news 2023

In a first-of-its-kind study, Waterloo researchers calculate the environmental footprint of hospitals Researchers from the University of Waterloo completed the first-ever assessment of a Canadian hospital to reveal its total environmental footprint and specific carbon emission hotspots. Studying a hospital in British Columbia during its 2019 fiscal year, the researchers identified energy and water use and purchasing of medical products as the hospital's primary hotspots, accounting for over half of the yearly footprint, totalling 3500-5000 tons of CO2 equivalent.

New research shows that team-based recognition can be effective in settings where performance is highly interdependent, and teamwork is essential to the company's success. Businesses are becoming increasingly competitive as they fight to recruit and retain top talent. Recognition programs are widespread across businesses and workplaces, and are used to improve employee engagement, while motivating employee effort and performance.

As satellite count surges, Western team uses meteor tracking camera tech to track where they are in Earth's orbit As predicted by Captain Kirk, space is indeed the final frontier. But imagine if Starfleet couldn't launch the U.S.S. Enterprise because there was a traffic jam in Earth's orbit causing congestion or, worse, gridlock.

Areas in Vancouver with the greatest need for restorative nature often have the least exposure to it, according to a new UBC study published recently in Ambio. These neighbourhoods include Strathcona, downtown Vancouver, the West End, southern Sunset and Marpole. The researchers developed a new tool, the local restorative nature (LRN) index to assess spaces for the presence of qualities that promote mental well-being.

Science, Health & Technology Brett Goldhawk As we head into fall, cases of COVID-19 are once again rising across Canada, fuelled by new variants that are offshoots of the original Omicron variant. At the same time, Canada is rolling out an updated suite of vaccines that are more tailored to currently circulating strains of the virus.

New research reveals half of our watersheds have a moderate to high potential for water risk Ontario may seem to be a water secure region, but new research out of the University of Waterloo challenges the myth of water abundance in the Great Lakes watershed. Using a first-of-its-kind risk analysis, researchers connected water quality, quantity, regulations and public concern to obtain a more comprehensive picture of water security at the local level.

News Release - Discovery of two potential Polar Ring galaxies suggests these stunning rare clusters might be more common than previously believed. KINGSTON, Ontario - A group of international astronomers, including researchers from Queen's University, has identified two potential polar ring galaxies, according to results published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

More than 597,000 Canadians are living with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, and yet big gaps remain in healthcare support. It's estimated that 85 per cent of people living with dementia are not receiving support after their diagnosis. And research shows being engaged in community is one of the biggest factors in slowing the condition's progression.

The Western Institute for Earth and Space Exploration is leading a new project to measure methane released by London's dump, with a multi-disciplinary team of researchers helping to track the potent greenhouse gas. The team will use drones, satellites, as well as stationary and hand-held devices to determine exactly how much methane is produced at the city landfill on Manning Drive - officially named W12A - and whether any of it is escaping the collection system currently in place.

New research co-led by Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia shows that amplified global warming in the Canadian High Arctic drove a profound shift in the structure of a river network carved into a permafrost landscape in only 60 years. Documenting a powerful interplay among climate change, the freeze-thaw dynamics of polygonal ground and the delivery of surface water by floods as well as snow and ice melting, the team developed a new view of the physical controls governing the speed and pattern of river channel development in these fragile landscapes.

A Canadian research team shows for the first time that HIV reservoirs are concentrated in the spleen and lymph nodes, and that they can travel throughout the body. A small number of HIV-infected cells remain in the tissues of people living with the virus and who are undergoing antiretroviral therapy.

Using laser light, researchers have developed the most robust method currently known to control individual qubits made of the chemical element barium. The ability to reliably control a qubit is an important achievement for realizing future functional quantum computers. This new method, developed at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), uses a small glass waveguide to separate laser beams and focus them four microns apart, about four-hundredths of the width of a single human hair.

Two graduate students from Western University have developed a ground-breaking method for predicting which intensive care unit (ICU) patients will survive a severe brain injury. Matthew Kolisnyk and Karnig Kazazian combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with state-of-the art machine learning techniques to tackle one of the most complex issues in critical care.

Tests carried out on children aged 3 to 5 predict many of the differences in later school performance. Some 84,000 children are entering Grade 1 this week in Quebec, and the same question is on all their parents' minds: will my child do well in school? There may be a way to get a good idea of the answer to this question long before students receive their first report card, suggests a study conducted by an inter-university research team.

Researchers have made groundbreaking progress towards identifying the root cause and potential therapy for preeclampsia. The pregnancy complication affects up to eight per cent of pregnancies globally and is the leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality due to premature delivery, complications with the placenta and lack of oxygen.

Climate change has become a climate catastrophe, say researchers. Earth, water, fire and wind are fighting back and everyone and everything is affected. And that includes the world's bird population. New research from Western University's Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR) is the first to show that birds adjust their physiology during the migratory season to maintain oxygen uptake and movement to flight muscles, with some species exhibiting greater adjustments than others.

If you have concerns your child is having trouble reading, new research shows it's likely something that needs attention. As children across the country head back to class this week, a new study from Western researchers shows parental concern is often an accurate indicator of children's reading difficulty.

Tracking viral transmissions between humans and animals could help identify successful mutations The COVID-19 pandemic was probably caused by the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from animals to humans, and it has been reported anecdotally that the virus can pass from humans to different animal species, too.

The magnitude of methane uptake in upland "sinks" may be larger than previously thought, and may increase under dry conditions, an UdeM-led study finds. Located in low-lying areas saturated with water, the wetlands that make up 14 per cent of the Arctic emit vast quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

SFU engineering science professor Mirza Faisal Beg is spearheading research that could help to redefine cancer treatment. Using artificial intelligence (AI) his breakthrough research enables imaging of the human body and organ measurements much faster than traditional methods, signaling a leap forward in harnessing AI for individually personalized healthcare solutions.