actualités 2024

UdeM literature professor Marcello Vitali-Rosati looks at how, for better or worse, computerized large language models are changing how we write - and what we think about it. Computerized large language models (LLMs) are making inroads into the realm of literature. Their ability to generate coherent texts and mimic all manner of writing styles has sparked lively debate among writers, literary theorists and researchers.

McGill researchers have harnessed the power of sunlight to transform two of the most harmful greenhouse gases into valuable chemicals. The discovery could help combat climate change and provide a more sustainable way to produce certain industrial products. "Imagine a world where the exhaust from your car or emissions from a factory could be transformed, with the help of sunlight, into clean fuel for vehicles, the building blocks for everyday plastics, and energy stored in batteries," said co-first author Hui Su, a Postdoctoral Fellow in McGill's Department of Chemistry.

A Western study could help farmers get out of a potential jam by using artificial intelligence (AI) and passive camera monitoring to enhance strawberry cultivation. In a paper published in the international journal Foods , Western engineers describe a new machine-learning approach that yields the highest-ever precision and accuracy rates for ripeness and disease detection in strawberries of any previous attempts.

Landmark new research shows Ice Age teens from 25,000 years ago went through similar puberty stages as modern-day adolescents. In a study published today in the Journal of Human Evolution of the timing of puberty in Pleistocene teens, researchers are addressing a knowledge gap about how early humans grew up.

Discovery highlights importance of including both male and female subjects in neuroscience research and considering sex in determining treatment approaches A new study has uncovered significant differences in how male and female mice process threats, even as they exhibit similar behavioural responses.

The University of Waterloo has long been renowned for entrepreneurship and innovation and for providing co-operative education (co-op) and work-integrated learning at scale with impact. Dr. Margaret Dalziel and Nada Basir, both professors at the Conrad School of Business and Entrepreneurship, conducted a study into the mechanisms behind this success, revealing that co-op plays a pivotal role in shaping the ventures of student entrepreneurs.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have designed an energy-efficient device that produces drinking water from seawater using an evaporation process driven largely by the sun. Desalination is critical for many coastal and island nations to provide access to fresh water, given water scarcity concerns due to rapid population growth and increasing global water consumption.

Teens who have disposable income, live in a lower-income home or are gender diverse are more likely to use e-cigarettes, according to a new study at the University of Waterloo. Researchers examined survey responses from more than 46,000 adolescents in 167 schools across Canada as part of the COMPASS research system at Waterloo's School of Public Health Sciences.

New model combines artificial intelligence with statistical techniques to help decision-makers prepare for and react to seismic events Researchers from McGill University have developed a more efficient way to assess how likely a bridge is to be damaged in an earthquake. The information could help authorities prioritize infrastructure for upgrading and improve emergency response plans.

McGill University study suggests investing in herbaria and uploading records is an effective way to generate the biodiversity data needed to inform policy and action Digitally cataloguing the more than 300 million plant specimens preserved in museums worldwide could yield crucial insights into how to preserve biodiversity amid climate change, a study by McGill researchers has found.

Participating in a series of cognitive training sessions has helped Quebec seniors cope with memory loss - even five years later, an UdeM study finds. Can training your brain to remember things help you ward off the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease? A new Canadian study suggests that yes, it can - even five years after you got the training.

The global outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and resulting job losses led to a surge in suicidal ideation among Canadians, especially young people, a new UdeM-led study finds. Nearly three times as many Canadians - close to 8 per cent - thought of killing themselves in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than did in previous years, a new study led by Université de Montréal researchers suggests.

In a global first, University of Waterloo researchers have used 3D imaging technology to understand the fine details of microplastics, paving the way for more effective methods of plastic waste recycling. Micro and nanoplastics, tiny particles of plastic that come from the breakdown of larger plastic items, have become an exponentially worsening environmental crisis.

While there is no denying 'survival of the fittest' still reigns supreme in the animal kingdom, a new study shows being smartest - or at least smarter - is pretty important, too. Western animal behaviour and cognition researcher Carrie Branch and her collaborators at University of Oklahoma and University of Nevada, Reno tracked the spatial cognition and lifespan of 227 mountain chickadees for more than a decade.

A study by UdeM professor Claude Perreault's team at IRIC proposes three potential functions for so-called parasite DNA sequences in T cell development. "Parasite" DNA sequences have three potential functions in the development of T (for thymus) lymphocytes, researchers led by Université de Montréal medical professor Claude Perreault show in a recent study.

Western researchers have discovered a protein with the never-before-seen ability to stop DNA damage in its tracks. The finding could provide the foundation for developing everything from vaccines against cancer to crops that can withstand the increasingly harsh growing conditions brought on by climate change.

Massive volcanic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions contributing to an extreme global ocean deoxygenation event over 120 million years ago has modern day implications for understanding a climate warming "tipping point," according to new research published in Nature this week, led by a scientist at Ocean Networks Canada, a University of Victoria initiative.

Northern elephant seals were repeatedly captured on camera in the deep Pacific Ocean using sonar from an Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) observatory as a dinner bell to forage for their next fish feast, according to a new study led by University of Victoria researchers. The research study published in the peer-reviewed PLOS ONE journal provides a unique, first-ever visual glimpse into the elusive mammal's deep-sea behaviours, with a focus on their sophisticated feeding strategies, prey preferences as well as resting habits.

University of Waterloo researchers have developed a new material that can absorb more than eight times its weight in oil, offering a new solution in preventing groundwater contamination from spills or accidents. "The current technology for oil capture is lagging," said Tizazu Mekonnen, a professor at Waterloo's Department of Chemical Engineering.

Scientists have uncovered how space travel profoundly alters the gut microbiome, yielding insights that could shape future space missions. The groundbreaking study, led by a McGill University researcher in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD), NASA's GeneLab and an international consortium, offers the most detailed profile to date of how space travel affects gut microbes.