news 2022

McGill University research team develops chemical-free solution that could be used to de-ice electrical wires, wind turbines and even airplane wings In 1998, ice build-up on electrical towers and wires caused the ice storm that paralyzed eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, leaving many people in the dark and cold for days and even weeks.

Each mistletoe berry can produce up to two metres of a gluey thread called viscin. It allows the seeds of this parasitic plant to stick to and infect host plants. Since ancient times, mistletoe berries have been explored as treatments for everything from infertility and epilepsy to cancer. But, until now, no one has fully investigated the potential medical or technical uses of the glue itself.

Wood-derived materials can be used to harvest electrical energy from everyday movements such as walking, according to University of Toronto and University of Waterloo researchers. In a new study recently published in Nano Energy , the team demonstrated the use of lignocellulosic nanofibrils - derived from tree bark - in a prototype self-powered device capable of sending a wireless signal to a smartphone via bluetooth.

Physicist Andrea Bianchi has observed the "quantum spin liquid" state in a magnetic material created in his lab. It's not every day that someone comes across a new state of matter in quantum physics, the scientific field devoted to describing the behaviour of atomic and subatomic particles in order to elucidate their properties.

Wearing a face mask, when combined with other protective measures, has been shown to help slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. But there remain many misconceptions about the relationship between a mask's level of protection and its comfort - namely that more protective models such as N95 respirators are less comfortable to wear.

UBC researchers have developed an inexpensive, non-toxic coating for almost any fabric that decreases the infectivity of the virus that causes COVID-19 by up to 90 per cent. And in the future, you might be able to spray it on fabric yourself. "When you're walking into a hospital, you want to know that pillow you're putting your head onto is clean," says lead author Taylor Wright, a doctoral candidate in the department of chemistry.

A water tank full of coin-sized invertebrates may not be the first thing you'd expect to see in a materials science and engineering research lab. But Eli Sone , a professor in the department of materials science and engineering in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and his team have been studying both zebra and quagga mussels for years in the hope that they can help solve a diverse range of challenges.