Scitech
Scitech
Martian microbes, maybe
Canadian scientists get involved in looking at possible biosignatures of life on Mars
Kimberly Strong has spent much of her career as a scientist at the University of Toronto looking at the Earth’s atmosphere. Now she’s looking for signs of life on Mars. Along with an international group of scientists, Strong submitted a...
Scitech
Science courses can be kind of a mind-fuck
Reflections on post-secondary education and the cost of your undergrad soul
When I interviewed Denis Rancourt back in August, the school year was so young that the Internet in my apartment hadn’t even been set up yet. I chatted with Rancourt over Skype from my friend Anne’s place, my Boréale buzz...
Scitech
One fish, two fish, red fish, SSMU fish
Where we’ve come in the fight against overfishing
Leonardo DiCaprio has never appeared on the cover of GQ hugging a bluefin tuna, but the magazine might want to start getting in touch with his agent. Like polar bears for global warming, bluefin tuna are quickly becoming a symbol...
Scitech
Course registration 2.0
Student-made solutions to McGill’s clunky interfaces
Is it just me, or do Minerva and WebCT feel straight out of the year 2000? And I’m not talking about the jet-pack, robot-maid paradise that people dreamed about in the ’60s. These sites are some sort of nightmare cross...
Scitech
Education minus the tuition
Students use free, online MIT lectures as a substitute for class
If I had known four years ago what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have gone to McGill. Namely, that courses could be free. Online, open to the public, accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. Educational resources are now...
Scitech
10345664th floor, please
McGill students compete in elevator race to space for $1-million prize
A figment of ’70s science fiction may soon become a 21st century reality – and McGill students are taking part in the research to make that happen. Taking an elevator straight from the Earth’s surface directly to outer space just...
Scitech
Earth on Tickertape
New research suggests that hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which are used in aerosol spray and have been phased in to replace ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, may cause acid rain. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons are also 4,500 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. British plans to...
Scitech
Tampering with the genetic code
Benefits and concerns for bioengineered food
Since Watson and Crick’s discovery of the DNA structure in 1953, tools to genetically engineer the fundamental code for life have been in development. Technology has always been used to manipulate the living environment, and now, for the first time...
Scitech
Mental metaphors
Prof talks "new" neuroscience and technology
Brains lag behind. On March 11, approximately 80 professors and students gathered to hear Cornelius Borck’s talk about the technology used to monitor the brain – and how the technology’s speed surpasses that of the mind, yet is still unable...
Scitech
Sean knows me!
Bathroom graffiti and social connections
If you’ve ever sat down on the plastic seat of a toilet in Bronfman, Redpath, or Stewart Bio, you may have noticed a name written in black marker on the inside of the cubicle: “Sean Turner.” What started a few...
Scitech
Portrait of a lab rat
Concordia talk explores scientific inquiry and rodents as art
Though they seem diametrically opposed, the sciences and the arts have a long and interrelated history. For centuries, artists and scientists have taken each other’s work as inspiration, using ideas and hypotheses and building on them. Leonardo da Vinci exemplified...
Scitech
Effective aid overseas
Engineers Without Borders stresses importance of sustained volunteer projects
This summer, McGill’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) will be sending three junior fellows (JFs) to work on development projects in rural African communities. Almost 40 JFs from across Canada will participate in the program, along with EWB’s 33...
Columns
Off the deep end
When scientific genius goes to extremes
The notion of the mad scientist, the one that goes beyond the morphological features of frizzy hair and messy desk, is a common one. Whether it’s Charles Darwin pursuing his theory in the face of social alienation or university students...
Scitech
Effective aid overseas
Engineers Without Borders stresses importance of sustained volunteer projects
This summer, McGill’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) will be sending three junior fellows (JFs) to work on development projects in rural African communities. Almost 40 JFs from across Canada will participate in the program, along with EWB’s 33...
Plus or minus sigma
Off the deep end
When scientific genius goes to extremes
The notion of the mad scientist, the one that goes beyond the morphological features of frizzy hair and messy desk, is a common one. Whether it’s Charles Darwin pursuing his theory in the face of social alienation or university students...