As the planet gets hotter, animal and plant species around the world will be faced with new, potentially unpredictable living conditions, which could alter ecosystems in unprecedented ways.
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Published on: 14 Nov 2023
When speaking to one another, much of the communication occurs nonverbally – through body posture, hand gestures, and the eyes. Our eye gaze during conversations therefore reveals a wealth of information about our attention, intention, or psychological states. But, there remains little scientific knowledge about the information that human eyes convey in interactions – is looking at others’ faces enough, or does our communication require eye-to-eye contact?
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Published on: 8 Nov 2023
A new report shares patient-led solutions to help address the worsening primary care crisis in Quebec, where more than two million Quebecers have no assigned family doctor or nurse practitioner, among the worst rates in the country.
Canada itself is among the worst performing among developed countries, with more than six million Canadians lacking access to a family physician. Residents of rural and smalltown communities face even more profound challenges to access, highlighting the need for more to be done in Quebec to find real world solutions to these ongoing problems.
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Published on: 7 Nov 2023
Many parents experience stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms throughout their lives, particularly during times of transition, such as pregnancy and children’s entry into school. Studies have generally found that high levels of anxiety and depression in parents are linked to poorer behavioural and cognitive outcomes in children.
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Published on: 2 Nov 2023
World-leading exoplanet researcher recognized by NSERC for visionary science as well as commitment to public outreach and equity activities
McGill University today announced that Professor Nicolas Cowan has received the 2023 Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship from NSERC. These prestigious fellowships are awarded annually to early-stage academic researchers in the natural sciences and engineering.
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Published on: 1 Nov 2023
In the tropical, temperate forests it calls home, the velvet worm uses a projectile “slime” to capture its prey. When it’s ejected from the worm, the slime transforms into a gel before solidifying into stiff fibers upon exposure to air. This forms an inescapable trap for struggling prey. "The fact that the slime transitions from a liquid to a solid in mid-air is extremely unusual," said Professor Matthew Harrington, co-director of the McGill Institute for Advanced Materials. “It appears that the forces it experiences when ejected initiate the transition.”
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Published on: 31 Oct 2023
Today at the McGill Genome Centre, the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced a $15M investment over five years to create a Pan-Canadian Genome Library (PCGL), which will allow for easier sharing of genomic data across the country, and aid in the development of a national strategy to capture, store and access Canadian data in an equitable, secure, and sustainable manner. The funding comes from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and builds on investments from the Government of Canada’s Drugs for Rare Diseases Strategy.
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Published on: 27 Oct 2023
Sunscreen usage is climbing, but so are melanoma and skin cancer rates: this, researchers say, is the sunscreen paradox.
“The problem is that people use sunscreen as a ‘permission slip’ to tan,” said Dr. Ivan Litvinov, an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Chair of the Dermatology Division at McGill University and co-author with Dr. Sandra Peláez, Dr. Richie Jeremian and Dr. Pingxing Xie of two recent studies that explore the sunscreen paradox.
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Published on: 24 Oct 2023
Research on the trillions of microorganisms that make up a person’s microbiome can lead to medical breakthroughs to treat diseases like inflammatory bowel syndrome and diabetes. According to Alyssa Bader, a Tsimshian Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University, microbiome samples from Indigenous communities have the potential to further Western medicine, but those same communities often have been excluded from the research process and may miss out on the benefits that result from their contributions to science.
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Published on: 24 Oct 2023
Both elegant and fierce, killer whales are some of the oceans’ top predators, but even they can be exposed to environmental pollution. Now, in the largest study to date on North Atlantic killer whales, researchers in the American Chemical Society’ Environmental Science & Technology report the levels of legacy and emerging pollutants in 162 individuals’ blubber. The animals’ diet, rather than location, greatly impacted contaminant levels and potential health risks — information that’s helpful to conservation efforts.
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Published on: 24 Oct 2023
The McGill University Library is now home to a rare collection of materials related to the prolific Enlightenment period philosopher, Voltaire (1694-1778).
This estate gift, entrusted to McGill by Professor Peter Lambert-David Southam, is a treasure trove of historical handwritten documents, some written by Voltaire himself, consisting of letters, poems, essays, memoirs, notes, legal documents, trial testimonies, and architectural drawings – many of which have never been published before. It offers a unique window into the life and mind of Voltaire.
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Published on: 18 Oct 2023
As the planet gets hotter, the need for cool living environments is becoming more urgent. But air conditioning is a major contributor to global warming since units use potent greenhouse gases and lots of energy.
Now, researchers from McGill University, UCLA and Princeton have found in a new study an inexpensive, sustainable alternative to mechanical cooling with refrigerants in hot and arid climates, and a way to mitigate dangerous heat waves during electricity blackouts.
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Published on: 25 Sep 2023
A team of astronomers has made a leap forward in our understanding of the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system. Not only has their research shed light on the nature of TRAPPIST-1 b, the exoplanet orbiting closest to the system’s star, but it has also shown the importance of parent stars when studying exoplanets.
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Published on: 25 Sep 2023
NSERC Alliance Grant supports McGill-led Canadian team, new global climate center on AI for biodiversity change
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Published on: 21 Sep 2023
The FRQS Dual AI Chairs Program supports research collaborations across disciplines in pursuit of the significant potential of AI to address some of humanity’s greatest health challenges.
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Published on: 21 Sep 2023
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