Latest University of Toronto Stories
As the Earth's climate warms, a melting ice sheet produces a distinct and highly non-uniform pattern of sea-level change, with sea level falling close to the melting ice sheet and rising progressively farther away. The pattern for each ice sheet is unique and is known as its sea level fingerprint. Now, a group of geophysicists from the University of Toronto, Harvard and Rutgers Universities have found a way to identify the sea level fingerprint left by a particular ice sheet, and possibly...
Surprise Announcement of One Million Donation From the Jain Family buoyed fundraising at the Comedy Gala that drew over 1500 guests TORONTO, April 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - The bar for charity galas was raised on Thursday, April 12 as Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH)--one of North America's leading community teaching hospitals--tapped Toronto's funny bone for its first annual "Laughter is the Best Medicine" Comedy Gala, raising three million dollars. Emmy and Golden Globe award...
Governments of Canada and Ontario team with IBM, U of T, Western University in research initiative that will help solve pressing challenges in cities, water, energy, and healthcare TORONTO, April 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - The Governments of Canada and Ontario, with IBM (NYSE: IBM) and a consortium of seven universities led by the University of Toronto and Western University today announced they are collaborating to establish a new Ontario-based $210 million dollar research and...
Post-doctoral researcher David Fluri and Professor Peter Zandstra at the University of Toronto's Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) have developed a unique new technique for growing stem cells that may make possible cost-effective, large-scale stem cell manufacturing and research. Although stem cells are widely used for the testing of new drugs, researchers have always faced difficulties manufacturing enough viable cells from a culture. Typically, stem cells are...
Proceeds from the Luncheon to Benefit the Women's Guild Lung Institute at Cedars-Sinai LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Sarah Brown, author and wife of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will be honored by Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai at their annual luncheon on Thursday, April 12th at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The global leader will be presented with the "Woman of the 21st Century" award for her dedication and commitment to women's health and well-being....
A research team led by University of Toronto Professor Hoi-Kwong Lo has found a new quantum encryption method to foil even the most sophisticated hackers. The discovery is outlined in the latest issue of Physical Review Letters. Quantum cryptography is, in principle, a foolproof way to prevent hacking. It ensures that any attempt by an eavesdropper to read encoded communication data will lead to disturbances that can be detected by the legitimate users. Therefore, quantum cryptography...
Additional study identifies 224 new genetic interactors for key protein in Candida albicans Scientists at the University of Toronto have found a molecular mechanism that plays a key role in the transition of Candida albicans yeast into disease-causing fungus—one of the leading causes of hospital-acquired infection. The finding highlights the importance of heat in fungal growth, and provides a new target for drug therapies to counter Candida albicans infection. Candida albicans is a...
A team from the University of Toronto in Abydos, Egypt have discovered a wooden statue of a king, a monumental building, a private offering chapel, and more than 80 mummified animals during a 2011 expedition. The artifacts they’ve discovered provide details into the rituals performed by ancient egyptians to the gods. Professor Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner with the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations led the University of Toronto team. She presented the team’s findings at a...
People often wonder if computers make children smarter. Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, are asking the reverse question: Can children make computers smarter? And the answer appears to be ‘yes.’ UC Berkeley researchers are tapping the cognitive smarts of babies, toddlers and preschoolers to program computers to think more like humans. If replicated in machines, the computational models based on baby brainpower could give a major boost to artificial intelligence,...
A wooden statue of a king, a private offering chapel, a monumental building and remains of over 80 animal mummies found by a University of Toronto-led team in Abydos, Egypt reveal intriguing information about ritual activity associated with the great gods. Professor Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations presented her team's findings at a recent meeting of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities. The wooden statue is one of very few...
