Bots with feelings: Study explores how human customers react to AI chatbots with emotions
Artificial intelligence chatbots that show positive feelings — such as adding an “I am excited to do so!” or a few exclamation marks — do not necessarily translate into positive reactions or contribute to higher customer satisfaction, according to a recent study by researchers from the University of South Florida, the Georgia Institute of Technology and McGill University.
The hidden secrets of flowers
To better understand the evolution of flowers, researchers from Montreal are harnessing photogrammetry – a technique commonly used by geographers to reconstruct landscape topography. This is the first time scientists have used the technique to study flowers.
Methane from manholes and historic landfills: significant sources of gas go unrecognized
Cities are responsible for almost 1/5th of the global methane emissions caused by human activities. But most cities don’t capture information about the full range of sources of this powerful greenhouse gas. In 2020, a team led by McGill University, measured methane emissions from various sources across the city of Montreal.
Lottery Tickets Aren’t Child’s Play
Research shows that early childhood gambling experiences, including those with lottery products, can be a risk factor for gambling problems later in life.
Eleven Quebec universities unite for biodiversity
Eleven Quebec universities have joined forces and signed the Nature Positive Pledge, becoming founding members of an international movement that includes 117 universities worldwide.
Enhancing and protecting Canada's carbon stocks is essential but insufficient to meet GHG emission targets: expert panel report
Enhancing carbon storage in natural ecosystems could put a small but significant dent in Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but an aggressive commitment to reducing human-caused emissions remains critically important, according to a new expert panel report from the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), co-authored by McGill Professor Gail L. Chmura in the Department of Geography.
What AI-generated COVID news tells us that journalists don’t
AI can help identify biases in news reporting that we wouldn't otherwise see. Researchers from McGill University got a computer program to generate news coverage of COVID-19 using headlines from CBC articles as prompts. They then compared the simulated news coverage to the actual reporting at the time and found that CBC coverage was less focused on the medical emergency and more positively focused on personalities and geo-politics.
Cindy Blackstock Awarded SSHRC’s highest honour
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced the five winners of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s (SSHRC) 2022 Impact Awards.
An ecological rule breaker shows the effects of climate change on body size evolution
Does evolution follow certain rules? Can these rules be predicted? Southeast Asia’s tree shrews break multiple rules when it comes to body size variation – with an unexpected twist – according to researchers from McGill University, University of Cambridge, and Yale University. The findings shed new light on the effects of climate change on the evolution of body size in animals.
Stories: Poverty and Instagram addiction; Dungeons & Dragons theatre
McGill receives $4.8 million to advance climate change science and technology
The Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund, administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), is investing more than $4 million in three McGill-led projects through the Climate Awareness and Action Fund (CAAF). Nationally, the funding was part of a $58 million investment in research that will advance climate change science and technology, an announcement made by the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change today.
To infinity and beyond: $26 million to propel space research at McGill University and Université de Montréal to the outer limits
The McGill Space Institute (MSI) and the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) at Université de Montréal are at the forefront of the exhilarating pace of space research, helping to advance our knowledge of extrasolar planets, fast radio bursts, the dark universe, and other extraterrestrial mysteries.
Tick-borne pathogens increasingly widespread in Central Canada
Tick-borne pathogens, known for causing illnesses such as Lyme disease, are on the rise in Central Canada – presenting new risks in areas where they were never previously detected.
The findings from researchers at McGill University and the University of Ottawa demonstrate the need for more comprehensive testing and tracking to detect the spread and potential risk of tick-borne pathogens to human and wildlife populations throughout Canada.
McGill and RI-MUHC awarded $5.1 million for infectious disease research
New funding of $5.1 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), announced today by the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, will help researchers Marcel Behr, MD, PhD, and Silvia Vidal, PhD, ensure that Canada is better prepared for the next pandemic.
A suite of government funding in support of McGill research
Today, the Government of Canada announced an investment of more than $ 301 million in support of social sciences and humanities research, bioscience infrastructure and the Canada Research Chairs Program. The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry made the announcement at the Canadian Science Policy Conference in Ottawa.
