2021

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

2021, Biology, Medicine • September 24, 2021

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 • September 24, 2021

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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Neutrophils and their NETs

2021, Biology • September 17, 2021

Figure: A neutrophil (yellow) ejecting a NET (green) to capture invading bacteria (purple) that are attacking a red blood cell (orange). (Source: Wikimedia Commons, CHDENK) Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell involved in the innate immune response in most animals. These cells tend to be among the most numerous in the circulatory system; …

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Why Your Genes Might Impact Your COVID-19 Experience

2021, Biology, Medicine • September 17, 2021

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 • September 11, 2021

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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The Future of Wearable Devices

2021, Biology, Neuroscience • September 11, 2021

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 • September 4, 2021

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 • September 4, 2021

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 • August 21, 2021

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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