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…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
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…]
In search of a sustainable, nutritious diet
What is the perfect human diet in terms of nutrition and environmental impact? According to McGill’s School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition Professor Dr. Timothy Johns, finding the right balance is the key. Johns, an ethnobotanist and nutritionist, said that humans are omnivores by nature. “We’re adaptable, but it’s not[Read More…]
McGill offers 3-D printing service to students
On Jan. 11, the McLennan Library held this year’s first “Introduction to 3-D Printing” workshop. The workshop taught procedures necessary for students to get access to the library’s newly acquired 3-D printers under the Research Commons initiative launched in September 2016. 3-D printing, sometimes known as additive manufacturing, involves printing[Read More…]
The science behind keeping New Year’s resolutions
Each New Year comes with countless resolutions from people hoping to better themselves in the coming 12 months; however, most of these resolutions are abandoned shortly after they are made. According to a 2013 survey by time management training company FranklinCovey, only 23 per cent of people who make New[Read More…]
McGill entrepreneurs want you to eat bugs for breakfast
“The test was simple,” former McGill MBA student Mohammed Ashour wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Would you be willing to drop out of school to pursue this idea, even if you lost the Hult Prize?” In 2013, Ashour and his classmates Gabe Mott, Shobhita Soor, Jesse Pearlstein,[Read More…]
The case for open source software
“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…]
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…]
