Three neurons – blue, purple, and pink – with the purple one in the center being distorted and its dendrites surrounded by orange plaques are positioned in a zig-zag in front of a background with different shades of blue. Dark blue text reads “Mind Over Microbes,” where each word is positioned above each neuron’s axon. Neurons of varying sizes and colours are placed further in the background.
A man stares through a magnifying glass labelled “Cancer Screening” at a smaller version of himself
A blue and white glacier crumbles in a glacier bay. Several birds fly in the distance.
Spot alt text: A long grey pipe in a snowy field releases white gas into the air. Several white birds with black tipped wings fly overhead.
Do you think it’s possible for a car to climb stairs? It’s an odd thought but not outside the realm of possibility, right?
In January 2022, BBC Science Focus magazine released an article listing futuristic car designs that could “revolutionize the vehicle industry”. This list includes cars that can change colour at the touch of a button or have a holographic windshield, as well as cars that have built in legs to climb stairs1.Though these designs sound outrageous, engineers and scientists consider them to be possible and thus, there is a greater chance for these designs to become a reality.
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.