A new mapping method could help Montreal and other cities keep more institutional and commercial food waste out of the dump

Businesses and institutions in just six per cent of Montreal's mapped area account for about 100,000 tonnes of food waste sent to landfill each year – half of the total amount from non-household sources in the city as a whole, McGill University researchers found. Food service and retail businesses were found to be the biggest contributors.

Giant, prehistoric rodent fossils discovered in southern Thailand

An international team of paleontologists, including researchers from McGill University, has discovered “remarkably large” rodent fossils in the pit of a mine in southern Thailand.

For members of sexual and gender minorities, trauma therapies work best when adapted to their realities, study suggests

When therapies for psychological trauma are adapted for sexual and gender minorities and delivered by therapists with high levels of sensitivity to their experiences, outcomes are better, according to a scoping review by McGill University researchers. In particular, there are fewer post-traumatic stress symptoms such as nightmares and intrusive thoughts, as well as risk-taking behaviours (e.g., self-harm, drug use), the researchers said.

The brain’s ‘dimmer switch’ could help explain why attention drifts

McGill researchers have discovered that serotonin, a brain chemical best known for its role in mood and mental health, also helps regulate attention.

A putty-like electrode could improve vocal rehabilitation

A team of McGill University researchers has developed a putty-like electrode that moulds to the skin. It could improve treatment and monitoring of voice disorders and upper airway diseases. In a proof-of-concept study, the sensor matched a standard clinical electrode for noise and stability while recording activity from small neck muscles.

McGill researchers develop a biocomputer that runs on bacteria

A McGill-led research team has developed a bacteria-based biocomputer that can solve large, complex problems using a small fraction of the memory and resources required by standard (“solid-state”) computers. Possible applications include encryption, molecular biology and artificial intelligence (AI), the researchers said. 

Khalifa Foundation and McGill University Announce US$12.8 Million Partnership to Advance Education and Human Capacity Development

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 27 October 2026

Khalifa Foundation has announced a five-year, US$12.8 million partnership with Canada's McGill University to strengthen education and human capacity development internationally.

'Heart-in-a-dish' paves way for personalized treatment for heart failure

McGill researchers have developed a new way to study why the same heart-failure treatment can help some patients recover while others continue to get worse.

Combining “heart-in-a-dish” technology with advanced microscopy, the approach makes it possible to identify differences between patients that would probably be missed using conventional methods.

Fossils reveal a previously unknown pattern of evolutionary transition

A remarkably diverse fossil ecosystem in central Colombia that preserves an unusual overlap between survivors of older Jurassic groups and newer Cretaceous lineages has led researchers at McGill University and the Centro de Investigaciones Paleontológicas (CIP) to recognize a new pattern of large-scale evolutionary transition, one that does not include mass extinctions.  

McGill researchers produce detailed maps of global threats to freshwater biodiversity

Farming, dams and agricultural runoff are the biggest threats to freshwater biodiversity globally, with Europe and Northwest Africa the hardest-hit regions, McGill researchers have found.  

Applying a mapping methodology previously used to study terrestrial species, the researchers identified where freshwater species are under threat, and which human activity seems to be responsible.  

Birds and humans share fundamental song and speech patterns, McGill study finds

McGill University researchers have identified "universal" vocal patterns across hundreds of bird species and found that many of the same patterns also appear in human song and speech from cultures around the world. The patterns include small pitch intervals, regular and predictable rhythms, and phrase-final elongation, in which the last utterance in a phrase tends to be longer than the others.

A new Survey of Canadian English shows what has changed in 50 years

Over the past 50 years, Canadian English has become more uniform across regions and has adopted many American terms and pronunciations, while the use of Canadian spellings has gained in popularity.

These are the key results of a large-scale study by McGill researchers to update the Survey of Canadian English, initially done in 1972.

New treatment approach shows promise in reducing prostate cancer spread

Adding darolutamide to standard treatment for aggressive prostate cancer reduced the risk of the disease spreading in an international Phase 3 trial.

Several schizophrenia symptoms linked to a single brain signal

A single brain signal may help explain a range of seemingly unrelated schizophrenia symptoms, a new study has found.

Schizophrenia is often described as a list of separate problems. People may perceive the world differently, act on their surroundings differently, or speak in ways that are hard to follow.

Study finds air quality warnings had only a modest impact on Montrealers’ movements

When Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) urged Montrealers to limit outdoor activity during Canada’s worst wildfire smoke episodes, the city’s travel patterns shifted – but far less than public health officials might have hoped, according to a new McGill University study.