Despite covering more than two thirds of Earth’s surface, the ocean remains notoriously unexplored. In fact, the American budget for ocean exploration is 150 times smaller than that for space exploration, which has successfully captured cultural and public imagination for decades. While the moon’s surface has been mapped to a[Read More…]
Tag: ocean
Eyes on the skies: Upcoming innovations in 2019
2018 proved to be breakthrough year for the scientific community. From finding the first traces of liquid water on Mars to unearthing the largest land animal to have ever lived, humanity continued on its quest to better understand the universe around us. Now, as scientists turn their attention to 2019,[Read More…]
Can you sea the floor?
From the heights of the ozone layer to the depths of the ocean, greenhouse gas emissions have far reaching impacts and damage natural systems in often unexpected ways. A recent study conducted by McGill researchers found that the seafloor is rapidly dissolving due to manmade CO2 emissions, with particularly notable[Read More…]
Tracking ‘Jaws’
Many lives could have been saved in the movie Jaws if only the town had an effective way of tracking the shark terrorizing their waters. Analysis of environmental DNA, or eDNA, is a revolutionary new technique that enables scientists to follow marine animals, no matter their size. eDNA refers to the genetic material,[Read More…]
Putting your footprint in your mouth
In light of growing global concerns about oceanic pollution, Mathilde Jutras, a PhD student in McGill’s Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, produced a video proposing a solution to the continuously worsening ocean environment: Labelling consumer products with their carbon footprint. Jutras suggests that products should be labelled to indicate the carbon[Read More…]
