16th January 2024
AI models have quickly taken a comfortable role as our personal translators, problem solvers, and even friends- how did we get here? ChatGPT was launched over a year ago, in November 2022. It, and OpenAI’s other public AI model, Dall-E (launched a year before ChatGPT), have become a figurative black hole in the tech discourse ...
16th January 2024
Some call it fate, others call it the “Glasgow effect”. Exceptionally high levels of mortality within the city of Glasgow have earned it this name; but what does it mean? A 2010 study analysed how in Glasgow, a post-industrialised city, deaths were 14% higher in comparison to similar de-industrialised cities such as Manchester and Liverpool. ...
16th January 2024
A recent study was the first to test period products using blood, concluding with interesting revelations for women’s health. Why wasn’t this done sooner? Jo’s monologue in Little Women, The Hot Priest saying “it’ll pass”, Tom Holland’s Lip Sync Battle performance: all credible answers to the tired question, “What’s the female version of the Roman ...
16th January 2024
Animal testing is inherently controversial, is there an alternative, and most importantly, how do we get there? In science, few debates acquire more ethical friction than the one about the use of live animals to establish the safety of pharmaceutical products or cosmetics. The necessity of animal use in labs has been questioned repeatedly through ...
21st December 2023
Horror to switch off, an anxiety coping mechanism? Horror movies tend to be a divisive subject. For some, simulated terror is the epitome of culture, an artistic delve into the darker parts of the human psyche. Others can’t stomach it—even Paranorman might be a stretch. But experimental research has indicated that ardent fans of the ...
21st December 2023
Is your cleanser really “scientifically proven” by dermatologists? The evidence would suggest no, actually, it’s just a marketing ploy. Let’s start by dispelling some myths: were you aware that blue-light glasses do not help with eye strain? Or that alkaline water cannot regulate your internal pH? Or that Nesquik is not actually a healthy start ...
15th October 2023
Undergraduate labs feel like an exercise in winging it, so Niamh Docherty considers how might things be different if we approached them more rationally? The clock strikes half past three, and I’m in the trenches in a frighteningly white laboratory whilst most of my peers are frolicking around Kelvingrove Park, or however the rest of ...
15th October 2023
STEM disciplines demand the use of evidence to justify ideas, Political ideology follows a less defined path. What might a Government made up of scientists look like? There is a rather solid body of evidence that in British politics, those in charge of the country are very willing to ignore experts. One consistency throughout the ...
15th October 2023
Nuclear power is making a slow comeback as a low-carbon energy source, is it time for a rebrand? The use of nuclear energy as a source of electricity in Britain is facing a revival after former Secretary of State for Energy Security, Grant Shapps, launched the Great British Nuclear (GBN) body. He also committed to ...
15th October 2023
Science should be appreciated in all forms, not just as “pure” academics. Often, when we dive into the realms of STEM, there’s this prevailing notion that what we’re delving into is somehow superior to the so-called “soft” sciences like psychology, or the social sciences, such as history. It’s easy to see where this idea comes ...
