Any student who has taken a chemistry lab at McGill is familiar with the infamous “Safety Lecture.” For most students, this means an hour of staring off into space as an overly-dramatic video shows acids inevitably spilled on unprotected eyes. Yet, such unfortunate accidents have such a low probability of[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
McGill Psychiatry professor directs documentary about divorced fathers in Montreal
In Canada, approximately 40 per cent of heterosexual marriages end in divorce, with women initiating 70 per cent of those breakups. In divorces that involve the custody of children, judges nearly always give full custody to mothers. Historically, a common custody arrangement only let the father see his children every[Read More…]
Using Tor for anonymous internet browsing
Commonly known as the “onion router,” Tor Project is a free software that allows users to browse the Internet anonymously. By defending against traffic analysis—a type of Internet surveillance—Tor aims to protect its users’ privacy and anonymity on the web. Tor works by creating a distributed, anonymous network. “The idea[Read More…]
MNI researchers create data model to isolate causes of Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease, first described by Alois Alzheimer in 1906, is a progressive brain disorder that causes debilitating cognitive impairments. Today, it is the most common cause of dementia, responsible for 60 to 70 per cent of 47.5 million cases worldwide. Due to its high prevalence, Alzheimer’s disease poses a significant[Read More…]
4 tips for a better night’s sleep
Ever wake up feeling tired after getting over eight hours of sleep? You’re not alone. For an activity that we have been doing since we were born, sleeping—at least, sleeping effectively—is not always easy. There are a variety of factors and processes that can make it difficult for students to[Read More…]
How McGill invented pain: 1970s pain scale still used today
Has a doctor ever asked you to rate your pain on a scale from one to ten? Over 40 years ago, McGill University’s Dr. Ronald Melzack and Dr. Warren Torgerson set out to create a quantitative measure for pain—that is, a numerical scale to analyze the condition of patients. “The[Read More…]
McGill-led company, Carbicrete, designs carbon neutral concrete
The process of manufacturing cement—the primary material used in the production of concrete—accounts for five per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. The emissions from cement production are unsustainable at the planet’s current rate of development. However, Carbicrete, a McGill-led technology company, has developed patented technology that not only[Read More…]
Canadian universities team up to track down rare radio signals in space
Space. The first image that comes to mind is probably the night sky, a tranquil blanket of empty blackness dotted with twinkling stars, but this image is deceiving. Not only are stars much more sparse in the universe than the sky may lead one to believe, but the vast voids[Read More…]
What happened before the Big Bang?
McGill Physics Professor Robert Brandenberger spoke at the Cutting Edge lecture series on Jan. 12 hosted by the Redpath Museum. In the lecture, Brandenberger shed light on the question, “What was before the Big Bang and how might we be able to tell?” “Who thinks that there was a Big Bang?”[Read More…]
Building a virtual brain with network neuroscience
"We've become quite good at collecting data to take the brain apart into individual pieces [….] The difficulty we have is how to pull it back together," said Dr. Anthony Randal McIntosh, University of Toronto Psychology Professor and Director of the Baycrest Centre’s Rotman Research Institute. On Jan. 10, Dr.[Read More…]
