The World Health Organization (WHO) has just announced that processed meat—and possibly all red meat—has been confirmed to be carcinogenic. I was at my computer when I first heard of the news in the form of a Facebook post and I was skeptical. At first, I briefly considered switching to[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
This month in student research: Yarden Arane
Most engineering students take on a year-long project during their final year at McGill, where students must work with a professor or in an industry position. When Yarden Arane, U3 Software Engineering, had to pick his, he chose Professor Jeremy Cooperstock, the director of the Shared Reality Lab at McGill. [Read More…]
From the BrainSTEM: The leaky pipe
Today, women make up less than 20 per cent of software engineers in the workforce (the precise numbers range depends on who is collecting the statistics and how the observer defines ‘software engineer’). Even in universities, where women outnumber men almost 3:2, only 12 per cent of computer science degrees[Read More…]
The human connection: A path to paediatric surgery
On Tuesday, the common lounge in McGill’s Lady Meredith Annex fell silent as Dr. Sherif Emil, director of paediatric general surgery at the Montreal Children’s Hospital took the stage. No stranger to Montreal—Emil completed both his medical degree and paediatric specialization at McGill—his talk had been highly anticipated by current[Read More…]
Where is artificial intelligence headed?
In Stanley Kubrick’s classic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the protagonist, astronaut Dr. David Bowman, has a standoff with his spacecraft’s artificial intelligence (AI) system, HAL. After discussing plans with a fellow astronaut onboard to deactivate HAL, Bowman attempts to re-enter the spacecraft from an external rescue mission. However,[Read More…]
Are monsters real?
Science has a reputation for refutation. But this is not always the case, and some researchers have found that monsters and ghosts might actually exist; however, maybe not in the way that people expect. Zombies The concept of zombies originates from Haitian folklore, in which Vodou priests called bokors were[Read More…]
Evaluating postpartum depression in men
The birth of a child is typically considered to be a joyful experience; however, it can also be a stressful and difficult time in parents’ lives. Sometimes this stress can lead to conditions like antenatal depression or postpartum depression (PPD), which occur during and after pregnancy, respectively. In the past[Read More…]
McGill researchers examine global increase in placebo effectiveness
Placebo, latin for “I will please,” refers to the psychological effect in which a fake treatment, such as an inactive sugar pill, receives positive results from patients simply because they believe it is helping them. In order for a drug to be first approved for the market, it must pass[Read More…]
Great Scott! The sci-fi world of Back to the Future
Back to the Future, the 1985 sci-fi classic, is in the news this week for a special anniversary. The protagonist of the movie, Marty McFly, time-travels from 1985 to 1955 and back again. In the process, he saves his mentor, mad scientist Doc Brown, and assures his own existence by[Read More…]
2015 Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry, and medicine
During the week of Oct. 5, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the winners of the 2015 Nobel Prizes. The laureates’ scientific breakthroughs contributed to humanity’s understanding of DNA, explained fundamental properties of the universe, and provided doctors with means of combating diseases like malaria and parasitic diseases. Physics[Read More…]