In ancient Rome, when the impossible happened, people would react with the saying “When a mule foals.” It is common knowledge that a mule cannot produce offspring, but the reason why–that’s not so common. A horse and a donkey can birth a mule, but apparently two mules cannot have a baby mule. On the outside, […]
Turner’s Syndrome
Chromosomal Abnormalities Normally, females are born with two X chromosomes: XX. Males are born with XY. In Turner’s Syndrome there is complete or part absence of one of the X chromosomes. What is Turner’s Syndrome? Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal condition that affects development in females. This rare disease occurs in roughly 1 out of 2,500 […]
Unraveling Hagfish Slime
The Hagfish Hagfish are a type of marine fish. There are 76 species of hagfish which live in cold waters all around the world. Hagfish look a lot like eels, but there are a few ways to tell them apart. To start, in contrast to other fish, hagfish lack backbones as well as jaws. They […]
Your Alternate Reality: How To Lucid Dream
by Lauren Tam Lucid dreaming is almost like the real-life version of virtual reality. You’re in an alternate reality; you feel as though the world has shifted under your feet, and there are no real consequences to what you do in this space. Lucid dreaming is an ancient practice. It is part of the Hindu […]
The New Frontier to Fight Malaria
By: Anthony Dinglasan Imagine that you and your family travel back to Nigeria to visit your hometown. During your stay in Lagos, you spend weeks visiting your distant family and friends. At the start of the new year, you return to your home in Indiana. At first, everything seems normal until your children suddenly begin […]
Gifted kid burnout – the dangers of imposter syndrome
by Zeanne M Chances are, you’ve probably met someone who’s been labeled as “gifted/smart” in their early years of school. Or maybe you’re this person yourself. Despite their academic successes in the past, there’s a good chance that this same person is currently struggling, because they’re doubting themselves or their abilities. In other words, they’re […]
CRISPR: Genetically Engineering Humans
Imagine a world without cancer. Without Cystic Fibrosis, HIV, Herpes, or Huntington’s disease. This is the world that gene editing may bring us. With Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9), this world may one day become reality. CRISPR-Cas9 is the cheapest, fastest, and most accurate gene editing technology to date. […]
Can Trauma be Passed to Future Generations?
In 1966, psychologists noticed something interesting. Proportionally, more grandchildren of Holocaust survivors sought mental help in Canadian clinics compared to the rest of the population. Mounting evidence show that descendants of people who have experienced trauma like the Holocaust are at greater risk of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other conditions. But while studies […]
Is Oxygen Killing Us?
Yes, but it does so very, very slowly. Wait- how is that possible? We breathe 22,000 times per day. Every single one of those times, our blood takes oxygen from our lungs and carries it to all our cells. They use that oxygen to do their cell jobs and keep us alive. However, sometimes (around […]
Crow Closure
by Lauren Tam You are driving along the road, trees to your left and acres of grazing land to your right. A dead crow is spotted off the side of the asphalt. You are careful not to roll over it; it has already had a bad day. As you drive past, you notice through your […]