At the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, over 150,000 people watched as companies revealed a new wave of smartphone technology. More than just miniature computers, phones on display at the ICES were designed to be remote controls for the consumer’s life, connecting apps to household[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Why are blue eyes blue?
The Tyndall effect is the principle responsible for blue eyes, and also happens to account for the blue colour of the sky. It’s a phenomenon that occurs when light is scattered by “colloid” particles—solid particles of 40-900 nanometers in diameter that float in suspension in a liquid medium. When white[Read More…]
Wearable computing at a glance
Imagine window-shopping down Ste. Catherine on a crisp Sunday morning, when a stunning suit on display catches your eye. Beep! Brand: Arrow; Size: M; Price: $700—all this information pops up in front of your eyes in the flash of a second. This is the future of shopping, as Google envisions[Read More…]
Quantum computers: science fiction brought to life
Constructing the fastest computer has always been a huge challenge posed by technology. In the past, computer developments werheld back, as the machines, though extremely fast, could only perform one binary operation at a time. Today, this is no longer true. In May 2011, computing company D-Wave released the first[Read More…]
Newborn computer games prevent elderly dementia
The feeling of hitting your maximum capacity to remember facts is not a foreign concept to students—especially the night before an exam. Fortunately, one’s cognitive reserve is far from rigid. Recent research has shown that keeping your cognitive faculties active may be instrumental in preventing the age-related neurodegenerative diseases that[Read More…]
Promising solution for those with poor taste
For people without a functional salivary gland, food tastes like it is rolled in sand, says Dr. Simon Tran, Faculty of Dentistry and Canada Research Chair in Craniofacial Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering. Based on a recent paper by Vijayendra Kumar for the Indian Journal of Stomatology, up to 1.5[Read More…]
Why You Should Eat More Curry
What exactly is Alzheimer’s? Often referred to as “Old timer’s disease,” Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects nearly 36 million people worldwide. It causes problems with memory, thinking and behaviour, and is classified as a progressive illness, which means that symptoms will gradually worsen over time. Whereas someone[Read More…]
Ideas spark at interface of physics, biology
Humming away in the Rutherford Physics building, a long cold walk from Stewart Bio, is a computer that can predict one of the fundamental processes in biology: how vertebrae form. Paul François, associate professor in the department of physics, and associate member of the department of biology, is one researcher[Read More…]
Debate pits Science against Homeopathy
On Nov. 27, in a crowded Leacock 132 auditorium, McGill’s Office of Science and Society (OSS) hosted its second debate on naturopathy, titled “Homeopathy: Mere placebo or great medicine?” The debate pitted Dr. Joe Schwarcz, professor of chemistry and director of the OSS, against Dr. André Saine, a practicing naturopath[Read More…]
This Week in Research
Vitamin D and cancer Vitamin D is correlated with many health benefits, including lower cancer risk; but until now, the link has always been unclear. McGill researchers have uncovered a piece of the puzzle, explaining how the vitamin may help to prevent cancer. In a recent study published in[Read More…]
