The Redpath Museum offered a screening of the documentary The Bat Man of Mexico this past Sunday, inviting viewers deep into the Mexican wilderness. The documentary features Mexican ecologist Rodrigo Medellin and his passion: Bats. Medellin is personally saving tequila, one bat at a time. While the link between tequila[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Jeremy Hansen touches down at McGill
The Frank Dawson Adams (FDA) auditorium hosted an auspicious guest on Wednesday when Jeremy Hansen walked through the doors. The Canadian astronaut talked about his profession, space travel, and how space fits into society. He presented the audience with stunning images of Earth taken from the International Space Station (ISS)[Read More…]
From the BrainSTEM: The failing U.S. education system
When it comes to training future generations, scientific research has proven that the U.S. education system fails. In 2012, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) coordinated the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standard that was developed for measuring the performance of 15-year-old students in math, science,[Read More…]
Research Briefs—March 31, 2015
A visual dictionary Recent research published in The Journal of Neuroscience by researchers from Georgetown University has preseanted the mechanism underlying how humans read. The researchers found that instead of breaking down words into sounds and meanings, our brains visually imagine the word first. The collaboration of scientists conducting[Read More…]
Montreal amongst cities hosting brain awareness week
Montreal’s Brain Awareness Week began in 1996 with the help of a group of neuroscience students at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Verdun in response to the formation of the U.S.-based Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. Today, the organization is operated by McGill, Concordia, l’Université de Montréal, and[Read More…]
This Month in Student Research: Valérie Losier
When Valérie Losier, a U3 Physics major, holds up the project she’s been working on for the past academic year, it doesn’t look like the next generation of breast cancer detection technology. Nonetheless, the device—a labyrinth of wires connecting computers and sensors to a bra—may soon become common sight in[Read More…]
A guide to the galaxy
On March 19, McGill students and the general Montreal public were taken on a tour of the solar system—while never leaving 103 Rutherford. Dr. Richard Léveillé, a planetary scientist who has worked on NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, presented to a packed room on what scientists have learned about our[Read More…]
From the BrainSTEM: The mammoth cometh
In February 2012, Harvard college professor and genetic engineer George Church hosted a symposium at the Harvard Medical School titled: “Bringing Back the Passenger Pigeon.” The talk centred on the use of new genome-editing technology that could change the concept of reversing extinction from being a dream to a reality.[Read More…]
Will it ever end?
Nothing about this winter has seemed particularly remarkable. There were no freak snowstorms, no -30 degrees Celsius days—yet, dejection towards the weather remains pervasive throughout campus. By February, checking the weather forecast simply becomes a measure of insanity: Why check when you know that it will produce a nearly identical[Read More…]
Hi, Robot: How smart are our gadgets?
Over the last 50 years, gadgets have evolved into faster, smaller, cheaper, and more accessible tools, becoming indispensable in our day-to-day lives. As technology’s role in our lives grows, so does the demand for more intelligent design. Shopping sites now predict customers’ preferences; cell phones can pay for coffee[Read More…]