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Consciousness in a Cage: What Happens When the Mind Outgrows the Body?
Inspired by Daniel Keyes' “Flowers for Algernon” There’s a moment in Flowers for Algernon—quiet, almost forgettable too—where Charlie Gordon realizes he can understand things no one around him can. The language of philosophy, the layers of a poem, the way people mean one thing and say another. But with that understanding comes something heavy: distance. From others. From comfort. From who he used to be. It’s the kind of moment that sticks with you. Because it asks a question
Urvee Nikam
4 days ago4 min read
What does a healthy diet look like for a marathon runner?
Running a marathon is one of the most physically demanding sports as it can take a toll on the body’s physiological and psychological systems (Carveth, 2025). As such, maintaining a healthy and balanced diet before, during and after a marathon is crucial to fuel workouts and recover efficiently. A healthy diet for marathon training consists of high-calorie foods , including carbohydrates (carbs), fats, protein, vitamins, minerals, and water. The number of calories an athlete
Odellia Chan
6 days ago3 min read
What Happens in the Brain During a Panic Attack?
Roughly one in three people will experience a panic attack at some point in their lives- including many who have never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. During an attack, the body is flooded with intense fear and a range of physical symptoms: trembling, shortness of breath, dizziness, a racing heart, chest pain, and nausea. People often report a sense of losing control, overwhelming dread, or a fear of dying. Panic attacks can feel life-threatening, similar to a heart
Milly Xu
Jan 153 min read
Treating Patients One Gene At A Time
CRISPR gene editing is a tool that allows scientists to precisely target and modify the human genome, making it possible to correct mutations and potentially treat genetic causes of disease. CRISPR creates Cas9, which is like a pair of molecular scissors with a customizable targeting system. Bacteria use it to defend against viral infection by remembering the genetic code of an attacker. They load that code into Cas9, like giving a hunting dog a scent, enabling it to then m
Kaira Arora
Jan 133 min read
Hawthorne Effect: The Questionable Myth That Continues Existing
What does it feel like to be watched as you work on something? Does it feel pressurising? Do you feel stressed? Does that make you want to do better to show to the person that you are able to do the job you are doing well? If your answer to the last question is yes, that is the Hawthorne effect in action! …Well, somewhat. Based on the known definition of the effect, this would be a correct example of the effect. However, due to some reasons which we will explain later on in
Lydia Tan
Jan 114 min read
Hydroponics: How Engineers Are Growing Plants Quicker
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, using water enriched with the exact same nutrients they need. Instead of searching through dirt for food, a plant’s roots directly receive the necessary nutrients which allows them to grow faster, healthier and more efficiently than in traditional soil. One of the biggest practical advantages of hydroponic systems is their efficiency with resources. Contrary to what one may believe, they use far less water than soil far
Joseph Krisnanto
Jan 91 min read
How Should Society Manage Addiction?
Individuals dealing with addiction in society can be compared to a revolving door – they come and go. However, the situation becomes critical when the number of people seeking help increases rapidly, overcrowding the space and leaving little room for those who need to step forward. It's essential to address these consequences, but the question remains: how can we effectively provide support when the need continues to grow? Addicts – What’s the Big Deal? Prominent drug addicti
Alissa Mak
Jan 73 min read
Why Concrete Is Essential in Modern Construction
Concrete is one of the most important materials used in modern construction. Found in buildings, roads, bridges, and foundations, concrete is strong, durable and widely available. Concrete is inexpensive to make, which makes it practical for large scale infrastructure. The first key advantage of concrete is durability. Once hardened, it can last for decades with minimal maintenance. It resists weathering, fire, and water damage far better than materials like wood. Concrete c
Joseph Krisnanto
Jan 52 min read
Gas Solubility: How it enables the production of carbonated drinks and its harsh effects on scuba divers
Solubility is the maximum amount a solute can dissolve in a certain amount of solvent. Carbonation occurs when pressurised carbon dioxide is injected and dissolved in water. The solubility of a gas dissolved in a liquid is directly proportional to the pressure of the gas above the solution. If there is a greater pressure in the space above the solution or on the solution, there will be a greater solubility of the gas dissolved in the solution. This trend is what the carbonati
Kaira Arora
Jan 34 min read
Knock knock! Chikun-who?
You might recall that mosquitoes are one of the deadliest insects in the world, based on the number of people that are killed every year from various diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. In 2025, mosquitoes have become even more deadly. China’s southern industrial hub has thus far recorded over 3,000+ chikungunya cases so far this month, which is yet another mosquito-borne virus that first appeared in mainland China almost 20 years ago. A Short History Chikungunya is not ent
Aloysius Lim
Jan 13 min read
The Science Behind Brain Freezes
There’s nothing more refreshing than an icy cold drink on a hot day. What is not so refreshing is the brain freeze that follows. Ironically, your brain does not drop several degrees in temperature when you experience a brain freeze. What actually happens during a “brain freeze”? Why do they hurt our heads, despite our cold food being in our mouths? And most importantly, how do we get rid of these ice cream headaches to resume eating our delicious summer treats? Brain freezes
Danielle Tan
Dec 30, 20254 min read
What is Quantum Computing?
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if a computer could break the rules of reality? If tiny particles could store millions of pieces of data? If computers could think in ways completely different to our laptops and phones? Welcome to the world of quantum computing. Regular computers are incredibly powerful, but they have their limits. Some problems, such as simulating molecules for new medicines or modelling complex chemical reactions, are too complex. So, quantum c
Advay Gupta
Dec 28, 20253 min read
When the Body Fights Itself (by accident)
The immune system is supposed to be the body's defense mechanism, but for some individuals, it's their biggest vulnerability. It’s an attacking mechanism that unfortunately we fail to put up a battle against. This mechanism takes its status as an autoimmune disease. The Science Behind Autoimmune Diseases Autoimmune diseases arise from the malfunction of the immune system. Instead of attacking foreign invaders like pathogens, the immune system (white blood cells like B-cells a
Anoushka Anand
Dec 26, 20254 min read
The Evolution of Gear Designs: From Ancient Machinery to Robotics
Gears are one of the most important inventions in mechanical engineering. They are essential parts for motion transfer and force between parts of a machine. The unique design of gears, where it has teeth around its circular shape, allows one part to spin another, changing their speed and directions. Initially, gears were built to make work easier. In ancient China, wooden gears were used to lift water for farming; and in ancient Greece, gears helped track the movement of star
Jihyuk Jung
Dec 24, 20253 min read
Wild Potato + Tomato = Edible Potato?
French fries, tater tots, crispy chips… We humans derive a lot of value from the underground tuber of Solanum tuberosum . Yet, some of its closest relatives don’t have tubers for us to eat. So, how did the potato come about? Turns out, we owe this starchy goodness to tomatoes. Potatoes are the underground tubers of the potato plant ( Solanum tuberosum ). The tubers are modified stems that store food for the plant, and is used to grow another potato plant asexually. Yet some o
Faith Poh
Dec 22, 20259 min read
Japan: A New Frontier for the Private Equity Market
Private Equity (PE) is an investment class characterised by holding equity in a privately-owned company, often to improve operations, restructure and later exit at a profit. When receiving proposals from businesses, PE firms notably consider: Total Addressable Market (TAM): Pertaining to the overall revenue opportunity available should the firm receive 100% market share in the industry. Competitive Moat: A set of unique advantages (e.g: brand imaging, proprietary technology)
Aaryan Berera
Dec 20, 20258 min read
Left, Right or Both? The Science Behind ‘Mirror Life’
All life on Earth is made from molecules that are known to be “chiral”. This means that they can exist in 2 versions, like your left and right hands. They look the same, but can’t be perfectly laid on top of each other. For example, all of the proteins in our bodies are made of left-handed amino acids (L amino acids). But there are also right-handed ones (D-amino acids), which life on Earth doesn’t use. Mirror life is a hypothetical form of biology built entirely from these
Advay Gupta
Dec 18, 20252 min read
Why Do Malls Feel Like Mazes?
Early examples of malls have included Trajan's Market in ancient Rome, considered the first shopping mall, and the 19th-century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. They date back for thousands of years. But in the last hundred years, mall designs have become more and more complex. But why? The ‘Gruen effect’ Mall designs are intentionally built to create disorientation within shoppers and keep them in the space longer, encouraging impulse buys. The way these malls are des
Ffion Collins
Dec 16, 20252 min read
Beyond Fight or Flight: The Psychology of Freezing and Fawning
We’ve all probably heard of two of the four stress responses; fight or flight —the body’s instinctive reactions to danger. But have you ever been in a situation where your body seems to betray you instead? Maybe, you freeze up during a presentation, your mind going blank. Or perhaps, in a simple interaction with a teacher, you try to smile, but your face feels tense—and you’re now stuck with an award smile plastered on your face, eye twitching. That’s your nervous system in
Yurino Hisamori
Dec 14, 20253 min read
The Rise of Robots: Will They Take Our Jobs or Make Life Easier?
These days, robots are more than just science fiction; they can conduct surgeries, deliver your pizza, and stack boxes in warehouses. Machines are learning to perform jobs that once thought unattainable for anything without a heartbeat, from factory floors to schools. However, a major concern remains as robots grow in intelligence and capability: will they assist humans or take their place? In actuality, the development of robots has the potential to fundamentally alter how w
Ffion Collins
Dec 12, 20252 min read
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