In a recent study, scientists from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that by shining a laser on particular neurons, they were able to control worms, encouraging them to move in varying directions and lay eggs. The published article, which appeared in Nature[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Science research council gives $3 million donation to McGill
On January 20, 2011, seven McGill research teams received a total grant of $3 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Strategic Project Grants program, which will be used over the next three years to “develop and enhance tools, models and mechanisms in fields of engineering and the[Read More…]
Intel attempts to limit access to pirated flicks
It could soon become more difficult to watch the latest Hollywood flick on your personal computer using illegal technology. The war between media producers and Internet piraters has been waging for years, and is unlikely to end soon. However, recent developments in the hardware world have shown that Hollywood is[Read More…]
Drop the laptop? Not so fast
For my first three years at McGill, I hand-wrote my notes in class. Every semester, I would restock my supply of coloured notebooks, labeling each with the proper course code. It worked well—I would go to class, write down everything the professor scrawled on the board, and then review it[Read More…]
Study: Canadians mistaken about how healthy they are
Alice Walker A recent report on the health of Canadians commissioned by the CBC highlights some unpleasant truths about the country’s perception of health and wellness. Among the key findings of the report was the revelation that while 77 per cent of those surveyed believe that they generally live a[Read More…]
For ICU patients, private rooms help cut infection rates
Panoramio.com Being admitted to a private room in a hospital’s intensive care unit can dramatically decrease the likelihood of a patient contracting an infection, a recent McGill study suggests. About one in three patients admitted to hospital ICUs contract some sort of infection, which increases the length of the average[Read More…]
Music can be your aeroplane, study says
Those who experience euphoria when listening to their favourite music could be achieving the same pleasure as that which comes from good food, sex, or drugs, a McGill study has found. In a first in the field, neuroscience researchers at McGill have discovered a connection between the neurotransmitter dopamine, a[Read More…]
Evidence of climate change washing up on Arctic shores
wallpaperbase.com Science Outreach’s Cutting Edge Lectures welcomed the University of Alberta’s Professor Marianne Douglas to McGill’s Redpath Museum last Thursday to present her research on climatic warming in the Canadian High Arctic. Her recent research suggests that environmental warming is occurring at an alarming rate in certain arctic regions. [Read More…]
Drop the laptop!
The beginning of a new semester is typically similar to the beginning of semesters past. But this semester is particularly different for me, not only because it’s my last semester at McGill, but also because it’s the first semester at the beginning of which I have resolved to only take[Read More…]
7 gadgets to look for in 2011
1. Mitsubishi 92″ 3D HDTV Look for 3D televisions to start taking off in 2011. It may not be the biggest television to hit the market, (Mitsubishi is marketing a 155″ OLED TV), but it is one of the largest 3D TVs. While the TV is a rear-projector type television[Read More…]