CBC | This prof is turning Homer's Iliad into a weekly, serialized 1-person bar show
Lynn Kozak is spending their sabbatical from McGill University in a bar on Montreal's Park Avenue, starring in a solo-series called Happy Hour Homer. As it happens (CBC)
WP | The silent microbiome crisis
Co-authored by Tobias Rees, Social Studies of Medicine at McGill University: It is a crisis some scientists believe has similar proportions to climate change, but it gets much less coverage: Microbes are disappearing from our bodies. The Washington Post
LANCET | Cindy Blackstock: Advocate for First Nations children
She has been called “Canada's Martin Luther King”, the “conscience of the nation”, and a “national hero”, but Cindy Blackstock bristles at the accolades. “The only reason my job exists is because racism against First Nations children has been used as a cost-saving measure.
CNN | Children playing the guitar to heal
Scientific research supports theories that music is healing. "The studies show that music can create profound neurochemical and biological changes, tangible, demonstrable ones," said psychologist Daniel Levitin, a professor emeritus at McGill University in Montreal, who specializes in neuroscience and music. CNN
LA PRESSE | Le bilinguisme aurait des effets bénéfiques pour les autistes
« Comme les enfants autistes ont souvent un retard de langage, les professionnels pensaient que le bilinguisme était contre-indiqué parce qu'il compliquerait l'acquisition du langage », explique Aparna Nadig, chercheuse à l'Université McGill, qui est l'auteure principale de l'étude publiée dans la revue Child Development. « Nous voulions vérifier cela, vu que chez les enfants ne souffrant pas d'autisme, le bilinguisme ne nuit pas à l'apprentissage de la langue. »
SALON | U.S. gun violence is a symptom of a long historical problem
(Op-ed by J.M. Opal, Associate Professor of History, McGill University) “There is no reason to think that America’s leaders will respond any differently to the latest mass shooting.” Salon | The Conversation
CTV | The search for life on Mars begins at McGill's Macdonald Campus
“There are some indications that Mars, many billions of years ago, was much warmer – and much wetter,” explained Lyle White, a McGill professor. “Where it would have been an environment that we can envision it would have hosted life as we know on Earth.” CTV News
Daoust named MVP
The IIHF announced its 2018 Olympic media all-star team, as well as its Most Valuable Player (MVP) and tournament directorate awards.
Canada's Melodie Daoust [BEd'17] was voted tournament MVP. The 26-year-old forward led Canada with three goals and four assists.
Source: INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION
ATLAS OBSCURA | Why drones are counting thousands of decoy ducks
Conducting a bird census by foot can also be disruptive, David Bird, an emeritus professor of wildlife biology at McGill University, told Popular Science. “While you’re doing that, you’re disturbing the hell out of the birds,” Bird said. Atlas Obscura
ALS NEWS TODAY | Patient advocacy groups worldwide plan events to mark Rare Disease Day, Feb. 28
Outside the U.S., McGill University in Montreal, Canada, will host its Rare Disease Day 2018 event, at which half a dozen speakers from the rare disease community will give talks on research, treatment, and political advocacy. The five-hour conference is sponsored by the university’s Rare Disease Interest Group (rareDIG). ALS News Today
STAT | New study raises questions about early-stage cancer therapies for children
At this early stage, the potential for harm is real while the benefits are only surrogate measures, said Kimmelman, an associate professor of biomedical ethics at McGill University. One such measure at Phase 1 might be tumor shrinkage, which does not necessarily translate into what people really care about: survival. Stat News
ATLANTIC | Donald Trump's language is reshaping American politics
Republicans—and some liberals—downplay the significance of the president’s outbursts. But his words are quietly radicalizing both the left and right, with untold consequences for the future of policy. [...] But Trump’s words are his substance. “Politics is persuasion as well as coercion,” the political scientist Jacob Levy wrote last week, rightly arguing that Trump has “changed what being a Republican means.”
LA PRESSE + | Ces étudiants qui créent des entreprises
L’entrepreneuriat sur les campus est en effervescence aux États-Unis comme au Canada. Montréal n’échappe pas à la frénésie. Notre journaliste André Dubuc a fait la tournée des universités. Voici ce qu’il a vu et entendu. La Presse +
CTV | Neuroscience funding to provide common platform for Canadian researchers
Ottawa has announced a new fund to connect all Canadian brain scientists. Fifteen universities across the country doing research into the hundreds of different types of brain diseases and disorders will join the $10 million platform. The Brain Canada Foundation said the federal funding will allow the creation of the Canadian Open Neuroscience Platform, which will be based at Montreal's Neurological Hospital. [...] Dr.
CBC | Reclaiming the Indigenous roots of lacrosse
Allan Downey, an assistant professor of history at McGill University, says lacrosse touches all aspects of life in many Indigenous cultures and helps explain everything from how the world came to be to self-identity. Tapestry (CBC)
