Monthly Archives: August 2020

Pick your poison

Medicine can be approached very differently based on one’s guiding principles. For example, one might take the proverb, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” as the defining philosophy to medicine. This would be advantageous with respect to pathologies that are easily exacerbated by attempts to treat them. For example, a person taking antibiotics to […]

Atoms of Life

The chemistry of life is largely about organic chemistry, and organic chemistry boils down to recognizing the physics behind covalent bonds. In particular, when covalently bonded atomic nuclei have different numbers of protons, there are many physical consequences. Consider two similar molecules: ethanol and ethane. Their compositions differ in only one atom; oxygen. However, Oxygen […]

Does DNA lie?

Chemical information can travel in many ways, one of which is ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequences. In vivo, a complementary RNA sequence to DNA is used to create proteins. This process of DNA to RNA to protein is the fundamental basis of modern biochemistry. Information is a nuanced matter though. Often times, especially in eukaryotic organisms […]

Video Games

Consider an example of the human brain application functioning; while playing video games. Video games are a popular form of media which requires input to progress normally. On the surface, it seems ridiculous to think video games may have a mental benefit. It can often include repetitions of the same goal or pattern, which is […]

Neuroplasticity

As one considers the concept of natural selection with respect to modern science, it is manifest the human mind has the capacity to learn virtually anything. This concept, termed neuroplasticity, reflects the fact that performing an action fires specific neurons relative to that action. Whether that’s putting a ball in a cup or nuclear physics, […]