In the complex circulatory system of the human body, no artery is as vital as the aorta. This large vessel takes oxygen-rich blood from the chambers of the heart and delivers it to the brain, muscles, digestive system, and other sites of metabolism in the body. Aortic aneurysms, one of[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Combatting climate change with concrete actions
It is clear that climate change—or, more appropriately, the climate crisis—is a defining issue of this century. However, it is not yet clear what the solutions to this human-made crisis are. Carbicrete, a company founded by McGill alumni Chris Stern (BEng ‘94) and Mehrdad Mahoutian (Ph.D 2014), is undertaking the[Read More…]
Conservation in the digital age
The power of a convincing story often goes overlooked in the scientific community. While most researchers opt to display their findings in flashy publications or high impact journals, others are taking a less traditional but conceivably more impactful approach at communicating their findings. Story maps are a simple yet elegant[Read More…]
The ubiquity of human song
From songs on the radio to birds chirping outside, humans are constantly surrounded by music. However, while making music appears to be a universal phenomenon, the vast diversity of music across different cultures also seems to point toward variation. Furthermore, human song’s global similarities have never been proven through research. [Read More…]
Soil carbon levels still recovering from Mayan deforestation
Approximately 4,000 years ago, in modern-day southern Mexico and Central America, the Mayan civilization arose and, in due time, spread. Over thousands of years, the Mayans developed a highly sophisticated urban society, numbering 19 million people at its peak. The Mayans built and thrived in dense, teeming metropolises, erecting giant[Read More…]
Understanding the coronavirus
The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak a public health emergency on Jan. 30, garnering increased attention from world leaders and national public health agencies. As concerns over the spread and severity of a wider 2019-nCoV outbreak continue to grow, researchers around the globe are working[Read More…]
Learning about our universe through bright bursts of light
On Jan. 6, McGill astronomers tracked down one of the brightest known repeating signals in the universe to a specific part of a galaxy just seven light years wide. The signal, called a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), was first detected in part by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)[Read More…]
The causes and symptoms of allergies
Allergies always seemed so simple: Here’s a list of foods and environmental factors that you should avoid, since your body treats them like enemies. Dr. Christine McCusker, an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill, is the Director of the Division of Allergy & Immunology at the Montreal[Read More…]
Solving the mysteries of Earth’s Cryogenian ice age
Typically, one wouldn’t think to ask a geologist about the most pressing issues in evolutionary biology. Yet, for some biologists, rock formations and fossil records—which have only gained the attention of natural scientists in the last 50 years—provide a plentiful source of untapped information about the history of life on[Read More…]
The Australian wildfire anomaly
Every year, patches of Australian forests are consumed by fire, an ecologically necessary process that releases soil nutrients and stimulates plant growth. When the fire season is exacerbated by drought and high temperature, however, the devastation is so great that some citizens are forced to flee their homes. In the[Read More…]
