On Feb. 6, the McGill Journal of Law and Health held its eighth-annual Colloquium, with this year focusing on legal and policy issues concerning assisted reproduction in Canada. The discussion was held by well-known professors, lawyers, and physicians—all meeting to debate and discuss hot topics in Canadian bioethics surrounding reproductive[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Rewriting the history of the moon
A research team out of UCLA, when testing the compositions of moon rocks, determined that they possessed a striking similarity to rocks found here on Earth. This has led the scientists to believe that the Earth and the moon have the same origin. McGill Earth and Planetary Sciences professor William Minarik,[Read More…]
App round-up: Restaurants, food, and texting
There’s an app for everything in 2016. Brilliant minds are continuing to create innovative concepts that simplify our lives in ways we didn’t even think were possible. But how good are all of these apps? And are they worth it? 1. 10MinMontreal If you’re like me, every month you[Read More…]
Vert Montreal: Creating a greener future for Montreal
On Jan. 29, 120 developers, designers, entrepreneurs, and experts gathered in downtown Montreal to look for sustainable solutions to address Montreal’s energy problems. The event, Start-Up Weekend: Sustainable Cities, was part of a creative marathon set up by the city of Montreal to tackle the city’s fossil fuel dependency. Sparked[Read More…]
Bob McDonald’s big ideas at SUS Academia Week
Bob McDonald, host of CBC’s weekly podcast Quirks and Quarks, kicked off the Science Undergraduate Society’s (SUS) Academia week with a special presentation about Canadian spacewalkers. Growing up at the height of the space age, McDonald’s fascination with space exploration was clearly apparent. He’s chronicled the lives of three Canadian[Read More…]
The final frontier: Law and politics in space
For many, space is the final frontier. The challenges associated with its exploration are immense, but so are the potential rewards. Current international law proclaims that space belongs to all of humankind, but some believe that it is only a matter of time before the potential for financial gain puts[Read More…]
McGill remembers Marvin Minsky
Marvin Minsky, the MIT scientist, philosopher, and author, passed away last week at the age of 88, from a cerebral hemorrhage. Known around his campus as “Old Man Minsky,” he was a pioneer in a number of fields from cognitive and computer science to philosophy of mind and information theory.[Read More…]
The Zika virus, explained
News headlines are swarming with concern over outbreaks of the mosquito-borne Zika virus. First discovered in 1947, the Zika virus is part of the flavivirus family and was believed to pose no threat to humans; however, this virus is the recent cause of over 4,000 cases of microcephaly in infants—an[Read More…]
Visible invisibility: The science of cinematography
Just about everybody loves seeing a good movie. Though a person’s experience is tied to many different factors, it generally boils down to whether or not the viewer can relate to what they’re seeing on screen and how fully they become immersed in this imaginary world. This is contingent on[Read More…]
Taking the next step in developmental biology: Embryonic editing
In April of 2015, researchers in China from Sun Yat-sen University published the results of the world’s first experiment on human embryo editing. The goal of the experiment was to edit a gene containing mutations for a blood disorder called β-thalassemia. The gene is responsible for coding a subunit of[Read More…]