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An image of a jellyfish and a clam in the centre. On the left side is an image of a naked mole rat and on the right side, a chromosome with dark regions on the ends representing telomeres and DNA unwinding from one end

You Only Live (Forever) Once: The Science of Immortality and Life Extension

Immortality has always been one of those topics in science fiction that seemed a little too fantastical to ever be true. Maybe it’s not as full of paradoxes as time travel, or riddled with hypothetical questions like extra-terrestrials, but the concept of eternal life has long been seemingly rooted in our primal fear of death. Ever since humans could write, we’ve been fascinated with the preservation of life; from the ancient myths of the Fountain of Youth to the worship of everlasting deities, this fascination has truly stood the tests of time. Now that we finally have the knowledge and technology to potentially make immortality a reality, researchers are looking for ways to bring it out of science fiction and into the real world.

Two carnivorous plants holding forks and spoons behind a silver food tray cover that has a question mark

Plant Attack! How Carnivorous Can Carnivorous Plants Get?

When Charles Darwin published his book Insectivorous Plants in the late 19th century, the idea of meat-eating flora larger than life soon captured the imaginations of creators. Plants capable of devouring human beings became a regular subject of periodical pieces, and featured in stories by famous authors Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells. The idea of the man-eating plant has continued to endure in fiction—perhaps most famously in the musical film Little Shop of Horrors, where a sentient plant introduced into a flower shop demands the blood of its owner and soon begins to devour those around him.

A superhero bursting out from a zoomed in DNA double-helix. Text: Are mutants just science fiction or are there ones hidden among us?

Are Mutants Just Science Fiction?

I’ve got news for you: you are a mutant! Yes, you read that correctly! Every human being is technically a mutant due to the naturally occurring mutations in our genes. And, we have been using this natural process as a spark for our creativity through science fiction. Science fiction is a genre of media in which science is used to enhance the products of our imagination. But sometimes, these ideas can seem more like fiction than science. For instance, the superpowers we see in literary universes can look utterly implausible.

A cartoon drawing of a greater bird-of-paradise winking at the viewer. The bird is yellow and brown with patches of green and black. In its beak, the bird holds a rose by the stem. "How to Flirt (Successfully): A Pick-up Guide" is captioned at the top.

How To Flirt (Successfully): A Pick-Up Guide by Nature’s Birds-of-Paradise

What’s your go-to move when you’re trying to flirt with someone? Are you the type that likes to make them laugh? Maybe you prefer the calm and collected approach, or maybe you go the direct route — no matter which you prefer, these all have one thing in common: the desire to impress. You might think that this is something that is unique to humans; however, there is one species that shares our desire to impress and takes it to the extremes: birds-of-paradise.

A large brain sits on a chair and looks at itself in the mirror, where it sees infinite reflections. The big brain is also surrounded by wiggly lines and eyes that are looking at the brain.

The Absurdity of Boltzmann Brains

13.8 billion years ago, our universe began. Then followed particles… then galaxies… then stars… then planets. One of these planets, formed 4.5 million years ago, witnessed the birth of our first human ancestors around 3.2 million years. Over these years, our brains evolved to understand emotions, communicate with others, create meaning out of trivial matters, and read online articles pondering their own existence. This seems to be an accurate summary of our existence, right?

A nervous young person wrapped in blankets looks down over the edge of their bed. Two red eyes stare out from the darkness beneath the bed.

Using Memory Techniques to Face the Monsters Under Our Beds

Nightmares are no rare phenomenon; every one of us has at some point been forced to confront the monsters under our beds. Medically, a typical nightmare is nothing to be afraid of. Even recurring nightmares are perfectly normal.

A thylacine walks out from the "History of Extinct Animals" book towards the modern world. The path the thylacine is walking on is lined with science-related objects, such as test tubes, mechanical gears, and magnets.

Science Fiction Becomes Fact: Bringing the Thylacine Back from Extinction

When I first watched Jurassic Park as a kid, I wasn’t at all worried about dinosaurs becoming a problem in the future. It was just science fiction after all, surely we can’t bring an extinct animal back to life! As time passed, the movie started becoming more of a cautionary tale and less fictional as the progress of scientific advancements continued to accelerate. In a world with climbing extinction rates yet remarkable technological innovations, it seems that the resurrection of extinct species is the solution to the extinction problem, but is it really a solution free of consequences?

Four colourful cartoon people stand in a line, each with an opening inside their chest displaying a set of chromosomes. The second person in line has an additional set of chromosomes and patches of a different colour on their body, representing chimerism.

Can we trust DNA? — Lydia Fairchild’s story

DNA is a unique biological molecule often referred to as the building block of life. In today’s society, identification of organisms or their relationships depends on DNA: For instance, determining someone’s identity from forensic evidence or conducting blood relation tests relies on an individual’s unique DNA sequence. This connection can be seen in our lives in situations like court cases and even as common as television shows! We trust the certainty of DNA to guide us in times of uncertainty.

person listening to music and having nostalgic feelings about her and her friend having a good time together.

Oh My God, I Know That Song!

You’re at a party. It’s pretty relaxed, people are chatting and you’re sitting in the living room with a friend. All of a sudden, “Last Friday Night” booms through the speakers. In a second, everyone is on the dance floor. “Yeah, we danced on tabletops, and we took too many shots / Think we kissed but I forgot / Last Friday night” Throwback after throwback plays, and by the end of the night your throat hurts from singing and you’re giddy from laughing with your friends. But what makes just one song capable of completely shifting the mood of so many people for an entire night? That’s a great question — it all has to do with the effect of nostalgia!

An illustrated scientist floats amongst giant particles. He observes sine waves illuminated on a holograph. A laser in the background captures rays of light illuminated from the giant particle.

How Tabletop Physics can Uncover Secrets of our Universe

Many of the most awe-inspiring unsolved problems in physics deal with extremes of our universe —from the happenings of subatomic particles to those at the centres of black holes. Some of them tackle whether we can reconcile our existing understandings of these disparate regimes. Could we someday have a unifying theory of the physics of both the smallest and largest scales in the universe?