On Sept. 26, a sea of undergraduate and graduate students packed into the Pollack Hall auditorium. They were there to listen to Martin Chalfie, an acclaimed geneticist and winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, speak about his discovery of the green fluorescent protein (GFP). GFP is a bioluminescent[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Open Future Essay Competition winner covers climate change and law
McGill law student Larissa Parker recently won the highly competitive Open Future Essay Competition. In her winning essay published in The Economist, she wrote about extending legal rights to future generations to fight climate change. Parker addressed one of the most disheartening realities of climate change: Though we are already[Read More…]
Searching for a home away from home
Scientists believe that planets outside of the solar system capable of supporting life should look a lot like Earth. The theory posits that if the chemical components comprising Earth’s atmosphere can be found in that of distant planets, those worlds could harbour similar carbon-based life-forms. This summer, two McGill University[Read More…]
Blending Western and traditional medicine in Colombia
In 2014, Juan Pablo Pimentel, a PhD candidate in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill, created a pilot exercise that has since become the basis for his PhD thesis. Working with Family Medicine professors Dr. Neil Andersson and Dr. Anne Cockcroft, Pimentel devised a way for medical students in[Read More…]
The McGill Climate Conference covers climate policy and solutions
On Sept. 12 and 13, 15 speakers from various disciplines participated in the McGill Climate Conference, a comprehensive event spanning six panels held at the McGill Faculty Club. Emphasizing equitability and inclusion, the speakers confronted some of the most pressing issues facing Canada in its transition to a green economy,[Read More…]
Space trash: Pollution in outer space
Humans litter everywhere, even in outer space. As people leave behind weather satellites, rockets, and gear from the International Space Station (ISS), space trash, or space debris, is quickly becoming a major issue for governments and space organizations. Space debris include both natural and human-made objects. However, since natural particles[Read More…]
Artificial intelligence is paving the way for less invasive surgical training
Repeated practice is necessary to achieve mastery, which is no exception for surgical residents who often train directly on patients for four to six years. However, in this hands-on learning environment, even a minor mistake can be serious. To protect against such fatalities, a McGill research team constructed a solution.[Read More…]
Carbon offsets: A controversial way to fight climate change
At McGill, a university that boasts a large international student body and faculty, it is no surprise that many people rely on air travel to return for the start of the semester. Globally, the number of annual airline passengers in the past 15 years has more than doubled, increasing from[Read More…]
The applications of graphene at McGill and beyond
Imagine a future where cell phones can be charged in seconds and tablets roll up like newspapers. As scientists delve deeper into the field of nanoscience, developments like these appear more possible than ever. Nanoscience is the study of matter at the nanoscopic level, or nanoscale. Consequently, scientists and engineers[Read More…]
Faculty of Science presents the 28th edition of Soup and Science
From Sept. 9—13, the Faculty of Science hosted Soup and Science, a semesterly event where professors briefly present their research and talk with students at Redpath Museum. The expanding universe Pouya Jafarian Contributor Jonathan Sievers, a professor in the Department of Physics and researcher at the McGill Space Institute, shared[Read More…]
