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Political Polarization: How Did We Become So Divided ?

In romance novels, opposites supposedly attract. The polar opposite is true in politics. Disagreements are a fundamental part of politics, but the existence of some common ground between people with differing opinions should be as well. Yet we’ve all heard anecdotes of increasing polarization, especially online. And in many people’s eyes, the pandemic particularly highlighted our growing differences. So, it’s time to take a moment and analyze, scientifically, why we should care about polarization and why it may be happening.

The Struggle is Real: The Moral Psychology of Temptation

The concept of extraterrestrial life is often associated with outlandish science fiction hypotheticals, little gray Martians, and conspiracy theorists donning tin-foil hats. Despite its seemingly fantastical nature, scientists continually look towards the vastness of space seeking to answer the big question: Are we alone? Around 778 million kilometers away from Earth, Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, Europa, orbits the gas giant. This formerly inconspicuous moon has been the one of the centerpieces of discussion ever since scientists discovered ice on its surface in the 1970s.1,2 With recent groundbreaking findings, deniers of extraterrestrial life have certainly been given even more of a run for their money.

a comic panel of a cartoon depiction of Earth in blue and green, and a cartoon depiction of Europa in brown and beige, waving at each other. Both saying “We are the same!!! ” with the word potentially written underneath in parentheses, indicating that they have similarities in having conditions that potentially support extraterrestrial life.

Finding Carbon in the Search for Life on Europa

The concept of extraterrestrial life is often associated with outlandish science fiction hypotheticals, little gray Martians, and conspiracy theorists donning tin-foil hats. Despite its seemingly fantastical nature, scientists continually look towards the vastness of space seeking to answer the big question: Are we alone? Around 778 million kilometers away from Earth, Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, Europa, orbits the gas giant. This formerly inconspicuous moon has been the one of the centerpieces of discussion ever since scientists discovered ice on its surface in the 1970s.1,2 With recent groundbreaking findings, deniers of extraterrestrial life have certainly been given even more of a run for their money.

Sustainable Practices: Smartwatches for Plants?

Could Fitbit’s newest brand ambassador be a Brazilian soy plant?
Smartwatches and other wearable technology are becoming increasingly sophisticated, so much so that these devices are no longer amenities exclusive to humans. For several years, scientists have been investigating how these wearable devices that monitor our wellbeing could be adapted to track plant health in real-time and aid cultivation choices. Agriculture and crops are essential to both our food security and our economy. However, efficient and sustainable farming practices (i.e. large yield with small environmental consequences) are difficult to achieve when several factors harm plant health.

Mirror, mirror: The psychology of how we determine the fairest of them all

What makes a person attractive? This question has been debated hotly throughout history. Our sayings tell us that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, while our stories describe objective measures of beauty, such as the magic mirror in Snow White, which unequivocally evaluates who is the fairest of them all. More recent contributions to the beauty argument are similarly mixed: motivational throw pillows assure us that beauty is about being yourself, incels argue that beauty is in the jawline of the Chad, skincare gurus promise it’s in their special seven-step routine.

A colorful digital illustration of two women in knight armor swordfighting intensely under an archway made of roses.

From Foes to Flames: Does the Enemies-To-Lovers trope exist in real life?

If you are a fervent reader of slow-burn romance novels, star-crossed enemies-to-lovers stories, rivalry, and similar exhilarating genres, you’ve likely come across the infamous idiom, “There’s a thin line between love and hate.” But how accurate is this phrase in reality? And is this phenomenon an actual occurrence beyond literature and pop culture?

A pink flower spots its mate, which is another pink flower, with a binocular. Text written "Can Plants Choose Their Partners?"

Swiping Leaf: Can plants choose their partners?

The life of a plant may look static, uneventful. Plants are photosynthetic: they can produce their own food using CO2 and water, powered by sunlight. But behind their green façade, plants have a more complex, alien lifestyle than we usually give them credit for.

A person enjoying a chocolate bar and experiencing the feeling of love. Text written: "Love by chocolate - lust, attraction, or attachment?"

Love by Chocolate: Is it lust, attraction, or attachment?

Chocolate has always been an essential element of love. We can see the central presence of chocolate in traditions as well. In Turkish culture, when two people are getting engaged, it’s customary to buy chocolate on a silver tray alongside a bouquet of flowers. In the past, chocolate was used as a love potion by high-class women in the New Spain.1 Hence, it is apparent that there is a clear connection between chocolate and display of affection in the society that sustains across time and cultures. In this article, we will share with you three important subcategories of love and how it connects to chocolate.

Under text saying five senses of attraction are illustrations representing taste as a mouth, smell as a nose, sight as an eye, touch as hands holding, and sound as an ear.

Five Senses of Attraction

You may have heard about “love at first sight,” but what about “love at first smell?” When we meet someone new, our five senses work to synthesize the information we encounter to see whether they might be a potential mate. Our senses can inform our attitudes in surprising ways. In this article, we discuss some interesting studies related to each of the five senses and how they contribute to romantic attraction.

A record player with a sunflower horn. the record player with the sunflower motif is repeated four times in the illustration with different colour and background each time.

Are We All Mainstream? The Science Behind Aesthetic Taste

What is your favourite shape? And your favourite piece of art? Your tastes define you; you may think that these tastes are unique and extremely personal, but science has a different hypothesis: some of your aesthetic tastes may be, to a certain point, universal.