Over the last century, humans have learned how to make synthetic polymers which sometimes include the natural substance cellulose; a material that makes up the cell walls of plants. However, polymers are most commonly made by petroleum and fossil fuels. Synthetic polymers are made of long bonds of molecules, and the patterns in which they are organized can never be found in nature. The properties that make up these polymers are what make plastic so strong in nature.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been widely established in many sectors and there has been accelerating research on the integration of machine learning algorithms in healthcare. AI enables advances in precision medicine, a widely-accepted medical model to improve the accuracy of diagnosis. This article aims to investigate the types of AI used in healthcare systems, their limitations and ethical implications, and their potential uses in diagnostics.

We’ve heard a lot about potential vaccines for COVID-19. Many vaccines have been undergoing large scale trials—specifically mRNA vaccines. This presents a new era in vaccinology. However, getting here was a long and hard process. The origins of immunization dates back thousands of years ago. In order to understand how we got here, we have to look into one of the biggest achievements in global public health—the eradication of smallpox.

“Global mean temperatures will continue to rise over the 21st century if greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue unabated.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the projections of temperature change are likely to exceed above 2°C in the next century.

As I flip through my science journal, I read over again, ‘The Next Pandemic’ dated November 8, 2019. “Human technology has made the next pandemic inevitable. Deforestation bringing more wild animals into contact with people. Factory farming pushing animals closer together. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of when.”