A fatal thrust of the sword while your heart somersaults; the delightful ease with which a smile is teased from your lips. For many, such moments of passion and emotion epitomize the experience of live theatre. The sight of a performer, excelling in her craft before your very eyes, conveys[Read More…]
Author: Chris Liu
The Tribune’s Guide to the 2013 Nuit Blanche
Montreal’s winters may be frigid, but the bleak weather doesn’t stop it from being one of North America’s most vibrant cities. The buzz of winter is most evident on Nuit Blanche, a night where the city explodes with light and activity. As part of the Montreal en Lumière festival, artists,[Read More…]
Shared reality enriches human-computer interaction
Imagine arriving late to class, ears burning from the cold, and stepping over puddles and bags until you finally find a seat. As the professor lectures away, a student several rows down raises his hand. The professor, unaware, continues the lecture. After some time, the student eventually puts it down.[Read More…]
Behind the scenes at the Dent lab
The Dent Lab in the Stewart Biology building is humming with activity. Run by Dr. Joseph Dent, an associate professor and researcher at McGill University, the lab focuses on the molecular genetics of the behaviour in C. elegans, a nematode roundworm. Specifically, the lab’s research focuses on understanding the structure[Read More…]
Why can’t boys like cartoon ponies?
The season three finale of Hasbro’s animated series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic aired earlier this month. The children’s show has attracted an unexpected adult male fan base called “bronies,” a phenomenon that has garnered attention and sparked much gender-based debate. A long history of gender-exclusive children’s programming has[Read More…]
A role for chance?
Everyone who gets into an elite university, including our own, probably feels at one time or another that they were deserving of meriting acceptance into the school, and that the admissions committee did not reach this decision lightly. A highly revealing article published by Ron Unz in The American Conservative[Read More…]
DNA testing offers healthier future
Just before I was born, my parents consulted an astrologist to find out if I would be born healthy. Using the stars, the astrologist made predictions about my mental and physical development. Before my kids are born, I might go to a company such as 23andMe. 23andMe uses DNA sequencing[Read More…]
How does our memory work?
The human brain, composed of over 100 billion cells, is a natural work of art. Groups of brain cells, called neurons, and their synapses—the gaps in between them—are the functional units of the brain that allow us to store memories. While these cells are responsible for what we remember, what[Read More…]
When Mendel meets Darwin
First there was Darwin, who published the revolutionary On the Origin of Species in 1859, introducing the world to the theory of natural selection. According to this theory, genetic variations arise as adaptions to differential environments, where any profitable traits that incur a survival advantage are selected for and preserved[Read More…]
Touchscreens
Touchscreens have revolutionized the way we interact with digital devices. The most important attribute they have brought to the user experience is the reduction in the learning curve of operating a device. A simple tap on the screen can trigger commands that would have otherwise been complicated with a mouse[Read More…]
