news

« BACK

Life Sciences



Results 61 - 80 of 186.


Psychology - Life Sciences - 12.09.2022
Actions speak louder than words when it comes to memory
PhD candidate in psychology publishes meta-analysis that chronicles 60 years of memory research By Wendy Philpott Faculty of Arts Whether you're old or young, memory can be a challenge for all kinds of reasons, and most of us would welcome strategies to help improve our memory. Waterloo's researchers in psychology have been helping with this area of cognition for years - and the impact of their research on what we know about memory continues with graduate students.

Health - Life Sciences - 08.09.2022
Muscle discovery, aging and memory, plus other stories
Muscle discovery may lead to better drugs The smallest constituents of muscles, myosin and actin, may be targeted to contribute to more effective treatment methods against heart and muscle diseases, say a group of international researchers at McGill University and Linnaeus University. The question of what happens at the molecular level inside our muscles when they are activated has long eluded researchers.

Environment - Life Sciences - 25.08.2022
Mushrooms serve as 'main character' in most ecosystems
Mushrooms serve as ’main character’ in most ecosystems
A team of Western mycologists (fungi experts) spent the past two summers digging deep in Newfoundland dirt to investigate the might of mushrooms and found what lies beneath truly is 'the main character' in most terrestrial ecosystems. Fungi, which produce mushrooms, are critically important in most earthbound ecosystems as they provide life-sustaining mineral nutrients to plants while decomposing their remains, and recycling both organic and inorganic byproducts throughout the biome as they grow and reproduce.

Life Sciences - Health - 19.08.2022
What causes cell ’batteries’ to run down
Researchers at the University of Toronto have discovered how mitochondrial turnover - a critical cellular function - begins. Mitochondria are like the batteries of our bodies. They're vital sources of energy for cells and are necessary to regulate function in almost all cell types. And, like batteries, mitochondria need to be replaced as they run down over time. If these cell batteries aren't replaced efficiently, and don't turn over properly, cells experience stress and can die.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 17.08.2022
Does language acquisition begin before birth?
Does language acquisition begin before birth?
A research team supervised by Anne Gallagher is investigating whether babies can learn language in the womb. Does exposing babies to different languages during pregnancy promote the acquisition of language skills before birth? This is what a research team at the LION laboratory is trying to determine.

Life Sciences - 15.08.2022
How to avoid becoming a mosquito's dinner
How to avoid becoming a mosquito’s dinner
Summer is almost over, but that doesn't mean mosquitoes aren't still searching for their next meal-and you might be next. A new study co-authored by UBC's Dr. Ben Matthews suggests humans may just be the most sought-after delicacy for the pesky insects. A common type of mosquito, the globally invasive Aedes aegypti, literally sniffs out humans, driving them to bite us even over other animals.

Life Sciences - Mechanical Engineering - 08.08.2022
Tip for riders of hoverboards
Tip for riders of hoverboards
Engineering researchers have some simple advice for people learning to ride hoverboards: it's all in the ankles. An experiment using sophisticated cameras and sensors attached to first-time riders revealed that ankle movements, not knee or hip movements, are the key to catching on to the increasingly popular devices.

Health - Life Sciences - 02.08.2022
Travel restrictions significantly reduced COVID-19 cases entering Canada - but insufficient to prevent new outbreaks
Travel restrictions significantly reduced COVID-19 cases entering Canada - but insufficient to prevent new outbreaks
Science, Health & Technology Brett Goldhawk Canada's restrictions on international travel drastically reduced the number of COVID-19 cases entering the country during the first waves of the pandemic but were insufficient to prevent new outbreaks, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia researchers.

Life Sciences - 02.08.2022
Researchers crack 30-year-old mystery of odour switching in worms
Researchers crack 30-year-old mystery of odour switching in worms
Soil-dwelling nematodes depend on their sophisticated sense of smell for survival, able to distinguish between more than a thousand different scents - but the molecular mechanism behind their olfaction has baffled scientists for decades. Now, researchers at the University of Toronto's Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular & Biomolecular Research appear to have solved the long-standing mystery - and the implications of their findings stretch beyond nematode olfaction, perhaps offering insights into how the human brain functions.

Life Sciences - 01.08.2022
Why are some birds more intelligent than others?
Why are some birds more intelligent than others?
If you-ve ever seen a starling peck open a garbage bag or a grackle steal your dog pellets, you get a sense that some birds have learned to take advantage of new feeding opportunities - a clear sign of their intelligence. Scientists have long wondered why certain species of birds are more innovative than others, and whether these capacities stem from larger brains (which intuitively seems likely) or from a greater number of neurons in specific areas of the brain.

Health - Life Sciences - 29.07.2022
New hydrogel for more targeted cancer treatments
New hydrogel for more targeted cancer treatments
University of Toronto researchers have designed a new way to grow cells in a lab that enables them to better emulate cancerous tumours. The platform - based on a type of material known as a hydrogel, a soft jelly-like substance - opens new ways to advance treatment options for cancer.

Life Sciences - Environment - 28.07.2022
Whales' eyes offer glimpse into their evolution from land to sea
Whales’ eyes offer glimpse into their evolution from land to sea
University of Toronto researchers have shed light on the evolutionary transition of whales' early ancestors from on-shore living to deep-sea foraging, suggesting that these ancestors had visual systems that could quickly adapt to the dark. Their findings show that the common ancestor of living whales was already a deep diver, able to see in the blue twilight zone of the ocean, with eyes that swiftly adjusted to dim conditions as the whale rushed down on a deep breath of surface air.

Life Sciences - Health - 27.07.2022
Histamine-producing gut bacteria can trigger chronic abdominal pain
Hamilton, ON (July 27, 2022) - Researchers from McMaster University and Queen's University have discovered a gut bacterial 'super-producer' of histamine that can cause pain flare-ups in some patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The culprit is what has now been named Klebsiella aerogenes, the McMaster-Queen's (MQ) strain, identified in up to 25 per cent of gut microbiota samples from patients with IBS.

Environment - Life Sciences - 25.07.2022
Measuring the environmental impact of a hydroelectric dam at Inukjuak
Measuring the environmental impact of a hydroelectric dam at Inukjuak
A research team led by Marc Amyot is assessing the environmental impact of building a dam on permafrost at Inukjuak, in collaboration with the Inuit community. The Innavik Hydro Project currently being built by the Pituvik Landholding Corporation in partnership with Hydro-Québec, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc.

Health - Life Sciences - 21.07.2022
New study explores infection effect on fetal brain development
New study explores infection effect on fetal brain development
The risk of infection during pregnancy has always been a concern, but the high rate of illness during the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential impact of infection on a developing brain. To better understand the long-term consequences, a new Western University study supported by Western's BrainsCAN, explored the effects of a pregnant person's immune response to a virus or bacteria on an unborn baby's brain development.

Life Sciences - Environment - 21.07.2022
The tiny bodies of bats allow perfect balance between flight costs and heat dissipation
The tiny bodies of bats allow perfect balance between flight costs and heat dissipation
Many mammal species living in cold climates tend to have large bodies and short limbs to reduce heat loss - a general pattern known as Bergmann's rule. However, bats are the exception to the rule, displaying small body sizes in both hot and cold regions. A McGill-led team of researchers is shedding light on this long-standing debate over bats- body sizes and focus on why bats are seemingly non-conforming to ecogeographical patterns found in other mammals.

Life Sciences - Psychology - 20.07.2022
No pain, no gain? How the brain chooses between pain and profit
No pain, no gain? How the brain chooses between pain and profit
Imagine having to choose over and over between what you enjoy doing and the pain that it might cause you, whether physical or emotional. If you live with conditions such as depression, anxiety, or chronic pain, you are probably familiar with making these difficult choices on a daily or weekly basis. But surprisingly little is known about which areas of the brain are involved in decisions of this kind.

Life Sciences - 19.07.2022
Hibernating insects regrow muscles on demand: study
Hibernating insects regrow muscles on demand: study
Even as gas prices soar, most people don't destroy their car's engine just to save energy - and that's one luxury certain insects have that those humans don't. New research from Western University has found potato beetles can break down and regrow muscles on demand, allowing them to preserve energy over the winter.

Life Sciences - Earth Sciences - 13.07.2022
Fighting climate change with deep-sea water
Microbes deep down in the ocean could be a good tool to transform carbon into more stable molecules, a laboratory study at UdeM suggests. Marine biologists have long known the power of microbes to transform carbon released by surface phytoplankton - algae on the surface of the sea - into more stable molecules.

Life Sciences - Health - 13.07.2022
New chemical biological tools to monitor Parkinson's disease
New chemical biological tools to monitor Parkinson’s disease
Researchers are a step closer to understanding how Parkinson's disease develops and progresses thanks to chemical biological tools developed at Simon Fraser University. New research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and spearheaded by SFU researchers Matthew Deen and Yanping Zhu, outlines new technology and methods to measure the activity of lysosomal glucocerebrosidase (GCase), an enzyme that is commonly linked to Parkinson's disease.