by Ingrid Wu Most of us have probably encountered an indefinite amount of barcodes in our day-to-day lives. A barcode itself is very simple: a series of parallel black lines and white spaces of varying widths. We’ve also all seen how it is used: the cashier scans the code and the details immediately pop up […]
Does Extra CO2 Benefit Plants?
For 2 months, I’ve been working on a project that aims to build the perfect environment for plants to thrive. As I did my research about the factors that affect plant growth, many questions arose in my head. In particular, I asked myself how much CO2 is too much for my plants? With climate change […]
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars
By Xavier Lam Electric cars seem to be gaining a lot of traction over the years. Usually, we are familiar with regular battery powered cars such as Teslas, however there also exists the lesser known hydrogen fuel cell car. Hydrogen Fuel Cells Using hydrogen and oxygen, fuel cells combine the two to produce electricity, heat, […]
The Future of Phones as Medical Devices
Have you ever imagined having a smart phone that also doubles as your doctor? Well with the recent years of technological advancement, it’s possible that this invention will be accessible to the public in the near future. Heart Rate Measurement Recently I have gotten to thinking about whether we can use phone apps to measure […]
Molecular Lefties and Righties: A Handy Peek into Chirality
by Flora Guo Have you ever tried wearing a right-handed shoe on your left foot? Or vice versa? From personal experience, I know that this is definitely a frustrating experience. However, this everyday occurrence demonstrates an interesting property of the molecules around you. As a right-handed person, I often take everyday things for granted. Left-handed […]
Carnivore or Herbivore – Which diet is healthier?
For the body to function efficiently, it is important to eat the correct foods. Foods that contain essential vitamins and nutrients, not just sugar and fats. I believe that having that right diet is crucial, because many health problems can be caused by eating foods that are unhealthy. For example, having a diet which involves […]
The Wuhan Coronavirus and SARS
By Nicolas Deporcq-Pomerleau Over the course of January 2020, the outbreak of a Coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, China has made international headlines. As of early February 2020, there are more than 28,000 cases confirmed, spread out in over 25 countries. In China, nearly 60 Million residents are on lockdown, as people in cities […]
Shame on Aspartame?
The other day, I saw my dad picking up a few boxes of Coke Zero from the grocery store. “Not again! It’s way too sweet!” I let out a sigh. He went on explaining that it had no calories, refusing to believe it was a cause of his weight gain. I enjoyed the original version […]
Does Coffee Really Cause Dehydration?
In the competitive debate community, there’s a joke that debaters are mental athletes as much as other people are physical athletes. The primary difference lies in our tournament regimens: instead of fueling up on Gatorade or nourishing foods, debaters fuel up on coffee. At the last tournament I went to, I myself was privy to […]
How to Tell If a Coin Is Made of Silver (Without Destroying It in the Process)
When I returned from my trip to Vietnam a couple of summers ago, I brought back a very intriguing souvenir. It was an old coin that dated back to 1908 and was purportedly about 27 grams of 90% pure silver. Now, I assumed that the coin was a fake. I got the coin from a […]