For space lovers, a trip to the fringes of the galaxy is only a few metro stops away from McGill’s downtown campus at the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. One of the facilities operating under Montreal’s Espace pour la vie at the Parc Olympique, the planetarium currently offers six films exploring[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Inspiring the aspiring: AsapSCIENCE at SUS Academia Week
The dynamic and informative SUS Academia Week, which ran this year from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9, came to an enlightening conclusion on Friday night. Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown, self-proclaimed ‘science communicators’ and creators of the popular science YouTube channel AsapSCIENCE, presented this year’s keynote lecture, “Into the Future[Read More…]
Reducing chemical waste through sustainable ketone-making
Pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and plastics all owe their existence to chemical synthesis. Ketones, a functional group with a central carbon double-bonded to an oxygen, are an important ingredient in a wide range of useful chemicals. Unfortunately, their synthesis is energy-intensive and requires many steps, creating significant chemical waste. Bruce Arndtsen, a[Read More…]
Cloning: A tale of two monkeys
At the end of 2017, researchers in Shanghai successfully cloned primates for the first time: Two macaque monkeys they named Hua hua and Zhong zhong. Published in the latest edition of the journal Cell, this was the first time that a Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT)—a reproductive cloning strategy—was used[Read More…]
Tide Pods: Uncovering the science behind the meme
In an internet age that boasts impressively dumb viral video challenges—neknominations, the cinnamon challenge, and the Kylie Jenner lip challenge, to name a few—it takes both creativity and tenacity to rise above the rest. Enter the Tide Pod trend, the YouTube phenomenon in which challengers attempt to eat chemically toxic[Read More…]
Mind your brain: Improving concussion care
On Jan. 30, Concussion MTL hosted “Looking Ahead: Improving Concussion Care,” a speaker series focused on concussion prevention, care, and rehabilitation. The CDC defines concussions as traumatic brain injuries caused by a blow to the head, or by a hit to the body that causes the brain to twist or[Read More…]
Unveiling the mystery behind the “Super Blue Blood Moon”
Those who looked up to the sky in the early hours of Jan. 31 were lucky enough to experience a rare trinity of lunar phenomena—the convergence of a “supermoon,” a “blue moon,” and a “blood moon.” The appearance of the ominous sounding “Super Blue Blood Moon” sparked world-wide conversation on[Read More…]
Arctic environments could yield clues about life on other planets
A research team led by Professor Lyle Whyte and post-doctoral fellow Jacqueline Goordial from McGill’s Department of Natural Resource Sciences has explored using low-cost, low-mass, and currently-available microbiological instruments to detect signs of life in astrobiological missions on other planets. Published in the December 2017 issue of Frontiers in Microbiology,[Read More…]
The science of “Black Mirror”
Charlie Brooker’s harrowing British sci-fi series Black Mirror returned to Netflix with six new episodes exploring multiple technologies of questionable ethics. From the digital uploading of human minds to predictive neuroscience technology, the show’s fourth season illuminated some frightening, futuristic concepts. But with real-life advancements in brain imaging, artificial intelligence, and[Read More…]
How to solve a Rubik’s Cube using math
Although at first glance just a colorful and simple game, the Rubik’s Cube has been used in both competitions and mathematical research. The puzzle’s main objective is to recreate the original positioning (one color per side) by rotating the cube’s six faces. Originally called the ‘Magic Cube’ by its Hungarian[Read More…]
