Some scholars, politicians, and activists believe that the climate crisis merits the same kind of national and international response that COVID-19 is receiving, but others think that would be impossible. While climate change and COVID-19 are fundamentally different problems, they both pose massive threats to human well-being and require enormous[Read More…]
Articles by Gwenyth Wren
Thorium could refuel the future of nuclear energy
Despite being named after the Norse god of thunder, thorium does not come from the sky; rather, it is naturally occurring in the Earth’s crust. Discovered in 1828, thorium is a slightly radioactive metal that is a promising nuclear fuel alternative to uranium. However, the use of thorium as a[Read More…]
Geoengineering is a band-aid solution to the climate crisis
The conversation around geoengineering, otherwise known as climate intervention or climate engineering, is gaining traction as climate projections remain dire. Offering many salient yet controversial ways to mitigate Earth’s rising temperatures, geoengineering methods include spraying sulphate particulates into the atmosphere to block out solar radiation, fertilizing the ocean with iron[Read More…]
Rapid urbanization is driving biodiversity decline
Humanity is currently experiencing an unprecedented era of urban growth. By 2030, more than 1.2 billion additional people are expected to live in cities, equivalent to building a city the size of New York every six weeks. A group of international scientists, including Andrew Gonzalez, a professor in the McGill[Read More…]
Learning to love physics
Two months ago, my boyfriend picked up a physics minor, and our conversations gradually began to veer off into the realm of Newton’s laws and black holes. I, far from a physics lover, expressed my frustration that our discussions were going way over my head. Soon after, he bought me[Read More…]
How robots are transforming the field of law
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the biggest innovations of the modern era, profoundly impacting many areas of society, and the field of law is no exception. During an event titled ‘Artificial Intelligence and the legal sector,’ hosted by the Faculty of Law on Nov. 13, Hannes Westermann, a PhD[Read More…]
When healthy eating becomes unhealthy
As people strive to achieve the ideal body type, improve cognitive function, or enhance athletic performance, they often turn to food choice as their mechanism for change. People put into their bodies what they can expect to get out of it; therefore, it makes sense to eat ‘healthy,’ nutrient-dense foods[Read More…]
E-cigarettes could be the next big public health epidemic
McGill students are no strangers to plumes of e-cigarette vapour, whether it is in class, at McLennan, or on the sidewalk. Created in 2004, vapes imitate the sensation of smoking and are often marketed as being completely safe. E-cigarettes have surged in popularity in the last few years, due in[Read More…]
Open Future Essay Competition winner covers climate change and law
McGill law student Larissa Parker recently won the highly competitive Open Future Essay Competition. In her winning essay published in The Economist, she wrote about extending legal rights to future generations to fight climate change. Parker addressed one of the most disheartening realities of climate change: Though we are already[Read More…]
Carbon offsets: A controversial way to fight climate change
At McGill, a university that boasts a large international student body and faculty, it is no surprise that many people rely on air travel to return for the start of the semester. Globally, the number of annual airline passengers in the past 15 years has more than doubled, increasing from[Read More…]
The delicate link between political and environmental climates
On Oct. 28, Jair Bolsonaro won the presidential election with 55 per cent of the popular vote. This result has global implications as the Brazilian political climate has the potential to sway the course of the battle against climate change. Bolsonaro has pledged to support the country’s agricultural sector, putting[Read More…]
Orgasm equality is a long time coming
Many women are familiar with the frustration of finishing a sexual encounter without actually finishing. This disparity between men and women’s sexual satisfaction, colloquially known as the ‘orgasm gap,’ refers to the fact that men are far more likely to orgasm than women in heterosexual encounters. In a recent study[Read More…]
The immaculate conception of the internet: A balancing act
On Sept. 13, the Redpath Museum hosted Derek Ruths, a McGill professor of computer science and director of the Centre for Social and Cultural Data Science, who addressed a pertinent problem of our technological world: The dark side of the internet. According to Ruths, the three most substantial issues with[Read More…]
How sustainable is your sex life?
When we think about sex, people consider their own needs, and, if they’re a decent person, those of their sexual partners as well. Rarely are the needs of the environment considered in the bedroom. However, the sustainability of contraception habits is an arena in which sexual sustainability and environmental health[Read More…]
Combatting reluctance: Why is climate action so hard?
On March 22, Philip Kitcher, a professor of philosophy at Columbia University, discussed the difficulties of implementing climate change policy during the 2018 Mossman lecture. The lecture series, named after McGill alumnus and chemist Donald Mossman, seeks to raise awareness about scientific thought that is pertinent to solving the issues[Read More…]
McGill Multiple Sclerosis research leads the fight against the disease
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which causes circulating immune cells, called T cells, to gain access to the CNS across the blood-brain barrier. This causes inflammation, myelin destruction, and neuronal damage. MS affects over 2.5 million people world-wide and is the leading cause[Read More…]
Mind your brain: Improving concussion care
On Jan. 30, Concussion MTL hosted “Looking Ahead: Improving Concussion Care,” a speaker series focused on concussion prevention, care, and rehabilitation. The CDC defines concussions as traumatic brain injuries caused by a blow to the head, or by a hit to the body that causes the brain to twist or[Read More…]
Microbead ban exposes the dangers of plastic pollution
The Canadian government has heard the cry of environmental activists and scientists. On Jan. 1, 2018, Health Canada enacted an official ban on the manufacturing and importation of products containing microbeads, following a written proposal for the regulation on June 2, 2017. A ban on the sales of these products[Read More…]
McGill hosts speakers on the ethical and legal ramifications of stem cell research
On Nov. 1, the McGill Journal of Law and Health hosted a speaker series with the goal to explore the ethical and legal ramifications of stem cell research. Michel Tremblay, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill, was the first speaker. Tremblay began by giving the audience a[Read More…]
Just keep swimming… or not: The story of male contraceptives
Men and women are both responsible for pregnancy; yet, the burden of preventing it often falls on women. The fact that most types of birth control are made for women creates this discrepancy, as men don’t have the same selection of methods: Female birth control includes hormone injections, morning after[Read More…]