Today, the inequalities faced by different racial groups are far-reaching. So much so, researchers have found, that individuals can be affected before they’re even born. In the U.S., data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics from 2004 to 2006 has shown that black women experience preterm births 4.7[Read More…]
Science & Technology
The latest in science and technology.
Toying with our brains: How are optical illusions interpreted?
The human brain is an extremely complex organ that is the integrating and processing centre of the body. It helps people recognize faces, remember complex formulae, and produce emotions. Many of these reactions rely on the brain’s ability to correctly process information through its visual system. As intelligent as the[Read More…]
Identifying emotions through head movements: A descent into the uncanny valley
Human interactions are made up of complex exchanges of movements, sounds, and smells. In fact, researchers from the Sequence Production Lab at McGill University have shown that people are able to detect emotions simply by watching how people move their head. The work was conducted by Professor Caroline Palmer from[Read More…]
Going back to the elements
On Nov. 4, as part of Redpath Museum’s Mini-Science series, McGill Assistant Professor Audrey Moores from the Department of Chemistry discussed her research on nanoparticles in the context of green chemistry. Moores began by posing a fundamental question to the audience: “What is sustainability?” From a pure materials science perspective,[Read More…]
McGill Space Institute takes off with a ‘big bang’
McGill is home to many renowned astrophysicists, cosmologists, and planetary scientists. Until recently, however, space researchers at McGill lacked a place to share their work. Scientists were scattered between different departments, with offices ranging from Rutherford Physics Building to Burnside Hall. But all of this is changing with the creation[Read More…]
McGill researchers expand possibilities for future cancer treatment
Researchers from McGill University, in cooperation with the University of Bristol, Washington University in St. Louis, and ITMO University, have revealed an important alternative metabolic pathway used by cancer cells. The study, published in the journal Molecular Cell on Oct. 15, outlined the process by which cancer cells attempt to[Read More…]
The latest poison has been revealed—and you’re made of it
The World Health Organization (WHO) has just announced that processed meat—and possibly all red meat—has been confirmed to be carcinogenic. I was at my computer when I first heard of the news in the form of a Facebook post and I was skeptical. At first, I briefly considered switching to[Read More…]
This month in student research: Yarden Arane
Most engineering students take on a year-long project during their final year at McGill, where students must work with a professor or in an industry position. When Yarden Arane, U3 Software Engineering, had to pick his, he chose Professor Jeremy Cooperstock, the director of the Shared Reality Lab at McGill. [Read More…]
From the BrainSTEM: The leaky pipe
Today, women make up less than 20 per cent of software engineers in the workforce (the precise numbers range depends on who is collecting the statistics and how the observer defines ‘software engineer’). Even in universities, where women outnumber men almost 3:2, only 12 per cent of computer science degrees[Read More…]
The human connection: A path to paediatric surgery
On Tuesday, the common lounge in McGill’s Lady Meredith Annex fell silent as Dr. Sherif Emil, director of paediatric general surgery at the Montreal Children’s Hospital took the stage. No stranger to Montreal—Emil completed both his medical degree and paediatric specialization at McGill—his talk had been highly anticipated by current[Read More…]
