Student Contributors

What Happens When We Don't Know Anything

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:26:37 +0000

We live in the most information-saturated era in human history, and yet a growing number of people feel like the answers to their questions have never been farther away. We are drowning in content but starving for truth. It feels impossible to know where to turn for our information, what to believe and when to make up our minds.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Angelina Lapalme — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 16:01:41 +0000

Movie slumps are the worst. You know when you’re looking through the titles on your streaming services, but nothing sounds quite right? And as you continue to look with little success, you get increasingly frustrated until you decide not to watch anything at all. Okay, that’s a little dramatic but I’m sure it has happened to us all. One way to get out of this slump is to ask for recommendations. Instead of going for Netflix’s usual “you may like…” personalized list, I decided to ask a friend.

Why do we Crave Junk Food During Stress?

Emma Haccoun Choquette — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Have you ever noticed that during exams, deadlines, or stressful life events, a salad suddenly sounds much less appealing than a bag of chips or a chocolate bar? You're not imagining it. Chronic stress can change the way our brain and body respond to food, increasing cravings for sugary and fatty "comfort foods.

Why the World Cup Ball Matters More than You Think

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The origins of soccer can be traced back to 2nd century BC during the Han Dynasty, when the game cuju was played. Cuju, a sport resembling hacky sack, is cited by FIFA as the world’s first “kicking game.” Cuju resembles modern soccer gameplay in its organization. Two teams face off, each with the common goal of getting the ball through a little hole in the opposing team’s net.

Sustainable Until Disposal

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Something I’ve noticed lately is that it has become nearly impossible to buy anything without being informed that it is somehow saving the Earth. Toothbrushes are sustainable. Laundry detergent is eco-conscious. Garbage bags are, counterintuitively, biodegradable. At this rate, even my impulse purchases are apparently participating in climate action.

The Barbie Drug Your Dermatologist Has Never Heard Of

Julia Nevski — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:12:37 +0000

Spray it up your nose, or inject it under the skin, and within days your skin turns a deep, even, suspiciously permanent bronze. No sun required. TikTok calls it the “vacation peptide.” The compound is melanotan II, and its more famous nickname, the “Barbie drug,” has been showing up in dermatology journals since at least 2010 — for the tan, plus a side effect serious enough that it later spun off its own FDA-approved libido drug. The name conjures exactly who you’d picture: young, female, chasing an Instagram-ready glow.

An Ode to Cyanotype Printing

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

I wouldn’t consider myself one to be too artistically inclined. I am unable to draw, I am not crafty, and I certainly cannot make music. It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing crafts; I do. I just was not blessed with this natural talent. That’s why, when I came across cyanotype, I was intrigued.

Seeing Turmeric in a New Light

Angelina Lapalme — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:56:47 +0000

As you could probably tell by spending two minutes in my presence, I love chemistry. It’s part of who I am. To some people, that might get a little annoying, but I promise I know to tone down the chemistry nerdiness depending on my audience. While learning the technical information is great and all, what really excites me is seeing chemistry in action, especially when it catches me by surprise.

How PCOS Became PMOS

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

When scientists discover they've been wrong about a disease, changing their minds is only half the battle. The other half is updating everything that came from that misunderstanding: the textbooks, the guidelines, the assumptions people carry around, and sometimes even the name of the disease itself.

That's exactly what's happening with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which has officially been renamed Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS).

AI Scribes in the Clinic: What Patients Should Know

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 22:16:13 +0000

The last time I went to the doctor, I was handed a form to sign. It was a consent form asking for my permission to allow the doctor to use an AI scribe during our appointment. I signed it without much hesitation, partly out of habit, partly out of an assumption that this is simply where healthcare is headed in the age of AI technology. Now, months later, after spending a semester conducting a health technology assessment on AI scribes for one of my courses, I realized that moment deserved more scrutiny.

Protein-Rich Bridges and Edible Houses

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

For most tourists in Prague, visiting the Charles Bridge is pretty much at the top of the sightseeing list. The medieval stone bridge, completed in the 15th century, was a part of the royal route – the path Bohemian kings took to the Prague Castle for their coronations. It also served as a key trade route, and now, is perhaps the most international place in Prague. Alongside its immense historical and cultural significance for the Czech Republic and the Bohemian Kingdom, there is one myth around its construction that may warrant some head scratching.

Talking to Animals… Telepathically? The Science Behind Pet Communication

Cici Chen — Thu, 28 May 2026 23:10:52 +0000

The Claim and How It Gains Credibility

Taylor Swift, Earthquakes, and Land Mines?

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Thu, 21 May 2026 14:51:58 +0000

At 12:51pm on February 22, 2011, the world crumbled before the residents of Christchurch, New Zealand. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit the city, killing 185 people and injuring thousands more. This earthquake was an aftershock of the more severe but far less deadly 7.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the region six months earlier on September 4, 2010.

Red Cabbage Does Not Know the Sex of Your Baby

Angelina Lapalme — Fri, 15 May 2026 19:07:20 +0000

Old wives’ tales were the original social media trends. One person would try something new to fix a problem, convinced themselves that it worked, and pass the tip along to their friends and children until it spread, slowly. Today, these tales still circulate but their reach has exploded thanks to the invention of a story teller’s most powerful tool: the internet. And now, it seems that red cabbage is having its moment.

Why Did LLMs Steal Our Em-Dashes?

Lia Erisson — Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Upon ChatGPT's release in 2022, I realized that I wrote like AI. My sentences were long, my writing patterns were predictable, and my use of em-dashes was frequent. Initially, I was not concerned: if models are being trained to write like me, I must be doing a good job, right?