In the future, children may not be pasting their coloured pictures to the fridge. Instead, parents can breathe life into these drawings by adding a 3D model to their kitchen.
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Taking the ‘science’ from science fiction: Iron Man 3
Science fiction is a genre known to warn us of the dangers of technological progress, but sometimes it acts as the one to inspire it. In the ’60s, viewers of Star Trek would never have imagined that small pocket phones, microwaves, or automatic doors could be possible in 20 years.
Research in Brief: Prosthetic digital musical instruments
After three years developing their project, McGill Music PhD students Joseph Mallock and Ian Hattwick have designed and produced the first prosthetic digital instruments in the world.
Vulnerability to alcoholism linked to the brain’s reward system
While long-term alcohol use has been known to have various effects on the brain, including memory impairment and nerve damage, a more recent study suggests there might be another effect to add to that long list. Those who are vulnerable to alcoholism also experience a larger dopamine (reward system) response when consuming a large drink, as found in a study conducted by Marco Leyton, a researcher at the Mental Illness and Addiction axis at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC).
The science of chemical warfare
As members of the international community condemn the horrific chemical attacks on the suburbs of Damascus, Syria that began Aug. 18, the past few days have cast a spotlight on the mechanisms behind chemical warfare. The recent series of events in Syria have reopened an analysis as to what exactly makes chemical weapons so much more immoral than those employed in conventional artillery warfare.
Ask Scitech: You snooze you lose; why you should avoid the snooze button
You spend one third of your life sleeping, according to a recent study conducted by Statistics Canada. Based on an average life span of approximately 90 years, 30 of those are commited to sleep.
Interview with Alex Gershanov
Often, research requires a lot of precision and patience, which is exactly what Alex Gershanov, a U2 chemical engineering student, discovered this summer while working at Associate Professor and Chemical Research Chair Nathalie Tufenkji’s lab, the Biocolliods and Surfaces Laboratory, in ground water remediation. “My research surrounds zero valent iron nanoparticles,[Read More…]
Physics paradox proposes universal Inception
What are the chances that our existence—or lack thereof—could be a mere projection from someone or something’s mind, just like the premise of The Matrix or Inception? Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906), the same German physicist who derived the blackbody radiation laws, proposed this reasoning during the 1800s and it is still discussed today as one of the most interesting and disturbing ideas of science.
Interview with Blair Jia
Getting published as an undergraduate student is a honourable achievement—one of which U3 quantitative biology student Blair Jia received this August. This summer Jia designed a fabrication protocol to improve the imaging chamber used in Convex LensInduced Confinement (CLIC) microscopy under the supervision of Assistant Professor Sabrina Leslie from the Department of Physics.
Interview with Carl Ulysse
For Carl Ulysse, working at neurologist Lesley Fellows’ lab was both an inspiring and rewarding experience. Unsure what to do with his summer after completing his first year in medicine, Ulysse applied to the Faculty of Medicine’s research bursary program, which provides funding for student research for eight weeks during the summer.
