Facebook recently announced that it would be rebranding itself as Meta. It will become the parent company of its social media platforms—Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram—and will roll out new ways of experiencing these platforms. Facebook also explained that it would be focussing on developing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Just one lifetime away: Mapping climate change beyond the year 2100
The year 2100 has frequently served as a benchmark for climate health projections. Yet, more than half a century has passed since 2100 was first used as a horizon, and the year is no longer a marker of an abstract and dystopian future, but rather a time that will be[Read More…]
The ebb and flow of fish biomass over the decades
The oceans once held what humans considered to be a limitless supply of fish—populations were so abundant that it was nearly inconceivable that the waters would ever run out. That viewpoint was challenged in the ‘80s and ‘90s as overfishing caused fish stocks in the North Atlantic to rapidly collapse. [Read More…]
Four ways McGill researchers are spearheading pandemic innovation
More than a year and a half has passed since Canada reported its first-ever COVID-19 case. From social distancing to online learning, humans have quickly adapted to these new conditions in order to contain the spread of the virus. While the pandemic has posed many challenges in academic and scientific[Read More…]
Vaccine stockpiling may do more harm than good
While the high vaccination rate among certain portions of the population has lifted public health restrictions and allowed some semblance of normalcy, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over. Despite vaccine administration having begun in December 2020, only 37 per cent of the world’s population has received both doses, with[Read More…]
The secret to mussels’ powerful underwater glue
Mussels spend their days withstanding crashing waves and brutal intertidal environments. A question that has long fascinated scientists and students alike is how they manage to stay tethered to rocks and their fellow mussels amidst these conditions. Luckily, evolution has solutions to such complex design challenges—and it also provides inspiration[Read More…]
Trottier Symposium talks dead bodies, COVID-19 myths
Death has an equalizing, inevitable force. But the pandemic, like all public health crises, has cast the sword of Damocles in sharper relief than ever, and indiscriminately so. Yet while the blade will always fall, few reflect on the science of it—what really happens to our bodies after we die? [Read More…]
Mapping provincial variations in Canada’s nitrogen output
Reactive nitrogen (Nr) is a primary plant nutrient fertilizer that plays a critical role in agricultural production. For the past century, the availability of Nr in soil has become increasingly important to farmers as they attempt to grow the crops that contribute to nitrogen fixation, the process by which microorganisms[Read More…]
Reading for meaning: A new intervention for children with hyperlexia
Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often have difficulty thriving in a modern education system that is not designed for their needs. Developing language skills, in particular, can be challenging for these children. Between 6 to 21 per cent of children with autism have a syndrome called hyperlexia, where they[Read More…]
Deep learning algorithm predicts early warning signals of climate tipping points
Tipping points are all around us, but it’s hard to see them coming. When a person falls off a bike, a patient has a heart attack, or a campfire escalates to a wildfire, it is nearly impossible to identify the exact moment at which disaster became inevitable. But it might[Read More…]
