Infectious diseases have been a terrible killer in the past, and still are today. With the development of vaccines, the discovery of antibiotics and drastic changes in public health, the human life span has increased over the past century. Yet, the threat of infectious diseases still haunts us. As an[Read More…]
Articles by Bharat Srinivasa
DNA testing offers healthier future
Just before I was born, my parents consulted an astrologist to find out if I would be born healthy. Using the stars, the astrologist made predictions about my mental and physical development. Before my kids are born, I might go to a company such as 23andMe. 23andMe uses DNA sequencing[Read More…]
Debate pits Science against Homeopathy
On Nov. 27, in a crowded Leacock 132 auditorium, McGill’s Office of Science and Society (OSS) hosted its second debate on naturopathy, titled “Homeopathy: Mere placebo or great medicine?” The debate pitted Dr. Joe Schwarcz, professor of chemistry and director of the OSS, against Dr. André Saine, a practicing naturopath[Read More…]
The tentative link between autism and genius
Jacob Barnett is only 13, but he is set to become a paid atrophysics researcher at Indiana Unversity-Purdue University Indianapolis. He believes that he is close to disproving Einstein’s theory of relativity. Matthew Savage is now 20, but he was solving complex mathematical problems at the age of six, and[Read More…]
Why you should get your flu vaccine
Most people don’t give the seasonal flu a second thought. It seems pedestrian compared to the famous 1918 Spanish flu, which claimed more than 50 million lives worldwide. Outbreaks of other influenza viruses occuring nearly every decade since have killed over a million people. Avian flu—currently only highly transmissible between[Read More…]
A guide to professional social media sites
Social media has taken on a new, interactive role beyond its origins as a tool to connect with new and old friends. Facebook now lets users join favourite celebrities’ pages, Twitter lets us know what they’re up to at any given moment, and Instagram can show us what they ate[Read More…]
Translating the human instruction manual
Humans are a complicated bunch. We all have different hopes and aspirations, likes and dislikes, dreams and realities. We like to think of ourselves as the most complicated and advanced species on this earth. Given this presumed complexity, the results of the Human Genome Project—a massive effort to record every[Read More…]