Science

An exhibit of early human species, whose faces have been recreated, are seen inside the Smithsonian Hall of Human Origins, Thursday, July 20, 2023, at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Science is unlocking the Neanderthal inside you

Science revealing we have far more in common with our extinct cousins than we ever thought

 

William, Prince of Wales, right, visits a FDNY Firehouse on on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Pool Photo via AP)

Prince William, billionaires Gates and Bloomberg say innovation provides climate hope

With deadly extreme weather hitting all over the globe, rising temperatures peaking…

 

Dr. Stuart Turvey poses in this undated handout photo. Dr. Stuart Turvey says a new study suggests four major types of childhood allergies — eczema, asthma, hay fever and food allergies — are linked to an imbalance of bacteria the gut. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - University of British Columbia

Infant antibiotics tied to eczema, asthma, food allergies

Canadian study finds medication can wipe out protective bacteria and introduce harmful ones

 

August celebrates two “supermoons.” The first – the Sturgeon Moon – appeared over the mountains south of Princeton August 1 and was captured by well-known local shutterbug John Moody. According to the Farmer’s Almanac the Sturgeon Moon is so named to honour the giant Sturgeon fish, which can be traced back 132 million years and is sometimes called ‘the fossil fish.’ On August 30 stargazers will be treated to the second supermoon, the Blue Moon.

Rare blue supermoon brightens the night sky this week in the closest full moon of the year

Stargazers are in for a double treat this week: a rare blue…

August celebrates two “supermoons.” The first – the Sturgeon Moon – appeared over the mountains south of Princeton August 1 and was captured by well-known local shutterbug John Moody. According to the Farmer’s Almanac the Sturgeon Moon is so named to honour the giant Sturgeon fish, which can be traced back 132 million years and is sometimes called ‘the fossil fish.’ On August 30 stargazers will be treated to the second supermoon, the Blue Moon.
A sign is photographed at McMurdo Station on Dec. 4, 2018. The Associated Press found a pattern of women working in Antarctica who said their claims of sexual harassment or assault had been minimized by their employers. The AP investigation came after the National Science Foundation published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they’d had a negative experience of harassment or assault while on the ice. (National Science Foundation via AP)

Women working in Antarctica say they were left to fend for themselves against sexual harassers

The howling winds and perpetual darkness of the Antarctic winter were easing…

A sign is photographed at McMurdo Station on Dec. 4, 2018. The Associated Press found a pattern of women working in Antarctica who said their claims of sexual harassment or assault had been minimized by their employers. The AP investigation came after the National Science Foundation published a report in 2022 in which 59% of women said they’d had a negative experience of harassment or assault while on the ice. (National Science Foundation via AP)
A bleached and dying Porites lobata colony on Kiritimati (Christmas Island). (Julia K. Baum/Contributed to Black Press Media)

Record-high ocean temperatures hurting coral reefs: B.C. study

Coral reef ecosystems are worth US $375 billion annually, and are a key source of food and income

A bleached and dying Porites lobata colony on Kiritimati (Christmas Island). (Julia K. Baum/Contributed to Black Press Media)
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health prepare to transplant a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man in New York on July 14, 2023. Researchers around the country are racing to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Pig kidney works in donor body marking step toward animal-human transplants

Researchers are breaking new ground in the scicne of using animals to save human lives

Surgeons at NYU Langone Health prepare to transplant a pig’s kidney into a brain-dead man in New York on July 14, 2023. Researchers around the country are racing to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
This microscopic image showcases a soft marine organism impaled by multiple fibreglass particles, creating a visual reminiscent of a living pincushion. Photo courtesy of Dr. Corina Ciocan

Derelict boats, Part 2: ‘A persistent source of pollution’ in B.C. and beyond

Contaminants shed by abandoned vessels causing concern about ocean health

This microscopic image showcases a soft marine organism impaled by multiple fibreglass particles, creating a visual reminiscent of a living pincushion. Photo courtesy of Dr. Corina Ciocan
(Perucetus colossus is reconstructed in a costal habitat: Alberto Gennari/Nature via AP)

The heaviest animal ever may be this ancient whale found in the Peruvian desert

There could be a new contender for heaviest animal to ever live.…

(Perucetus colossus is reconstructed in a costal habitat: Alberto Gennari/Nature via AP)
An artist’s rendering of a group of Burgess Shale jellyfish is shown in a handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Royal Ontario Museum-Christian McCall

Researchers find oldest-known species of swimming jellyfish in Canadian Rockies

Burgess Shale fossils on a shelf at the Royal Ontario Museum reveal 505-million-year-old specimen

An artist’s rendering of a group of Burgess Shale jellyfish is shown in a handout. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Royal Ontario Museum-Christian McCall
FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)

Long COVID struggles persist, new treatment studies bring hope

U.S. investing in research to address brain fog and other long COVID symptoms affecting millions

FILE - This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. (NIAID-RML via AP, File)
FILE - Text from the ChatGPT page of the OpenAI website is shown in this photo, in New York, Feb. 2, 2023. Anthropic, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and other major developers of AI systems known as large language models say they’re hard at work to make them more truthful. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Untruthful tech: Chatbots prone to making things up

Not everyone thinks AI’s hallucination problem is fixable

FILE - Text from the ChatGPT page of the OpenAI website is shown in this photo, in New York, Feb. 2, 2023. Anthropic, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and other major developers of AI systems known as large language models say they’re hard at work to make them more truthful. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
FILE - A commercial airliner flies Northwest across Lake Michigan in front of the “Full Buck” supermoon, the first of four supermoons in 2023, July 3, 2023, in Chicago. The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons. Catch the first show Tuesday night, Aug. 2, as the full moon rises in the southeast. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Two supermoons in August mean double the stargazing fun

The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair…

FILE - A commercial airliner flies Northwest across Lake Michigan in front of the “Full Buck” supermoon, the first of four supermoons in 2023, July 3, 2023, in Chicago. The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons. Catch the first show Tuesday night, Aug. 2, as the full moon rises in the southeast. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Aspartame was classified as a possible carcinogen to humans, according to the assessments released July 14. (PepsiCo via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

Aspartame findings shouldn’t change aspartame consumption: B.C. experts

Artificial sweetener classified as possible carcinogen, SFU says consumption levels must be extreme

Aspartame was classified as a possible carcinogen to humans, according to the assessments released July 14. (PepsiCo via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
An independent scientific adviser has resigned from a Health Canada committee on pesticide management, citing a lack of transparency and scientific oversight. A giant Canadian flag hangs on the side of a government office building in downtown Ottawa, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

‘False sense of security’: B.C. scientist quits as national pesticide watchdog

Pesticide regulation ‘obsolete,’ protects industry, scientific adviser says in resignation

An independent scientific adviser has resigned from a Health Canada committee on pesticide management, citing a lack of transparency and scientific oversight. A giant Canadian flag hangs on the side of a government office building in downtown Ottawa, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Dr. Keith Yeates, a neuropsychologist at the University of Calgary, poses in this undated handout photo. Yeates has a study published in the online medical journal Pediatrics that says kids who suffer concussions don’t suffer a drop in IQ. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - University of Calgary, Riley Brandt

Canadian study says concussions don’t affect kids’ intelligence

University of Calgary-led research finds there doesn’t appear to be an alteration in a kid’s IQ

Dr. Keith Yeates, a neuropsychologist at the University of Calgary, poses in this undated handout photo. Yeates has a study published in the online medical journal Pediatrics that says kids who suffer concussions don’t suffer a drop in IQ. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - University of Calgary, Riley Brandt
A customer walks down a grocery store’s drinks aisle in Newcastle, Ont. on Thursday July 13, 2023. The Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada are reviewing the World Health Organization’s classification of aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

Stay within aspartame limits, cancer society says in wake of WHO findings

Canadian advice offered after World Health Organization reports sweetener ‘possibly carcinogenic’

A customer walks down a grocery store’s drinks aisle in Newcastle, Ont. on Thursday July 13, 2023. The Canadian Cancer Society and Health Canada are reviewing the World Health Organization’s classification of aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic.” THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives
FILE- Indians cheer as they watch the on screen the lift off of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle (GSLV) MkIII carrying Chandrayaan-2 in Mumbai, India, Monday, July 22, 2019. Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, the word for “moon craft” in Sanskrit, will blaze its way to the far side of the moon on Friday, July 14, 2023, a follow-up mission to its failed effort nearly four years ago to achieve a soft landing and roving on the lunar surface. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

Crowds cheer as India launches a lander and rover to explore the moon’s south pole

An Indian spacecraft blazed its way toward the far side of the…

FILE- Indians cheer as they watch the on screen the lift off of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle (GSLV) MkIII carrying Chandrayaan-2 in Mumbai, India, Monday, July 22, 2019. Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, the word for “moon craft” in Sanskrit, will blaze its way to the far side of the moon on Friday, July 14, 2023, a follow-up mission to its failed effort nearly four years ago to achieve a soft landing and roving on the lunar surface. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)
The waters of Crawford Lake in Milton, Ont., on Friday, July 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Canadian lake picked as the cradle of the Golden Spike, dawn of a new epoch

Geologists say Ontario’s Crawford Lake best illustrates case to declare a new age geological epoch

The waters of Crawford Lake in Milton, Ont., on Friday, July 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston
Richard Gordon tests out the virtual reality environment on Qikiqtaruk, Y.T., in an undated handout photo. The VR project Qikiqtaruk: Arctic at Risk is transporting people to Yukon’s northernmost point without them ever having to leave home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Isla Myers-Smith

‘Seeing is believing’: VR project immerses viewers in Yukon climate change

‘Qikiqtaruk: Arctic at Risk’ transports people to the frontlines of far north environmental change

Richard Gordon tests out the virtual reality environment on Qikiqtaruk, Y.T., in an undated handout photo. The VR project Qikiqtaruk: Arctic at Risk is transporting people to Yukon’s northernmost point without them ever having to leave home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Isla Myers-Smith