A new discovery about the slime ejected by velvet worms could revolutionize sustainable material design, according to a study by McGill University researchers. Their findings outline how a naturally occurring protein structure, conserved across species from Australia, Singapore and Barbados over nearly 400 million years of evolution, enables the slime’s transformation from liquid to fibre and back again. It’s a discovery that could inspire next-generation recyclable bioplastics.
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Published on: 19 Mar 2025
A new method of tracking the dietary habits and contaminant exposure of animals in Arctic marine ecosystems is providing critical insights as climate change reshapes the region's food web.
Published on: 17 Mar 2025
A new study from McGill University researchers suggests the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to rapidly analyze vast amounts of biodiversity data could revolutionize conservation efforts by enabling scientists and policymakers to make better-informed decisions.
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Published on: 12 Mar 2025
For people with a certain sleep disorder, a simple blood test could help predict the development of dementia years before symptoms appear, a new study indicates.
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Published on: 11 Mar 2025
Electronic devices rely on materials whose electrical properties change with temperature, making them less stable in extreme conditions. A discovery by McGill University researchers that challenges conventional wisdom in physics suggests that bismuth, a metal, could serve as the foundation for highly stable electronic components.
The researchers observed a mysterious electrical effect in ultra-thin bismuth that remains unchanged across a wide temperature range, from near absolute zero (-273°C) to room temperature.
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Published on: 10 Mar 2025
A McGill-led team of researchers has gained insight into how parents of colour in the United States approach discussions with their children aimed at teaching them the skills they need to survive and thrive in a racially unequal society.
A key finding of the recent paper in Developmental Psychology is that parents are especially in need of information, support and guidance when it comes to preparing their children to face discrimination and bias.
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Published on: 26 Feb 2025
Mild, proactive exposure to environmental stress can help biological communities resist severe disturbances and maintain genetic diversity, a recent study from McGill University has found.
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Published on: 19 Feb 2025
Two seemingly opposite spiritual practices – Buddhist jhāna meditation and the Christian practice of speaking in tongues – have more in common than previously thought, a new study suggests.
While one is quiet and deeply focused, and the other emotionally charged and expressive, both appear to harness the same cognitive feedback loop to create profound states of joy and surrender.
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Published on: 19 Feb 2025
A component found in all fungi may provide a shield against flu-related lung damage, according to a new study.
A team of scientists led by Maziar Divangahi, a Professor in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, demonstrated that beta-glucan, administered to mice before their exposure to influenza, can reduce lung damage, improve lung function and lower the risk of illness and death.
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Published on: 17 Feb 2025
A newly discovered line of communication between body muscle and the pituitary gland may play an unexpected role in female fertility, according to a new study.
McGill University researchers found that a protein produced in the muscles helps manage the release of a hormone made in the pea-sized gland attached to the base of the brain.
The findings, published in Science, could lead to new treatment options for infertility, the researchers said.
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Published on: 5 Feb 2025
Music has the best chance of providing pain relief when it is played at our natural rhythm, a McGill University research team has discovered.
This suggests it may be possible to reduce a patient’s level of pain by using technology to take a piece of music someone likes and adjust the tempo to match their internal rhythm, the researchers said.
The discovery was the subject of a paper published this week in Pain, the top journal in the field of pain medicine and research.
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Published on: 3 Feb 2025
A McGill University researcher has discovered that Guiengola, a 15th century Zapotec site in southern Oaxaca, Mexico, which had been thought to be simply a fortress where soldiers were garrisoned, was in fact a sprawling, fortified city. It covered 360 hectares, with over 1,100 buildings, four kilometres of walls, a network of internal roads and a clearly organized urban layout with temples and communal spaces such as ballcourts, and the elites and commoners lived in separate neighbourhoods.
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Published on: 29 Jan 2025
The Arctic’s “Last Ice Area” (LIA) — a vital habitat for ice-dependent species — might disappear within a decade after the central Arctic Ocean becomes ice-free in summer, which is expected to occur sometime around mid-century, a new study by McGill University researchers using a high-resolution model has found.
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Published on: 27 Jan 2025
A brain rhythm working in tandem with the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle may explain why bipolar patients alternate between mania and depression, according to new research.
The McGill University-led study published in Science Advances marks a breakthrough in understanding what drives shifts between the two states, something that, according to lead author Kai-Florian Storch, is considered the “holy grail” of bipolar-disorder research.
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Published on: 27 Jan 2025
Astronomers studying the origins of enigmatic fast radio bursts (FRBs) have made a groundbreaking discovery that could transform our understanding of the universe’s most powerful and mysterious signals. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) collaboration has pinpointed the location on the sky of a repeating FRB, known as FRB 20240209A, outside a dead galaxy, a finding unprecedented in FRB science. The researchers believe the FRB may have originated in a cluster of old, dead stars orbiting the dead galaxy.
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Published on: 21 Jan 2025
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