Montreal community members crowded into the Redpath Museum Auditorium on Sept. 27 for a Freaky Friday lecture. In the talk, Professor Joe Schwarcz, Director of the McGill Office for Science and Society, discussed humanity’s historical attempts to delay aging. “Nobody looks forward to getting old,” Schwarcz said. “Historically, there has[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
The strongest-ever hurricane in the northeast Atlantic
After developing off the coast of West Africa in late September, Hurricane Lorenzo took 11 days to reach the west coast of Ireland and the UK. In addition to record-breaking heavy rainfall, Lorenzo wrought major damage on the British Isles and other places lying along its path, like the Azores.[Read More…]
A new era of precision medicine to start at McGill
There are three things that get doctors jazzed up: Sleep, coffee, and precision medicine. Caricatures aside, the next stage of medicine will likely include increasingly accurate diagnoses and personalized treatments that consider patients’ genetics, known as precision medicine. Large tissue sample collections and big data on tissue donors have been[Read More…]
Fact or Fiction: The impact of hunting on animal populations
Hunting has often been suggested as an effective means of controlling animal populations. Yet, hunting can be beneficial in some instances and harmful in others. Hunting can actually help fund conservation: In the US, hunters generate millions of dollars for conservation efforts through excise taxes and licence fees. In Sub-Saharan[Read More…]
Small but mighty: Arctic bacteria are capable of cleaning up oil spills
Historically impassable, the ice cover of the Northwest Passage along Canada’s Arctic coast has thinned over the past few years, piquing the interest of the shipping and luxury cruise industries. This thinning, along with Arctic drilling, makes the legendary frozen passage particularly susceptible to oil and fuel spills. To combat[Read More…]
Moving beyond classical computers
A Google research paper describing one of the most powerful quantum computers in human history was leaked on NASA’s website on Sept. 20. In 200 seconds, the quantum computer executed tasks that would take the fastest of today’s computers 10,000 years to compute. Google was referencing an experimental type of[Read More…]
The science of knee injuries
With today’s proliferation of high-intensity sports, the number of knee injuries in North America over the past decade has skyrocketed. Since knee injuries vary depending on a person’s sport, age, and sex, different people may experience different knee injuries in their lives. Shawn Robbins, a professor in the School of[Read More…]
Écotech event aims to implement eco-friendly solutions through technology
Young professionals recently took part in EnergyHack, an energy efficiency hackathon. The event, hosted by Écotech Québec on Sept. 28, prompted participants to choose and solve one of two challenges provided by the city of Varennes, an off-island suburb of Montreal, and the borough of Saint-Laurent. The winning teams from[Read More…]
Jane Goodall returns to McGill
Jane Goodall began her second Beatty Lecture as she did her first: By saying hello to the audience in “chimpanzee.” Goodall, best known for her work in studying African chimpanzees and her later humanitarian and environmental activism, spoke on Sept. 26 at the 65th anniversary of McGill’s Beatty Lecture series. [Read More…]
Microplastics: A ubiquitous problem
In 2017, Orb Media, a non-profit media group, sparked public concern after they published research showing that microplastics were present in global drinking water. Since then, research efforts have increased to examine the effect of microplastics on species and find ways to make the removal process more efficient. At a[Read More…]