From Feb. 2 to 3, students from across Canada and the United States hunched over their laptops at McGill’s annual McHacks competition. With cash awards and Nintendo switches at stake, the participating ‘hackers’ had 24 hours to program an original project. Students have organized and run the competition since 2013,[Read More…]
Search Results for author "Erin Dwyer"
DOvEE project aims to detect ovarian cancer earlier
In Canada, deaths from gynecological cancers have steadily decreased over the past three decades. As women are no longer heavily exposed to carcinogenic dyes in clothing and early detection programs have improved, detecting cervical and uterine cancers has slowly become less of a priority for gynecologists. However, ovarian cancer continues[Read More…]
Explaining tocophobia
Everyone is afraid of something, or at least that’s what we’re told. According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 8.7 per cent of the adult population suffers from a phobia, or a “marked and persistent fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation.” The good[Read More…]
Will artificial intelligence be able to replace human vision?
In 2014, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking warned us of the dangers artificial intelligence (AI) poses to mankind. He told BBC News, “Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn’t compete, and would be superseded.” Hawking is best known for his predictive theorem—called Hawking radiation—which predicts that black holes release blackbody[Read More…]
McHacks draws top talent from across Canada and the U.S. to McGill
The annual McHacks competition—a 24-hour student-run collaborative computer programming event—returned to McGill in full force over the weekend of Jan. 28 and 29. Since 2013, the hackathon has attracted programming veterans and rookies alike to Montreal to compete for awards and prizes from the event’s many sponsors. This year’s sponsors,[Read More…]
In conversation with McGill Associate Professor of Sports Psychology Dr. Gordon Bloom
“Why Freshmen Should Not Play,” read a New York Times sports section headline in October 1983. University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith wrote the piece based on his perception that first-year athletes tend to fail to cope with the academic intensity, homesickness, and unique social setting university brings while playing a varsity sport.
McGill entrepreneurs want you to eat bugs for breakfast
“The test was simple,” former McGill MBA student Mohammed Ashour wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Would you be willing to drop out of school to pursue this idea, even if you lost the Hult Prize?” In 2013, Ashour and his classmates Gabe Mott, Shobhita Soor, Jesse Pearlstein,[Read More…]
The McGill Ice Hockey Research Group is changing hockey
The IHRG’s Helmet Ergonomics and Anthropometry Database (HEAD) study hopes to address this issue. The team aims to design helmets compatible with a variety of head shapes.
Fact or Fiction: What is the placebo effect?
When you hear the word “placebo,” what comes to mind? A flashback to the 100 flashcards of Psych 100? Medical studies and controls? People tend to think of this phenomenon detached from their own lives. But, in reality, the placebo effect can have concrete physiological consequences and is frequently used[Read More…]
McGill researcher finds lying becomes more complex with age
Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology Professor Dr. Victoria Talwar remembers that when she was a child, her mother mistakenly replaced salt with sugar in a blueberry pie. Her friend, who had stayed for dinner, was the first to eat the pie. She ate the entire slice, bite by bite,[Read More…]