COP 30: Quebec universities more united than ever for the climate

As the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) is currently being held in Belém, Brazil, eighteen Quebec universities are reaffirming the climate emergency and the need to combine their efforts and expertise to meet this global challenge. This mobilization is part of a movement of enhanced cooperation, where higher education institutions play a central role in the transition to a resilient, equitable and low-carbon society.

Heavy cannabis use during pregnancy linked to disruption in brain growth

McGill University researchers at the Douglas Research Centre have found evidence that heavy cannabis use during pregnancy can cause delays in brain development in the fetus that persist into adulthood.

Using advanced MRI techniques, the team tracked the effects of prenatal cannabis exposure in mice across key developmental stages.

McGill study shows low-grade heat from renewable sources could be used to desalinate water

A McGill University-led research team has demonstrated the feasibility of a sustainable and cost-effective way to desalinate seawater. The method – thermally driven reverse osmosis (TDRO) – uses a piston-based system powered by low-grade heat from solar thermal, geothermal heat and other sources of renewable energy to produce fresh water.

Lesser-known eating disorder just as severe as anorexia and bulimia, study finds

A diagnosis often viewed as less serious than anorexia and bulimia – and the most common eating disorder worldwide – can cause just as much harm, a new study has found. 

McGill researchers track boulders’ influence on snow melt, watersheds using unique combination of methods

Thanks to their use of a unique methodology, a McGill-led research team has obtained new insights into how boulders affect snow melt in mountainous northern environments, with implications for local water resources.  

The team found that snow near boulders melts faster, not only because rocks radiate heat, but also due to subtle processes that reshape the snow’s surface. This information will help researchers understand how small-scale processes affect downstream water resources. 

McGill-led team maps ‘weather’ on a nearby brown dwarf in unprecedented detail

Researchers at McGill University and collaborating institutions have mapped the atmospheric features of a planetary-mass brown dwarf, a type of space object that is neither a star nor a planet, existing in a category in-between. This particular brown dwarf’s mass, however, is just at the threshold between being a Jupiter-like planet and a brown dwarf. It has thus also been called a free-floating, or rogue, planet, not bound to a star.