Exoplanet is observed shedding its atmosphere in real time

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team led by McGill researcher Vigneshwaran Krishnamurthy has observed a giant cloud of helium gas evaporating from a distant giant exoplanet called WASP-107b.

Bringing environmental policymakers together to focus on the future sparks empathy for nature and later generations, McGill study finds

When environmental policymakers are invited to imagine the future together, they don’t just think differently, they feel differently, too.

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. 

Climate change could result in contaminant spread in the High Arctic, McGill study finds

Warming temperatures and increased precipitation in the Canadian High Arctic are mobilizing new pathways for subsurface contaminants to spread from more than 2,500 contaminated sites associated with industrial and military sites across the region.

Ancient mammoth tooth offers clues about Ice Age life in northeastern Canada

A worn-down mammoth tooth discovered nearly 150 years ago on an island in Nunavut offers new insights into where and how the Ice Age giants lived and died.

Experts: Social prescribing

As part of a new partnership with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (MSO), member doctors of Médecins francophones du Canada can now prescribe tickets to live performances.  

Experts: Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa, now a Category Five tropical cyclone, has made landfall in Jamaica. It is the strongest storm to hit the island country in at least 150 years and the most powerful recorded anywhere in 2025. It has caused severe flooding and mass evacuations across Jamaica and along the storm’s projected path, which includes Cuba and the Bahamas. 

McGill experts are available to comment on this topic: 

McGill team pinpoints where a type of cell death begins

A team at McGill University studying ferroptosis, a form of cell death, have discovered that the process begins deep inside the cell, a finding that could lead to new treatments for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

McGill research flags Montreal snow dump, inactive landfills as major methane polluters

Montreal’s methane emissions are unevenly distributed across the island, with the highest concentrations in the city’s east end, McGill researchers have found. The worst polluters include the city’s largest snow dump, which emits methane at levels comparable to the city's current and former landfills, and natural gas leaks.  

Experts: Pedestrian Safety Month

Fall is a dangerous season for pedestrians, with a rise in road accidents linked to reduced visibility and shorter daylight hours. According to the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), October and November consistently see spikes in pedestrian injuries and fatalities, with a notable increase in deaths in recent years.

To draw attention to this problem, the SAAQ marks Pedestrian Safety Month each October, as do authorities in several other jurisdictions.

Millions of buildings at risk from sea level rise, McGill-led study finds

Sea level rise could put more than 100 million buildings across the Global South at risk of regular flooding if fossil fuel emissions are not curbed quickly, according to a new McGill-led study published in npj Urban Sustainability.

McGill physicists manoeuvre DNA molecules using electrical fields

Researchers in McGill’s Department of Physics have developed a new device that can trap and study DNA molecules without touching or damaging them. The device, which uses carefully tuned electric fields, offers scientists unprecedented control over how DNA behaves in real time, creating the opportunity for faster, more precise molecular analysis that could improve diagnostics, genome mapping and the study of disease-related molecules.

Expert: Ocean floor temperature increases

The 2025 Ocean State Report from the Copernicus Marine Service, a European Union ocean monitoring organization, has found that sea floor temperatures off the coast of Nova Scotia have risen at twice the rate of surface temperatures over 30 years.

CHORD will be a huge leap forward for Canadian radio astronomy

Construction is underway of CHORD, the most ambitious radio telescope project ever built on Canadian soil. Short for the Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector, CHORD will give astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to explore some of the most exciting and mysterious questions in astrophysics and cosmology, from Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and dark energy to the measurements of fundamental particles, and beyond.

Study finds Montreal cycling infrastructure doesn’t match demand

Bike lanes, BIXI stations and other micromobility infrastructure make up just two per cent of Montreal’s street space – even in neighbourhoods where cycling demand would justify more – according to a new study by McGill University researchers. They think that the measure they developed to arrive at their findings can also help assess the situation in other cities.