Latest Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Stories
NASA The Tomatosphere Project has won the 2013 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) Award for Science Promotion, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the promotion of science. Tomatosphere was selected for stimulating and inspiring students to see the relevance of science not only in the classroom, but also in -- and out of -- this world. Since the project began in 2001, over 2 million Canadian students have taken part in Tomatosphere by growing...
Patients will regain a normal spinal column thanks to the Chair in Spinal Biomechanics, which has been renewed to pave the way for the future of surgery MONTREAL, March 26, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Caroline Villeneuve and Jordan Lemay are among the 2% to 3% of young Quebecers who have idiopathic scoliosis, a three-dimensional deformity of the spine that predominantly affects young girls, although the reason why is still not clearly understood. With the renewal of the NSERC/Medtronic...
Networks of Centres of Excellence recognizes strength of partnership between MI and its 16 member institutions TORONTO, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ - How do you make sure the brilliant ideas emerging from Toronto's academic research community get the best possible chance to succeed? MaRS Innovation (MI), created in 2008, bridges the chasm between these early-stage technologies and successful start-up companies and licensable technologies. By offering early-stage funding in...
Editors: links to video, a still image and the research paper appear below. HAMILTON, ON, April 30, 2012 /CNW/ - Urban beach closures due to coliform outbreaks have become disturbing signs of summer, yet water-testing technology has never been fast enough to keep up with changing conditions, nor accessible enough to check all waters. Now, Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network funded researchers at McMaster University have developed a rapid testing method using a simple paper strip...
New research findings highlight how deposits of animal droppings are scientifically important for determining the impact of environmental change on threatened species. Analysis of 50 years' bird droppings inside a large decommissioned chimney on Queen's campus, provided evidence that DDT and bird diet may have played a role, in a long-term decline for populations of insect-eating birds in North America. The chimney had been a roosting spot for chimney swifts. "Certainly there are many...
Scientists from Queen's and Carleton universities head a national multidisciplinary research team that has uncovered startling new evidence of the destructive impact of global climate change on North America's largest Arctic delta."One of the most ominous threats of global warming today is from rising sea levels, which can cause marine waters to inundate the land," says the team's co-leader, Queen's graduate student Joshua Thienpont. "The threat is especially acute in polar...
Queen's-led study links metal contamination of Arctic ponds to seabirds' dietsA collaborative research team led by Queen's University biologists has found that potent metals like mercury and lead, ingested by Arctic seabirds feeding in the ocean, end up in the sediment of polar ponds."Birds feeding on different diets will funnel different 'cocktails' of metal contaminants from the ocean back to terrestrial ecosystems, which can then affect other living organisms," says lead author...
Canadian leadership in ocean sciences will be front and center at this week's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Diego.On Friday, February 19, Dalhousie University's Ron O'Dor will talk about the ambitious plans for the international Ocean Tracking Network (www.oceantrackingnetwork.org) to which Canada has committed $45 million, including up to $10 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).The researcher...
Water striders, the familiar semi-aquatic bugs gliding across the lake at the cottage, have a novel body form that allows them to walk on water. This was not always the case. Achieving the gliding ability required the evolution of a unique arrangement of the legs, with the mid-legs greatly elongated. Scientists at the University of Toronto's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology have discovered the gene behind this evolutionary change.Called the Hox gene, Ultrabithorax, is...
That's one conclusion from a new study that looked at how virulence evolves in parasites. The research examined whether parasites evolve to be more or less aggressive depending on whether they are closely connected to their hosts or scattered among more isolated clusters of hosts.The research was led by Geoff Wild, an NSERC-funded mathematician at the University of Western Ontario, with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh. Their paper will be published on Nature's Web site on May...
