 has fittingly been referred to as a “liquid tree”, despite it not being a liquidized tree, but rather a photo-bioreactor containing water, nutrients, and microalgae...click here to read more

February 28, 2024

Amy Nangia

   Neurodivergence refers to the natural variations in how individuals' brains function. It encompasses conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurological differences that deviate from the so-called neurotypical norm. Rather than pathologizing these differences, the neurodiversity paradigm views them as valuable variations that contribute to the richness of human cognition...click here to read more

February 21, 2024

Chrinnah Torres

   Back in 1949, the foundation of hydrogels induced the significance of a healing process. There were times when it would take a prolonged period to recover under certain conditions. However, now researchers have uncovered a rehabilitation medicine that can enhance muscle and nerve growth in the body. Whereas, this hydrogel injection could build up, meaning it restores the tissues when injured, and gives its desired robustness. When looking into this, it has summed up the needed care for an injury...click here to read more

February 19, 2024

Reggie Dao

As you stroll along the beach and kick sand into the shore, there is always a creature in the corner of your eye that stands out among the scattered seashells and seaweed. That prickly-skinned, sharp-edged animal glistens on the protruding rock, un-moving, and intrigues your curiosity to find out why its shape is the way it is. This familiar, unusual sea creature is known as a starfish, its name coined from their body holding a close resemblance to a star shape. The question of how their body shape formed has always been lingering in the air, and the history of their genetics can explain why their body is different from their sea neighbors...click here to read more

February 14, 2024

Niamh Jones

In the rapidly advancing field of medicine, it is crucial to improve surgical training for the next generation of healthcare professionals. With the emergence of Generation Z into the workforce, a cohort characterized by their reliance on technology, there is a growing need to adapt traditional training methods to ensure the highest quality of patient care. Therefore, it is imperative to explore new avenues for improving surgical training for the first ‘digital’ generation...click here to read more

February 13, 2024

Niamh Jones

In recent years, the global incidence of dental emergencies has been a growing concern, impacting individuals of all ages and backgrounds. Dental emergencies can range from severe toothaches to traumatic injuries and broken teeth, often causing significant pain and discomfort to those affected. Therefore, it is imperative to explore comprehensive strategies to reduce the global incidence of dental emergencies and promote oral health and well-being on a broader scale...click here to read more

February 13, 2024

Hana Zubair

In the world of pediatric healthcare, where tiny footsteps echo with the promise of future dreams, every interaction holds the weight of the responsibility bestowed upon the doctor. Let us delve into the perspicacious world of 29-year-old Dr. Arifa Tajwany, a pediatrician with a passion for nurturing the well-being of children, not only becoming a proficient medical practitioner but also a beacon of support for families navigating the often-unpredictable terrain of pediatric healthcare...click here to read more

February 12, 2024

Sofia McGrath

Have you ever wondered why it rains? What about if it is possible to make it rain? There is a science behind rain that you may be vaguely aware of, but there is so much detail and advancement in the field that the average person may not know about it. Recently, science has granted scientists the ability to cause it to rain or enhance its probability through a process referred to as “cloud seeding.”...click here to read more 

February 2, 2024

Lily Sharkey

Daughter, wife, mother, cook, farmer, dancer, fashionista: Henrietta Lacks never could have foreseen how her very own cells would shape the future of worldwide biomedical research. Henrietta was born Loretta Pleasant on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia, the ninth child of Eliza and Johnny Pleasant; over time, her name evolved to “Henrietta.” From the age of four, Henrietta was raised in Clover, Virginia, by her grandfather, following the death of her mother in childbirth. She was raised alongside her cousin David “Day” Lacks, whom she would later marry in 1941. During World War II, Henrietta and her family moved to Turner Station, Maryland, after her husband found work at Bethlehem Steel’s Sparrows Point steel mill...click here to read more

January 22, 2024

Jaimah Nusrat

The sky and cosmos are our limit; at least, that’s what we’ve believed. However, with our ever-growing population, we need to take the time to ask the question: Why limit ourselves to a planet of 71% water and an oxygen-rich atmosphere, when we could live among the stars and explore the galaxies? What keeps us tied to the planet we insistently call home when we have the potential to experience daring adventures and become the next Captain Marvel? With the progress and data we have acquired, it would only hinder our advancements if we failed to consider space life as significant to the future of Earth...click here to read more

January 17, 2024

Sarah Nguyen

Working as a research associate for Imperial College, physicist Dr. Jessica Wade studies the use of polymers as semiconductors, focusing on chiral organic semiconductors. Despite Wade’s impressive work as a physicist, she also advocates for the diversity of women in STEM and has been awarded the 2019 UK Wikimedian of the Year and the British Empire Medal for her contributions and efforts...click here to read more

December 29, 2023

Sylvie Pagovich

Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet in our solar system, located about 2.8 billion miles from the sun. Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea. The planet was discovered in 1846 by Johan Galle and Heinrich Louis d’Arrest. Urbain Jean-Joseph Le Verrier is also credited with the discovery because of his mathematical involvement. Neptune is the first planet to be predicted before its time using mathematics. Neptune was explored by the NASA mission Voyager Two, along with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Voyager Two discovered many things about Neptune, including five of its moons, several ring arcs, the great dark spot, four rings, and its magnetic field...click here to read more

December 27, 2023

Lily Sharkey

Music is made of patterns - combinations of notes of different lengths arranged on a staff, coming together to create melodies. Patterns are vital in music; otherwise, the notes will lack structure and the result will be incoherent and confusing. Generally, notes are intentionally orchestrated to create these patterns, but can this process be reversed? Can scientists create a list of notes and use the music to find patterns in a sequence of DNA? This is where protein music comes in...click here to read more

December 25, 2023

Sylvie Pagovich

Just like fully developed humans, babies also have the five senses- sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Babies begin to experience touch when they are still in the uterus before they’re born. Touch can give babies a warm feeling and a feeling of security. Babies are sensitive to touch and prefer warm and soft touches. The sense of touch for a baby is fully developed at birth but continues to grow and evolve along with the baby. A fetus can even feel the vibrations when its mother’s stomach is rubbed. Touch influences the emotional status of a baby. Affectionate touch can lead to a baby having less negativity and stress...click here to read more

December 20, 2023

Claire Story

Time and space have remained a perplexing question for generations of scientists, particularly how time behaves differently on Earth, in outer space, or the distant universe. According to A Briefer History of Time, by Stephen Hawking, time is a “personal concept, relative to the observer who measured it” and is not absolute (Hawking 106). People observe time based on the clocks they carry, and not all clocks may agree (Hawking 106). Renowned physicist Albert Einstein proposed the theory of relativity, saying that the laws of science and the speed of light should be equal for every freely moving observer regardless of their current speed (Hawking 44). As described in relativity simultaneity, time passes at different rates for everyone and “depends on our state of motion relative to each other” (Al-Khalili 61). Time moves slower when near a body with a high gravitational pull. For example, because Mars has less gravity than Earth, time passes ever so slightly faster (Hamer)...click here to read more

December 15, 2023

Taelor Mafnas 

Butterflies, beetles, peacocks, and plasmonic paints: one of these are notably different from the rest, but they all share similar properties in their coloration. Rich and rare colors can be found throughout nature, most significantly in butterfly wings, beetle elytra, and peacock feathers. Where do they get these colors, and why aren’t they more common in animals? Well, unlike other organisms, their colors don’t come from pigments but instead from their structure! Nano (super tiny) structures within these organisms manipulate how light reflects or is absorbed, producing the range of colors we see on them...click here to read more

December 13, 2023

Reggie Dao

Our world has been exposed to certain substances shaped in pills, dust, or any shape or form that is either illegal or prescribed, known as a drug. All of this material is bound to place extreme psychological effects on people, which raises a certain question. What kind of receptors are in someone’s DNA to determine how they’ll react? Doctors in the field of pharmacogenomics are actively seeking ways to treat their patients, and need to know the cerebral effects that come with these drugs. Thanks to Watson and Crick’s discovery of the DNA structure, figuring out how one’s DNA detects drug reactions is made easier in the lab...click here to read more

December 4, 2023

Bobo Lin

How many jelly beans can fill a room? How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? How long would it take you to count to one million? These seemingly impossible questions are called Fermi questions, or back-of-the-envelope questions. Fermi questions are estimation problems answered with reasonable quantitative estimates and smaller sub-questions. The purpose is not to answer the question correctly (because it doesn’t have a correct answer!) but rather to practice thinking logically and encourage communication...click here to read more

November 29, 2023

Lily Sharkey

December 5, 2022, was the first time in history that nuclear fusion reached ignition- that is, nuclear fusion produced more energy than was put into it. On July 30, 2022, California scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) reached ignition for the second time. If it can be successfully and continuously repeated, nuclear fusion can be the next clean and cheap energy source. However, nuclear fusion is still in its preliminary phase, and much more experimentation is required before it can become the next green power source. Thus, it is unclear if nuclear fusion will have an impact on current climate issues by the time it will be available commercially...click here to read more

November 27, 2023

Stephanien Khoury

By definition, psychology is the study of the mind, but most people fail to realize how our minds relate to science. While commonly perceived as a social science due to its exploration of emotions and human interactions, psychology is intricately linked to the natural life sciences. Each psychological principle that has been verified by the American Psychology Association relies upon the scientific method to test its theories. The scientific method is the universal procedure used to test hypotheses...click here to read more

November 22, 2023

Lily Sharkey

Every person has more than 20,000 genes that code for their very existence. Genes are made up of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) wound up into tight structures called chromosomes. All chromosomes are found in the nucleus, the core structure of each cell. Every person has two replicas of each gene, one inherited from each parent. A mutation, which is a variant or alteration in the DNA, can drastically change what the DNA codes for. The variant can be benign, meaning they don’t pose a serious threat to one’s health, or pathogenic, which causes genetic and health issues...click here to read more

November 20, 2023

Dave Achonu

The HTT gene, also known as the Huntington gene, has been of intense scientific and medical research interest for decades. This gene is primarily associated with Huntington's disease (HD), a debilitating and devastating neurodegenerative disorder. The history of the HTT gene is a story of scientific exploration, breakthroughs, and the pursuit of a cure...click here to read more

November 17, 2023

Jaydaniah Quitugua

Dinosaurs are an extinct species that have been studied for many years through their fossils. The first recorded study occurred around the 1600s but wasn’t officially published until 1677. Since dinosaurs were extinct before the existence of human beings, there’s a lot unknown. Studies and theories are still being conducted. An example of the studies is fossilized dinosaur feathers. It has shown that dinosaur feathers have a very similar protein composition to those of modern birds...click here to read more

November 8, 2023

Caroline Cronin

In the 1960s and 1970s, during the days of Apollo 11, 12, and 17, the first samples of lunar soil were collected from different parts of the moon. After being stored for some 50 years at NASA’s archives in the Johnson Space Center, never exposed to air or water, they were taken out. Scientists at NASA made amazing discoveries that will continue to foster research and help mankind survive longer on the moon in the future. They successfully grew plants in lunar soil...click here to read more

November 6, 2023

Eliza Karel Gruta

From the moment we wake up, we make up lies. You might tell yourself, “It’s okay, five more minutes won’t make me late,” even though you know that you’ll be spending more than five minutes in bed. “I was late because of the traffic,” even though you know you just woke up late. Lying is normal - so normal that we don’t even question how it happens. In this article, we will tackle the hows and whys of this very ordinary phenomenon. This is Lies-ology 101...click here to read more

October 18, 2023

Lily Sharkey

Discovered in 1869, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an organic chemical that is the basis of life. Found in all prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells (and even some virus cells), DNA codes for the genetic information that is responsible for the expression of inherited traits. Traits such as hair color, freckles, nose shape, and height are coded for by DNA. DNA is structured as a double-helix polymer, or in other words, two strands of DNA wound around each other. Each strand of DNA is composed of monomer nucleotides (compounds of nitrogenous bases joined with a sugar and a phosphate), which are held together by covalent bonds. The two strands of DNA are connected by hydrogen bonds. During the DNA replication process, the two strands “unzip” into individual strands, with each strand serving as a template for new nitrogenous bases to bond to. The result is two new molecules, each containing one strand of the original DNA. This means that whatever trait is coded for on the original DNA will be perpetually replicated, allowing diseases like cancer to persist and spread throughout the body..click here to read more

October 12, 2023

Sofia McGrath

Science is involved in numerous aspects of our day-to-day lives. Even seemingly simple processes that may be overlooked can have intriguing scientific explanations backing them, including paint varnish.  What is paint varnish and what does it have to do with science? Varnish is a relatively transparent liquid coating composed of either synthetic or natural solutions. It primarily serves as a protective layer on a painting, enhancing the final product's overall aesthetic through the intensification of its pigments. Science plays a significant and fascinating role in how varnish affects a painting, the properties of varnish, and how it changes over time...click here to read more

September 27, 2023

Stephanie Khoury

Eunice Newton Foote (1819-1888) was a women's rights activist and scientist. In her childhood, she never took an interest in science. It was only when she was introduced to the subject in her adolescence while studying at the Troy Female Seminary School that she began to develop a strong passion for it. While exploring her new-found passion, she began to experiment. Her most notable experiment included her using thermometers to compare the temperatures of air and carbon dioxide...click here to read more

September 26, 2023

Anya Puangsawas

Given the title of “Australian of the Year” five times in a row, Dr. Fiona Wood is a distinguished plastic and reconstructive surgeon in her field of expertise– treating burns and other types of skin damage. She is principally recognized by the public eye and the world of science for her development of “Spray-on Skin”, a revolutionary and innovative treatment that shortened the time needed to cultivate enough cells to cover serious burns from the prior three-week duration to only five days...click here to read more

September 18, 2023

Joshua Morgan

How did our universe, something so massive and complex, come to be? What was the trigger that created the cosmos? Questions regarding the origins of our universe are so direct yet at the same time very complicated. The subject has been controversial and puzzling for ages, where many individuals have speculated and hypothesized. As of the 1960s, however, the cosmology community has come to accept only one theory: the Big Bang theory...click here to read more

September 15, 2023

Aye Chan Mon 

The universe comprises billions of trillions of stars. Stars may seem to harmonize in the night sky, but in truth, they vary vastly in mass, luminosity, diameter, color, temperature, and lifetime. Just as every organism has a circle of life, the stars in space do, too. But how exactly? All stars’ are born from cold and dense gas clouds termed nebulae. Hydrogen gas is the primary constituent of a nebula. Nebulae remain in a fixed stable position for millions of years...click here to read more

Wednesday, September 13

Lucia Xiao

In the developing field of neuromarketing, researchers analyze consumer behavior and marketing strategies, enabling a more direct understanding of the correlations between physiological processes, consumer behavior, and decision-making. This essay outlines major scientific advances in the field of neuromarketing, particularly concentrating on its potential applications and contributions to our understanding of human behavior...click here to read more

September 6, 2023

Tsz Kiu Amanda Leung

We live in a world of protons, neutrons, and electrons. However, if we examine the universe as a whole, all light and atoms, “normal matter,” only make up about 5% of the cosmos. If so, what exactly is the remaining 95%, and how do we find it? A concept first proposed in the 1930s by Fritz Zwicky, dark matter was only confirmed by Vera C. Rubin and her colleagues in the 1960s, making it a very recent discovery. Our universe is mainly dark matter and dark energy, where dark matter makes up about 27% and dark energy roughly 68%. One view of dark matter is that it is non-baryonic - that is, it is not made up of protons and neutrons, but other particles, such as leptons, quarks, or axons. Scientists generally agree that dark matter is a new, invisible type of particle that our sensory equipment cannot pick up...click here to read more

September 4, 2023

Janessa Angela Alerre

Charles Darwin, born on February 12, 1809, living in Shrewsbury, England, grew up intrigued by the world around him. During his childhood, he spent his time reading nature books and collecting plants and insects from the fields and woodlands surrounding his home. He happened to come from a family of scientists. For instance, his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, was a renowned botanist, and his father, Dr. R.W Darwin, was a medical doctor...click here to read more

August 23, 2023

Soulava Gabr

Drug abuse is a significant and ongoing issue affecting approximately two million Iranians daily, with heroin being the most widely abused substance in the country. The prevalence of opium, a precursor to heroin, has contributed to the rise of addiction rates, particularly among the working-age population between fifteen and sixty-four years old. The abuse of prescription medications has also played a role in escalating opioid misuse, leading to more potent narcotic consumption like heroin, which poses severe threats to physical and mental health...click here to read more

August 21, 2023

Benjamin Woo

Our universe may not be the only one out there in the unending night sky. Many have proposed that other universes could exist and that our universe is simply one of many outside of the observable realm. However, is this idea actually true? Can such a proposal be substantiated? This article will explore the multiverse theory and some different interpretations of the seemingly absurd concept...click here to read more

August 15, 2023

Jasmine Nguyen

The initial thought that comes to mind when discussing dopamine is the feeling of pleasure that it gives the body. However, it is much more complicated than that. Dopamine is one of many neurotransmitters, chemicals that sends electrical signals throughout the brain’s and body’s neurons and target cells. These neurotic messages control emotions, behaviors, and the function of muscles and organs. Dopamine is especially vital to the functions of our bodies’ motor control, memory, attention, motivation, mood, and more. Although dopamine plays a crucial role in many bodily actions, this article will specifically focus on its relationship with individuals’ reward centers...click here to read more

July 12, 2023

Letícia Alves da Silva

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is positioned between the moon and the sun, causing a precise alignment of the shadow of Earth with the lunar surface, darkening it. Depending on the type of eclipse, it can occur twice a year or every two or three years. It is noteworthy that such a phenomenon only happens during the full moon phase. In general, there are three types of lunar eclipses...click here to read more

July 5, 2023

Audrey Tran

The human body consists of 200 different types of cells. All cells, ranging from blood cells to nerve cells, originated from the stem cell. Stem cells are cells that have yet to differentiate into a specific function, much like a body’s raw materials. These cells do not have particular tissue characteristics; however, they can later differentiate into numerous specialized cells and tissues. Unlike most body cells that divide for a limited amount of time, stem cells can divide indefinitely. Due to the versatile nature of stem cells, they hold the remarkable potential to be clinically applied in therapies and organ transplantation...click here to read more

July 3, 2023

Suhani Desai 

Over the last few months, Canada has begun to experience one of the harshest wildfire seasons to date. Canada, which holds 9% of the world’s forests, typically experiences a wildfire season during this time of the year which usually extends from early May to October. This year, as Canada was hit with its most devastating fires, the fumes of the fires - which have reached almost every corner of Canada - have begun to spread south over the Canadian border into the United States. The hazy skies and large amounts of smoke have set new record highs of air pollution triggering shocking air quality warnings across Canada and the US...click here to read more

June 18, 2023

Brendan Kaminski

Russia plays an instrumental role in the global food supply, producing large quantities of corn and wheat. 1 In 2018, Russia’s wheat exports peaked at 26.4 percent of its total exports, making it the largest global wheat exporter.2  These exports significantly contribute to European grain supply, as over 70 percent of Finnish and Turkish grain imports are from Russia.3 However, in July and August of 2022, Russian wheat exports decreased by 22 percent.4 Scholars contend that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the primary source of this decline, overlooking the issue of climate change. Since several European countries depend on Russian agribusiness, this deficit is not simply a domestic issue but impacts the entire European continent. It is therefore vital that the environmental undertones of this topic are addressed...click here to read more

June 7, 2023

Avni Kyal

After studying the planets and how they all formed, scientists opted to study one of the larger, quite literally existential, questions of the universe: do planets other than Earth have conditions that could potentially sustain life? Scientists ventured towards researching the developmental and generational changes in the composition of radiation, matter, and life throughout the universe...click here to read more

May 24, 2023

Noa Essner

Over the course of human history, especially in the primitive years, mankind’s need to adapt to their surroundings has been a vital component of their survival. This adaptation has entailed learning to hunt for food, finding some form of shelter, and most especially, making fires. The exploration of this topic began in the Qesem Cave in Israel, where scientists suggest, based on ancient wood samples, that Neanderthals first started learning to make fires. Subsequent to this discovery, scientists have and continue to rely on analyzing the remains of bones and charcoal to trace the continued usage of fire. This has led scientists to conclude that as humans have evolved, ensuring their survival has not been the only use of fire. Science indicates that fire has played a critical role in actual human development from the early homosapien, a near-distant ancestor of apes, to the more complex species of humans that we are today....click here to read more

May 22, 2023 

Krisha Gupta 

From Dobereiner’s triads to Newland’s octaves, a plethora of scientists has tried arranging the chemical elements feasibly and reasonably. Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev first created the conceptual layout for the modern periodic table in 1869. At least, that is how the world perceives it...click here to read more

May 18, 2023

Keren Teichner 

In recent years, anxiety medication has been more widely used due to anxiety becoming a more rampant symptom of day-to-day life. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), one out of every thirteen people suffer from anxiety, making it the most common mental health disorder in the U.S. Many people use anxiety medication to help combat their anxiety and live with the stresses of life; however, many people do not know what these medications are. What types are there? Are they safe? Who uses them? This article will speak about several different types of anxiety medication...click here to read more

May 10, 2023

Noa Essner

For over a century, receiving the Nobel Prize has been a standing signifier of great progress and achievement in one of seven disciplines: chemistry, physics, economics, physiology, peace, literature, or medicine. Of nearly a thousand winners since the prize originated in 1901, only 59 of those winners have come from an Asian ethnicity. Yet, among those winners, one remarkable female scientist has truly broken down barriers and made her mark on the STEM community by becoming the first female Asian scientist to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in either physiology or medicine. This individual is Tu Youyou, a Chinese chemist whose development of the drug artemisinin is providing people worldwide with a life-saving treatment..click here to read more

May 3, 2023

Sylvie Pagovich 

Volcanoes are defined as an opening in the crust of a planet or moon. These openings allow molten rock, heated gases, and other substances to erupt. Volcanoes can be found in many places, not just on Earth. As layers of rock and ash accumulate from numerous eruptions, volcanoes frequently take the form of a hill or mountain, but they can also be found either on land or in the ocean. In general, volcanoes can either be active, dormant, or extinct...click here to read more

April 26, 2023

Carter Hoskins, Dave Achonu, Jacob Moran

Have you ever wondered what drives the Joker, the iconic villain from DC Comics, to his maniacal behavior? In the video game “Arkham Knight,” the Joker suffers from a mutated version of a rare and fatal neurological disorder known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. If you haven’t heard of this disease, don’t fret; it doesn’t take a caped crusader to understand this disorder...click here to read more

April 19, 2023

Ashlyn Tsang, Maya Puterman, Noa Essner

Jennifer Doudna is an American biochemist born in 1964 who co-discovered CRISPR, an invaluable tool for saving lives through genetic modification. Doudna was originally born in Washington, D.C., but she grew up in Hawaii where her love of science stemmed from exploring rainforests on her native island, Hilo. Her father, who taught at the University of Hawaii, lent her the very book that would spark her insatiable curiosity for genetics: The Double Helix, by James Watson. A few years later, she studied biochemistry at California’s Pomona College, then went to Harvard University for graduate school, where alongside Jack Szostak she researched ribonucleic acids (RNA) as well as DNA (deoxyribonucleic acids)...click here to read more

April 12, 2023

Ashlyn Tsang, Maya Puterman, Noa Essner

May-Britt Moser is a Norwegian psychologist born in 1963 who is known for her groundbreaking work in studying brain cells. She grew up fascinated by plastic brains and received a strong education in science that fostered an eventual career studying psychology...click here to read more

April 5, 2023

Ashlyn Tsang, Maya Puterman, Noa Essner

May 12, 1910 marks the day one of science’s greatest heroes was born. Dorothy Hodgkin was a chemist whose contributions to the field greatly impacted scientific research. Her love of chemistry began at the young age of ten years old. She was born in Cairo, Egypt, and had an interest in science, particularly botany and archaeology. She then went to school in London. There, she was one of two girls granted the opportunity to study science alongside a class filled with boys...click here to read more

March 22, 2023

Ashlyn Tsang, Maya Puterman, Noa Essner

Sally Ride was the first woman to have traveled to outer space. Born on May 26, 1951, Ride’s childhood included playing volleyball and tennis. She grew up and attended high school in Los Angeles, and then she studied at Stanford University to earn her degree in Physics. In 1977, NASA wanted women astronauts and started an astronaut program that encouraged women to apply. Ride applied, and was one of six women to be accepted for the program...click here to read more

March 15, 2023

Ashlyn Tsang, Maya Puterman, Noa Essner

Marie Curie was a French scientist who worked alongside her husband, Pierre Curie. Together, they both won two Nobel Prizes and discovered radioactivity. Maria Sklodowska was her birth name, and she was the youngest of five in her family. She was born on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland. As both her parents were teachers, Marie was able to read and write very early on. She was known to be an excellent student with a remarkable memory. During the time Marie grew up, Poland was controlled by Russia, and reading or writing in Polish came to be forbidden, restricting Curie from the opportunity to learn and grow. Due to the Russian invasion, Marie’s father lost his job. By the time Marie was ten, her sister had passed away from Typhus. Two years after that, her mother died from tuberculosis. Marie graduated from high school and went to University. However, University was not encouraged for women during that time...click here to read more

March 8, 2023

Ashlyn Tsang, Maya Puterman, Noa Essner

Rosalind Franklin is best known for her contributions made towards the uncovering of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and its molecular structure. DNA is the portion of a cell that stores genetic information. It is responsible for the development of an organism. Other contributions made by Franklin include observing and discovering new insights into the structure of viruses, which helped in creating the foundation in the field of structural virology. Franklin was born on July 25, 1920. As a child, she enjoyed reading novels, drawing, and photography. While attending St. Paul’s Girls’ School, Franklin excelled at science and Latin. Although it was not encouraged at the time for girls to be interested in these subjects, especially science, Franklin had the mind and attitude for it....click here to read more

January 29, 2023

Dave Achonu 

The second wave of the opioid crisis has been running rampant in the United States since 2010. This public health crisis has been characterized by a stark increase in the number of heroin overdoses. Heroin, a semi-synthetic opioid, has successfully eroded the quality of life of millions of Americans. However, heroin is not the only opioid currently plaguing the United States. Fentanyl, a more cost-effective and synthetic opioid has recently risen to fame amongst drug users and infamy amongst public health leaders. Illicit fentanyl usage has proliferated immensely as of late, increasing twenty-fold between 2010 and 2015. This fatal drug has stolen the lives of millions, leaving a permanent stain on this nation...click here to read more

December 19, 2022

Noa Essner

Beneath the Scotia Sea Floor in the Antarctic Ocean, scientists unintentionally discovered remnants of DNA from microorganisms. This DNA, known scientifically as sedimentary ancient DNA, due to its being found among the accumulation near the sea floor, is estimated to be roughly one million years old. Though the DNA found in Antarctica was discovered back in 2019 as part of a research project prompted by the International Ocean Discovery Program, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that scientists concluded that this strange DNA is much older than the 650,000-year-old sedaDNA (“Sedimentary Ancient DNA”) found in the frozen Antarctic, making it one of the world’s oldest found DNA samples to date...click here to read more

May 1, 2022

Leo Eigen

Fire has always been present in nature. Scientists consider it to be one of the most important elements of “forest ecology” – the complex biological relationships that build the basis for forest life. But with the intense rise of destructive wildfires across the West Coast of the United States which threaten homes, communities, and, above all, human life, firefighting agencies have adopted a “zero-tolerance” approach whereby all fire is considered bad...click here to read more 

April 18, 2022

Noa Essner

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, is renowned for its historic progress in space exploration and reaching new frontiers of discovery beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Having maintained this reputation for over sixty years, it may come as a surprise that an agency concerned with space endeavors is now directing its focus somewhere else...click here to read more