Obama has long work list to tackle when he returns
It's hardly a secret that Barack Obama, like every president no doubt, muses about his ultimate legacy and spot in the presidential pantheon. He approaches his second term confronting tough and shifting challenges that will play big roles in shaping the rest of his presidency and his eventual place in history… "Americans are yearning for leadership," said Gil Troy, a presidential scholar at McGill University.
Victorian zoological map redrawn
With a new planet-wide analysis of vertebrate life, an international team has used 21st century science to update an iconic 1876 map of Earth’s zoological regions. By incorporating data on 21,037 species of mammals, birds and amphibians, Jean-Philippe Lessard, now at McGill University in Montreal, and his colleagues have revised a zoological map created by Alfred Russel Wallace, an oft-overlooked cofounder of the theory of evolution.
McGill professor up for three Grammy Awards
The Schulich School of Music has talented graduates and talented professors. Richard King is up for his 10, 11 and 12th Grammy Award. Christine Long reports.
Read more at CTV News
Neuroscience explains why wall street needs more women
(Desautels' Karl Moore): "Hormones can affect traders’ views. Cambridge’s John Coates believes that the financial crisis was created, to some degree, by people’s body chemistry. Would having more women on Wall Street and in the City help? Let’s listen to John…"
Read more at Forbes
Our time to lead/ the DNA dilemma
n search of genomic incentives Medical innovation involves a peculiar mix of seemingly contradictory motivations. We need to strike the right balance, says Jonathan Kimmelman.
Warning issued over attention-deficit drugs
Doctors should think twice about prescribing drugs like Ritalin and Adderall used to treat attention deficit disorder to healthy individuals seeking to boost their brain power, says an article in this weeks edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The authors say prescription stimulants are used by some people for cognitive enhancement in the absence of any medical need.
TB cattle vaccine takes 'small step forward'
Scientists have announced a small but important step in the development of an effective cattle vaccine to prevent bovine tuberculosis. They have identified a "biomarker" using sophisticated molecular technology that allows them to predict vaccine efficacy.
China the subtle superpower
Tom Velk and Olivia Gong say while China shows all the usual traits of a conventional great power, the West needs to accept that the way it wields its influence is also very different. [Tom Velk is a professor of economics and director of the North American Studies program at McGill University. Olivia Gong is a finance student and research assistant at McGill].
Women at business school - Nancy Adler
The artist and professor advises women to look for ways in which being female is an advantage in their industry.
Read more at Financial Times
Bloodsuckers: The storied medical history of leeches
(Chemistry professor Joe Schwarcz): What did the jockey who never lost a race whisper into the horse's ear? Roses are red violets are blue Horses that lose are made into glue! OK, so it's a groaner. But until the advent of polyvinyl acetate (PVA) and other synthetic glues in the 20th century, the destiny of aging horses was indeed the glue factory. The collagen extracted from their hides, connective tissues and hoofs made for an ideal wood adhesive.
Vitamin D linked to cancer prevention
A growing body of evidence suggests that the sunshine vitamin can do more than increase bone strength, leading many researchers to pop mega doses of vitamin D in an attempt to ward off a host of conditions, including various cancers, diabetes, heart and autoimmune disease. The more of the nutrient that is in the bloodstream, the better the health outcomes, surveys have found, although not everyone is convinced of the health benefits of higher-dose vitamin D supplements.
McGill receiver wins CIS rookie of the year
McGill wide receiver Shaquille Johnson received the Peter Gorman Trophy, emblematic of the rookie-of-the-year award in CIS football, during the CFL Player Awards ceremony in Toronto Thursday night. Johnson, a 19-year-old management freshman from Brampton, Ont., is only the second McGill player to win the award.
Change and Continuity: Mintzberg and Kotter agree
(Desautels' Karl Moore): “It seems every Business School professor starts by saying how much the world has changed” – that was Henry Mintzberg’s opening to a session on change, not unsurprisingly Henry takes a different tack. He points out that continuity is as important as change. We are co-teaching strategy to a group of Chinese executives today, and I had to sheepishly admit I had done just that earlier in the day!
Rock of Ageism
When longevity is a plus in the arenas of jazz, blues and country, do aging rockers face scorn? When Dave Brubeck last made one of his semi-regular appearances at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2011, he was 90. No one jokingly wondered aloud how they let him out of the nursing home. B.B. King, 87, played two nights at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier in May. No cartoons were published of his fans making their way to the shows with walkers.
Bringing the "Voice of God" to TV audio
The addition of speaker channels above the familiar 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound array can recreate an exceptionally lifelike ambient soundfield, and enables much more accurate localization of aerial objects, such as helicopters. Although surround sound has taken an evolutionary step over the past decade by adding a “height” component to the traditional horizontal configuration of loudspeakers, more recent advances in 3D video have led to the emergence of a variety of 3D sound schemes.
