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Blueprints of different robot designs. In the background, blueprints of hard, rigid robot designs are crossed out in red marker. The blueprint in the foreground shows an inchworm-like design.

Inching Towards Soft Robotics

Beloved characters like Pixar’s Wall-E and Star Wars’ R2-D2 are portrayed as bulky, rigid robots that can easily interact with humans. However, in the real world, such robots are rarely safe and effective enough to be used around humans and delicate objects. This is where soft robotics comes in!

A grey rat in a blue convertible car.

A Scientific Look at Real Life Rat Races

It’s the year 2019, and although flying cars and hover boards are not yet a reality, you can rest assured knowing that rats can now drive cars! That’s right, scientists at the University of Richmond in Virginia have succeeded in teaching rats how to operate tiny, rat-sized vehicles.

A desktop computer. On the monitor, there is an image of a sparrow bird and a prompt that reads "Are you ready?". There are two choices for the user to input, "yes" or "no".

Artificial Intelligence in Video Gaming: Sparrow

“Sparrow” is a student startup at the Entrepreneurship Hatchery at the University of Toronto. Their plan? Build a League of Legends “personal gaming coach” that incorporates AI into video gaming.

An animation of a hand fading in and fading out.

Phantom Limbs

We all take our limbs for granted. They allow us to perform many tasks, from hugging our friends and playing our favourite sports to flipping the pages of a book. But when you lose a limb, your brain may keenly feel its absence, and even deny it altogether.

A retro videogame styled dinosaur running away from a meteor in the desert. The text reads "game over".

A Mesozoic Murder Mystery

For millions of years, dinosaurs dominated the Earth in the time period we call the Mesozoic Era (also known as the Age of Reptiles) and it seemed like nothing could end their reign. But 66 million years ago, the planet was changed forever.

A person holding a fork with a piece of cake on it. A smiling microalgae is overlaid on the image of the cake. The speech bubble coming out of the person's mouth reads "The Microorganism That Might Save Us".

The Microorganism That Might Save Us

Ten billion people by 2050. It’s a statistic nearly everyone has heard. Coupled with the impending climate crisis, it seems nearly impossible humanity will be able to produce enough food to nourish such a massive global population. But there is one emerging ‘superfood’ that embodies every sense of the term: microalgae.

A vivid dream projected from a person's brain. The person's eyes are closed and appears to be sleeping. The text reads "All About Lucid Dreams".

Lucid Dreaming

Can you manipulate your dreams? If so, you’re probably experiencing an interesting phenomenon called lucid dreaming! Learn more about lucid dreaming and its benefits in this article.

A drunk monkey holding a bottle of alcohol while hanging from a vine. The text reads "The Drunken Monkey Theory".

“Drunken Monkey” Theory

Alcoholism is perhaps the most common form of drug abuse in North America. But what if we told you that millions of years of evolution have wired your brain to seek out that glass of wine, or two, or three?

A strand of DNA walking a tight rope, with a city skyline pictured below the tight rope. The text reads: Do genetics determine risk-taking behaviour?

Genetics of Risk Tolerance

Are you the kind of person who takes risks? Chances are, you’ve considered this question before, and might think you’re relatively set in your ways as a risk-taker or otherwise. But is there a way to tell whether someone is more or less prone to taking risks?

Polar bear, butterflies, penguin, and fish. The text reads: Threatened by Global Warming.

Assisted Migration

Animals have been moving away from their natural habitats due to the effects of climate change – but not all who make the move, survive. Assisted migration is one of the ways humans are intervening.