How do motor behaviors get better with practice?
by Cheshta Bhatiafigures by Jasmin Joseph-Chazan Ubiquitous actions that we perform in our daily lives, like tying our shoelaces or playing basketball, rely on our brain’s ability to learn and execute motor skills; this ability to knit movements into a series of actions enables us to walk, dance, or play the piano. However, have you ever wondered why we can improve at these tasks with … Continue reading How do motor behaviors get better with practice?
Viral Fossil Records: A Look into the Past! (and the Future?)
by Misha Guptafigures by Xiaomeng Han For close to two centuries, humans have been studying the biological past using fossil records. In recent history, we have added the ability to reconstruct the sequence of our DNA to our arsenal. Furthermore, phylogenetic trees (structures that define the evolutionary relationships in the line of descent from a common ancestor) have been created for all manners of organisms, … Continue reading Viral Fossil Records: A Look into the Past! (and the Future?)
Home Decor and the Hippocampus: How environmental enrichment can enhance brain function
by Ariel Hairstonfigures by MacKenzie Mauger Our lives are stuffed with opportunities for excitement and stimulation. You might wake up in the morning and find yourself staring at your modest collection of succulents, or that small oil painting you bought at a flea market. The first moments of your day might be spent taking a walk around the block, the smell of tree bark hanging … Continue reading Home Decor and the Hippocampus: How environmental enrichment can enhance brain function
Ant Venom Holds Clues for Pain Pathways in Mammals
Scientists have characterized a component of bull ant venom that causes hypersensitivity to touch and heat in mammals Continue reading Ant Venom Holds Clues for Pain Pathways in Mammals
Climate Change is Happening in Our Own Backyards
by Jessica Schifffigures by Sarah Dendy Climate change is impacting every region in the United States, fueling more intense natural disasters. It is hard to ignore the number of people leaving their homes due to either sudden events, like wildfires, or gradual climate-related changes, like sea level rise. In 2020, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (iDMC) reported 1,719,000 new displacements and registered 126,000 internally displaced … Continue reading Climate Change is Happening in Our Own Backyards
Peer Review in Science: the pains and problems
by Wei Li News about exciting and novel science is being published every day, whether it’s about a new technique for rejuvenating skin cells, or a new breakthrough in fighting drug resistance for cancer patients. However, when you read these news articles, how can you assess if they are trustworthy? How do you know if a new technique actually works or if the data used … Continue reading Peer Review in Science: the pains and problems
Heavy Metal Exposure Creates Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
Exposure to heavy metals leads to increased antibiotic resistance within the human body. Continue reading Heavy Metal Exposure Creates Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
Apples and Oranges: How Do You Compare the Capacity of Algae and Trees?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air is the basis of the global food chain. Plant leaves contain proteins that collect the carbon and remove the oxygen (O2). These proteins are virtually identical in all plants and algae, however, what this collected carbon is converted into differs widely. This poses a problem in measuring the efficiency of plants, since it is difficult to compare the amount … Continue reading Apples and Oranges: How Do You Compare the Capacity of Algae and Trees?
The Human-Tuberculosis Arms Race
by Sanjana Kulkarnifigures by Corena Loeb The bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) has been infecting humans for thousands of years. Today, TB, which is thought to have originated in Africa and evolved alongside human hosts, is found across the globe and causes 1-2 million deaths annually, making it the second leading infectious disease killer after COVID-19. As new COVID-19 variants keep emerging, we can observe the … Continue reading The Human-Tuberculosis Arms Race
May 18: Survival of the Quickest: How Climate Change Has Shaped Evolution
Time: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 18th Join us on: Zoom or YouTube Live Speaker: Daniel Richard Evolution acts most strongly during times of change – favouring those species that are best equipped to handle new challenges. In the distant past, climate change has acted as a strong driver of evolutionary change – shaping species and whole ecosystems as they adapt to their new environments. Given … Continue reading May 18: Survival of the Quickest: How Climate Change Has Shaped Evolution