Until today, a map from 1876 has been the backbone for our understanding of global biodiversity. Thanks to advances in modern technology and data on more than 20,000 species, scientists have now produced a next-generation map depicting the organization of life on Earth. Published online in Science Express, the new map provides fundamental information regarding the diversity of life on our planet and is of major significance for future biodiversity research.
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Published on: 20 Dec 2012
Seoul and Montreal may be separated by more than 10,000 kilometers, but thanks to the Korea Foundation, that distance will now seem shorter. McGill University’s Faculty of Arts has received a $1-million gift from the Foundation to create a new Professorship in Korean Studies, which will promote teaching, research collaborations and scholarship related to this fast-developing nation.
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Published on: 18 Dec 2012
McGill University, in association with Lawrence S. Bloomberg and Manulife Financial, is pleased to announce that Dr. James Sallis, Distinguished Professor of Family & Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, is the winner of the 2012 Bloomberg Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health.
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Published on: 17 Dec 2012
Results from recent studies show a growing number of high school students reportedly receive one or more lottery tickets or scratch cards as gifts. This, coupled with the increasing concern about adolescent problem gambling, has prompted the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors at McGill University, the National Council on Problem Gambling, along with dozens of other lottery corporations around the globe, to collaborate again this holiday season to increase public awareness about the impact of giving lottery products as gifts to minors.
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Published on: 11 Dec 2012
An analysis of sulfide ore deposits from one of the world’s richest base-metal mines confirms that oxygen levels were extremely low on Earth 2.7 billion years ago, but also shows that microbes were actively feeding on sulfate in the ocean and influencing seawater chemistry during that geological time period.
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Published on: 10 Dec 2012
Bulk solvents, widely used in the chemical industry, pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. As a result, there is growing interest in avoiding their use by relying on “mechanochemistry” – an energy-efficient alternative that uses high-frequency milling to drive reactions. Because milling involves the intense impact of steel balls in rapidly moving jars, however, the underlying chemistry is difficult to observe.
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Published on: 3 Dec 2012
Wherever he goes, Baptiste Rodrigues carries with him the memory of his grandparents. In his violin case, he keeps the Legion of Honour awarded to his grandfather, a hero of the Second World War, and a photo of his grandmother, whom he lived with as a teenager.
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Published on: 30 Nov 2012
A fascinating account of what is described as the most destructive civil war in the modern world has captured the richest prize for historical literature.
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Published on: 30 Nov 2012
A team of researchers at McGill University have discovered a molecular basis for the potential cancer preventive effects of vitamin D. The team, led by McGill professors John White and David Goltzman, of the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Physiology, discovered that the active form of vitamin D acts by several mechanisms to inhibit both the production and function of the protein cMYC. cMYC drives cell division and is active at elevated levels in more than half of all cancers. Their results are published in the latest edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Published on: 22 Nov 2012
Researchers from McGill University and the University of Montreal have identified a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), which can bolster new therapeutic avenues. Regulation of protein synthesis, also termed mRNA translation, is the process by which cells manufacture proteins. This mechanism is involved in all aspects of cell and organism function. A new study in mice has found that abnormally high synthesis of a group of neuronal proteins called neuroligins results in symptoms similar to those diagnosed in ASD. The study also reveals that autism-like behaviors can be rectified in adult mice with compounds inhibiting protein synthesis, or with gene-therapy targeting neuroligins. Their results are published in the journal Nature.
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Published on: 21 Nov 2012
Hydrogen, the lightest element, can easily dissolve and migrate within metals to make these otherwise ductile materials brittle and substantially more prone to failures.
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Published on: 19 Nov 2012
Under these agreements, the CSSS de Gatineau joins in the implementation and execution of teaching and research development programs in the region.
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Published on: 13 Nov 2012
How do embryos measure time?
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Published on: 13 Nov 2012
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