Feb. 11 was the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and to celebrate the occasion, the Montreal Science Centre hosted Women & Science, an event designed to encourage young women and girls to pursue careers in science and technology. Even in 2018, there is a prevalent[Read More…]
Search Results for author "Emma Gillies"
Reducing chemical waste through sustainable ketone-making
Pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and plastics all owe their existence to chemical synthesis. Ketones, a functional group with a central carbon double-bonded to an oxygen, are an important ingredient in a wide range of useful chemicals. Unfortunately, their synthesis is energy-intensive and requires many steps, creating significant chemical waste. Bruce Arndtsen, a[Read More…]
Soup and Science casts McGill researchers in the spotlight
From Jan. 15 to 19, the annual Soup and Science lecture series featured professors eager to present their research to students and spectators. The McGill Tribune reports: Assistant Professor Thomas Preston Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Emma Gillies Contributor On Jan. 16, Assistant Professor Thomas Preston from the Department[Read More…]
Bomb cyclone rings in the New Year
On Jan. 4, 2018, much of the American and Canadian East Coasts were hit with chilling temperatures, snowy conditions, and hurricane-force winds. Iguanas fell from trees in Florida, Boston’s streets flooded with icy water, and parts of New Brunswick saw more than 50 centimetres of snow. The culprit was a[Read More…]
AstroMcGill talk sheds light on the Big Bang
The universe is comprised of billions of galaxies—encompassing all of space, all of time, and all of its contents. It all started with a Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. On Nov. 16, particle physicist and cosmologist Oscar Hernández spoke about the Big Bang at AstroMcGill’s event Where, When &[Read More…]
The rise of invasive species denialism
Recently, dozens of opinion articles have appeared in the media—and even in scientific journals—that deny the risks that invasive species pose to the environment. These arguments claim that the field of invasion biology is biased and unscientific. Anthony Ricciardi, professor in McGill’s School of Environment, is addressing this issue. Invasion[Read More…]
Five spooky animals to keep you up at night
Halloween and creepy creatures go hand in hand, but there’s more to the animal kingdom than the generic vampire bat or black cat. Here are five spooky animals to get you in the Halloween spirit: Tufted deer Found in the mountainous forests of China, Tibet, and Myanmar, the tufted[Read More…]
Skepticism in climate science: Reasonable or regressive?
Ninety-seven per cent of scientists agree that humans contribute to climate change. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, falls into the other three per cent. “Even if we are causing [climate change], it’s hardly anything,” Moore said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. He describes himself as a “sensible[Read More…]
‘Big Brother’ now a tool to study linguistics
After moving to a new place, some people’s accents change readily while others stay more or less the same for the rest of their lives. McGill University linguist and Assistant Professor Morgan Sonderegger recently spearheaded a study that explores the science behind accent dynamics. Some studies on accents have analyzed[Read More…]
Why McGill should extend its shuttle hours
Home to the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which offers majors such as Bioresource Engineering, Nutrition, Environmental Biology, and Agronomy, the Macdonald Campus is a small slice of McGillian greenery on the waterfront of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue. However idyllic this setting may seem, as a student at the Macdonald campus it[Read More…]
