Humanity: the elusive concept that distinguishes Homo sapiens from the rest of the animal kingdom. The word has elicited an abundance of definitions, whether drawing

The human body contains an astonishing variety of cell types. Digestive cells secrete enzymes to break down food, brain cells fire electrical signals to form

On a summer afternoon, a bumblebee hovers before a flower. Rather than darting straight to the nectar, it performs an elaborate dance: drifting left, pausing,

For decades, designing proteins to bind to specific targets has been a difficult process, with low success rates requiring extensive experimental screening. Traditionally, structural biologists

We’re all familiar with the adage of trying to find a needle in a haystack. But what if, instead, we made the needle a thousand

Art by Aastha Paudel The geometric reasoning skills used to construct Lego structures—a grocery store, a single-family home, or even the Louvre—rarely apply in the

Art by Aastha Paudel and Elliot Lichtm The stomach is both a gatekeeper and a destroyer, designed to reduce everything we consume into its most

Art by Alondra Moreno Santana People gather en masse for many reasons—sports games, musical festivals, religious services, and protests comprise just a few examples. But

SYNAPSE ESSAY CONTEST WINNING ESSAY: This article was written by Victor Gonzalez of Clear Creek High School, Texas, the winner of an annual national high

Art by Alondra Moreno Santana Think of your immune system as a personal bodyguard—one that not only defends you in the moment but also keeps

Art by Dahlia Kordit Depictions of animals in film are often fictitiously personified. Popular movie Ratatouille exemplifies this genre with the cooking rat Remy’s compulsion

Art by Alondra Moreno Santana Traumatic events are often said to leave invisible scars on a person. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), defined as traumatic events