Leacock 132 Any analysis of McGill’s intro-level science lecture halls has to start with Leacock 132, by far the most infamous room in a U0 Science student’s life. The largest lecture hall at McGill, Leacock 132 seats 650 people. While the space has an impressive resume, having hosted speakers such[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Discovery of new mechanisms elucidates breast cancer metastasis
Finding more effective drugs that target certain aggressive forms of breast cancer first requires a deeper understanding of the disease’s progression mechanisms. The need for increased insight into the mitigation of breast cancer growth fueled a seven-year-long study at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC). Nathalie[Read More…]
The journey of a microplastic: An unfolding story
From the packaging of an online order to the takeaway cup holding a morning coffee, plastic is everywhere. In 2019, humans produced 460 million tonnes of plastic, an enormous increase from the mid-twentieth century when roughly two million tonnes were produced annually. A key aspect of plastic pollution is that[Read More…]
Shrek at the beach: Would green sunscreen be worth it?
Eumelanin, a form of melanin typical of mammals, is a brown-black coloured pigment found in skin, hair, and eyes. It absorbs sunlight energy and transforms it into heat, acting as a natural sunscreen. For a pigment that plays this crucial role—and many more—surprisingly little is known about its composition and[Read More…]
The sky’s the limit—or is it?
McGill hosted the eighth Interstellar Symposium from July 10 to 13 and assembled a stellar panel of experts, ranging from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineers to space lawyers, to discuss how to expand civilization into space. The public panel featured: Alan Stern, the engineer in charge of the[Read More…]
McGill’s most sci-fi courses of the 2023-24 academic year
PHYS 534 Nanoscience and Nanotechnology This course, taught by professor Peter Grutter, aims to provide an overview of nanotechnology, a field that studies and manipulates incredibly tiny materials, ranging from one to 100 nanometres in length. To put this in perspective, a DNA double helix is typically 10 nanometres wide,[Read More…]
Cyanobacterial growth: An underlying cause for unsafe drinking water
Cyanobacterial toxins are amongst the most hazardous substances for humans. Their presence in drinking water due to cyanobacterial growth can result in undesirable health effects such as hay fever-like symptoms, skin rashes, respiratory and gastrointestinal distress, and even liver and kidney damage upon exposure. Therefore, there is an urgent need[Read More…]
To cure the incurable: Stem cell transplantation process provides insight into potential HIV cure
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a viral infection characterized by its ability to harm white blood cells that are crucial for the immune response. This makes HIV patients very susceptible to slightly or moderately acute diseases (that would not normally pose a serious risk for healthy individuals) by diminishing their[Read More…]
P. aeruginosa: The culprit of lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients
Approximately 70 000 people worldwide live with cystic fibrosis (CF). Around 80 to 95 per cent of them fail to recover from lung infections, which can lead to rapid lung function decline and even death. Disturbingly, the standard treatment for lung infections fails in around one third of patients. In[Read More…]
McGill Science Writing Initiative pushes students to share their knowledge accessibly
On April 9, the McGill Science Writing Initiative (MSWI) announced the winner of their third annual Case Competition. For this competition, McGill undergraduate students presented their projects in a variety of formats, including children’s books, podcasts, and literature reviews. Five teams made it to the final round of the competition,[Read More…]
