“Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept you should think of ‘free’ as in ‘free speech,’ not as in ‘free beer,’” leading software freedom activist Richard M. Stallman explained via the Free Software Foundation. Open source software is computer software published under a copyright[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Stories for Humanities launches new magazine issue on Quebec health care
Health is the backbone that supports all work and activities. The importance of health is even greater under a demanding student life that easily becomes taxing to the mind and body. Stories for Humanities (SFH)—an international participatory media organization—focused on health for their latest magazine issue. On Nov. 25, an[Read More…]
Médecins Sans Frontières: Transcending the bounds of international medical care
“It is important that at one point you draw a line,” Dr. Joanne Liu, McGill alumna and international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said at McGill’s Global Health Night on Nov. 1. “You will have to draw your own line as you go around this kind of world and[Read More…]
Blurring the lines of reality at the Montreal International Game Summit
Every year, thousands of gaming conventions are held around the world to discuss what the future holds. Demonstrators, presenters, and indie developers show up to sell their wares and talk about the “next big thing.” At this year’s Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS), held Nov. 13 to 15 at the[Read More…]
Bilingual infants take a unique path to speech development
Newborn babies have many monumental tasks before them, a key one being the acquisition of language. In our first few years, we must learn to recognize characteristic sounds, distinguish separate words, interpret more complex word combinations, and eventually assign meaning to what we hear. For infants raised in bilingual environments,[Read More…]
McGill students and faculty push for vaccine education
“Prevention against morbidity and mortality by vaccination is one of the biggest medical successes in humanity. Never forget that fact. Get vaccinated,” Dr. Jörg Fritz, assistant professor in McGill’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, told the audience at the first night of the three-part seminar series entitled “Let’s Talk About[Read More…]
Man vs. storm: In conversation with George Kourounis
“There have been times when I’ve had lightning strikes so close I can feel the heat on my face, [times] I’ve been hit by massive hail, [times] I’ve been caught inside a tornado […],” professional storm chaser George Kourounis said. While Kourounis was studying to become a sound engineer, he[Read More…]
Edward Snowden discusses how technological advances have changed the way governments spy
Edward Snowden, former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), spoke remotely via Google Hangouts at McGill University on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Snowden’s notoriety has not waned since his leak of some 10,000 classified NSA files in 2013. Snowden began with a few words about surveillance issues in Montreal.[Read More…]
The science of hangovers
With 77 per cent of drinkers reporting that they suffer from hangovers, wasting a weekend morning that was meant to be spent studying because of a splitting headache and nausea is no uncommon occurrence. While there is still no magical cure, scientists are coming closer to understanding the science behind[Read More…]
How polling works and why it went wrong in 2016
Many avid media observers were shocked by Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 United States presidential election. For weeks, media outlets had reported on polls predicting a swift Trump defeat. On election day, FiveThirtyEight, a data journalism website, conservatively projected that there was 71 per cent chance of Hillary Clinton[Read More…]
