A team of six undergraduate McGill students placed first in the International Artificial Intelligence Competition ProjectX, which ran from Sept. 1 to Jan. 31. Hosted by the University of Toronto, the annual competition challenges students to develop new models of machine learning with practical, real-world applications. Of the three categories[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Socio-economic factors affect a country’s ability to cope with extreme temperatures
With the steady rise of global temperatures on Earth, many countries are experiencing more intense and frequent heatwaves—periods of extremely high temperatures that can last from several days to several weeks. A new study conducted in collaboration with researchers from McGill found that people in low-income countries are more likely[Read More…]
Canadian nail salon workers exposed to high levels of hazardous chemicals
Imagine a workplace where employees are exposed to toxic chemicals on a regular basis. And imagine that for the majority of these chemicals, there is little, if any, information regarding their effects on human health. Now imagine that quite a few have been suspected to cause health problems such as[Read More…]
A potential cure for HIV: Right under our belly buttons?
At the 2022 Conference for Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Yvonne Bryson, an infectious disease researcher and professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, announced that a woman of mixed race had been cured of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). After undergoing an umbilical cord stem cell transplant to treat[Read More…]
Predicting coma outcomes with a high level of accuracy
Treating unconscious patients is a real challenge for physicians. For example, when treating patients with brain injuries, doctors and family are often faced with the decision of either pursuing aggressive treatment or switching to an end-of-life care approach. However, because patients are often unable to communicate, making such decisions is[Read More…]
Anger, crime, and punishment: Can we control our own emotions?
A team of scientists from McGill, the National Institute of Scientific Research (IRNS), and the University of Ottawa have identified anger as being an intuitive, near-instantaneous reaction to crime in a recent study published in Psychology, Crime & Law. Their research shows that emotion, alongside factual evidence, can play a[Read More…]
Winter Olympics 2022: Mother Earth returns empty-handed
After the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing ended with a grandiose closing ceremony on Feb. 20, it is time for a review—not so much of the sports, but rather of the ecological impact of the quadrennial event. Some may wonder as they read this: Didn’t the International Olympic Committee (IOC)[Read More…]
How to care for caregivers: A new online dementia education program
Many caregivers for those living with dementia are family members and friends who sacrifice their time—and even compromise their own health—to care for their loved ones. However, family and friends often lack training and support, which can put them at risk of suffering from stress and burnout. A new program[Read More…]
Giving back and moving forward in the medical sphere
Racial biases have major impacts on the medical field, from inaccurate diagnostics to nonconsensual procedures—but always to the detriment of marginalized communities. Many medical professionals at McGill and in Montreal are working to change this, however: The Social Accountability and Community Engagement Office of McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health[Read More…]
Student Research: Emma Dawson-Glass on pollination and plant ranges
When Emma Dawson-Glass, BSc ‘20, was completing her Honours degree in environmental science, she confronted the age-old question: What would be the subject of her undergraduate thesis? An unexpected encounter with professor Anna Hargreaves of McGill’s Department of Biology turned out to be the answer Dawson-Glass was looking for. At[Read More…]
