2021

Rethinking ‘Junk’ DNA: The Vital Role DNA Repeats Play in Cancer and Aging

2021, Biology, Medicine / By

Figure: The image above, created by the National Institutes of Health, helps demonstrate how important a role junk DNA can play. The picture displays a stem cell culture, within which green dots represent viral envelope proteins resulting from the transcription and subsequent translation of junk DNA. When these proteins interact with certain immune cell proteins, …

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Touchscreen Technology: The Next Contamination Sensor?

2021, Engineering / By

Figure: A water treatment facility. These are commonly found in higher-resource communities (Source: Unsplash, Ivan Bandura) For over a quarter of the world’s population, access to clean water is limited. Water can be contaminated by metal ions like arsenic and lead, carcinogenic toxins which are dangerous for consumers, as well as nitrates and phosphates, which …

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Why Your Genes Might Impact Your COVID-19 Experience

2021, Biology, Medicine / By

Figure: An illustration of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. When it comes to SARS-CoV-2 infections, a new study suggests that genetics may play a role in both susceptibility and severity. (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Author: We Are Covert Ltd) In the past, genome-wide association studies have found correlations between specific forms of certain genes and individual susceptibility to …

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When Breaking the Ice Isn’t So Simple: The Phenomenon of Flexible Ice Crystals

2021, Environment, Physics / By

Figure: Icicles like these, which have formed on a house in Montreal, Canada, demonstrate the rigidity that comes to mind for most people when they think of ice. However, a new discovery has revealed the existence of elastic ice that can bend without breaking. (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Natasha2006) When people think about ice, “flexible” is …

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A Novel Mental Health Literacy Education Program for Pre-Teens

2021, Social Science / By

Figure: A typical elementary school classroom in Japan (Cassidy, 2005). Source: Wikimedia Commons, Tony Cassidy The concept of mental health literacy (MHL) refers to knowledge and beliefs about mental health and mental health disorders (Kutcher et al., 2016). Helping children to develop MHL is critical because awareness of mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders is essential for …

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The Future of Wearable Devices

2021, Biology, Neuroscience / By

Figure: The colored sections of the brain represent the different areas that are activated by different stimuli (Source: Wikimedia Commons, NIH Image Gallery) The field of computational neuroscience has made several advances in the last twenty years, including the design of a multitude of new technologies that stand to improve the quality of human life. …

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Learned Control of Spontaneous Dopamine Impulses in Mice

2021, Biology, Neuroscience / By

Figure: Dopamine is the so-called “feel-good” neurotransmitter, involved in cognitive processing including learning and behavioral planning (Foo et al., 2021). (Source: Jynto, Wikimedia Commons). Traditionally, neural signaling has been studied in the context of “deterministic” signals, or external stimuli (Aguilera, 2021). However, a recent study by University of California San Diego researchers demonstrated that impulses …

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The Connections Between Sleep and Memory

2021, Biology, Neuroscience / By

Figure: The image above displays the effects of sleep deprivation on various aspects of physiological function (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Mikael Häggström) When preparing for an exam, one of the best ways to boost your performance is by getting an optimal amount of sleep. In order to optimize your levels of alertness, the Sleep Foundation recommends …

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Addison’s Disease: Why Does it Take an Adrenal Crisis for a Correct Diagnosis?

2021, Biology, Medicine / By

Figure: Blood samples ready to be tested. Addison’s disease is diagnosed by analysis of ACTH levels via a blood test. (Source: Unsplash, Testalize.me) In 1855 Thomas Addison described symptoms for an illness now known as Addison’s disease, a chronic condition caused by damage to the adrenal glands (Yamamoto, 2018). Addison’s is an incredibly rare disease affecting …

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