Exoplanet is observed shedding its atmosphere in real time
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a team led by McGill researcher Vigneshwaran Krishnamurthy has observed a giant cloud of helium gas evaporating from a distant giant exoplanet called WASP-107b.
Scientists decode the full range of oat genomes, opening the door to more nutritious, climate-smart crops
Researchers have cracked one of agriculture’s most complicated genomes, revealing long-hidden DNA rearrangements that could help scientists breed oats that are more resilient, nutritious and sustainable.
McGill researchers develop stretchable, biodegradable battery using eco-friendly acids
Researchers with McGill’s Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design have developed a stretchable, eco-friendly battery suitable for use in wearable and implantable devices. The battery, which uses citric or lactic acid and gelatin to achieve flexibility and performance without relying on toxic materials, stands to reduce electronic waste.
Bringing environmental policymakers together to focus on the future sparks empathy for nature and later generations, McGill study finds
When environmental policymakers are invited to imagine the future together, they don’t just think differently, they feel differently, too.
New therapeutic strategies show promise against a hard-to-treat prostate cancer
A new study has uncovered promising therapeutic strategies against one of the deadliest forms of prostate cancer.
McGill University researchers at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute (GCI) identified a mechanism driving neuroendocrine prostate cancer, a rare and highly aggressive subtype for which there currently are no effective treatment options.
What the history of the printing press can teach us about AI regulation
A study on the legal history of printing press regulation in early modern England yields insights relevant to contemporary debates on the regulation of emerging technologies like AI and virtual reality, a McGill researcher says.
COP 30: Quebec universities more united than ever for the climate
As the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) is currently being held in Belém, Brazil, eighteen Quebec universities are reaffirming the climate emergency and the need to combine their efforts and expertise to meet this global challenge. This mobilization is part of a movement of enhanced cooperation, where higher education institutions play a central role in the transition to a resilient, equitable and low-carbon society.
Heavy cannabis use during pregnancy linked to disruption in brain growth
McGill University researchers at the Douglas Research Centre have found evidence that heavy cannabis use during pregnancy can cause delays in brain development in the fetus that persist into adulthood.
Using advanced MRI techniques, the team tracked the effects of prenatal cannabis exposure in mice across key developmental stages.
McGill study shows low-grade heat from renewable sources could be used to desalinate water
A McGill University-led research team has demonstrated the feasibility of a sustainable and cost-effective way to desalinate seawater. The method – thermally driven reverse osmosis (TDRO) – uses a piston-based system powered by low-grade heat from solar thermal, geothermal heat and other sources of renewable energy to produce fresh water.
Lesser-known eating disorder just as severe as anorexia and bulimia, study finds
A diagnosis often viewed as less serious than anorexia and bulimia – and the most common eating disorder worldwide – can cause just as much harm, a new study has found.
McGill researchers track boulders’ influence on snow melt, watersheds using unique combination of methods
Thanks to their use of a unique methodology, a McGill-led research team has obtained new insights into how boulders affect snow melt in mountainous northern environments, with implications for local water resources.
The team found that snow near boulders melts faster, not only because rocks radiate heat, but also due to subtle processes that reshape the snow’s surface. This information will help researchers understand how small-scale processes affect downstream water resources.
McGill-led team maps ‘weather’ on a nearby brown dwarf in unprecedented detail
Researchers at McGill University and collaborating institutions have mapped the atmospheric features of a planetary-mass brown dwarf, a type of space object that is neither a star nor a planet, existing in a category in-between. This particular brown dwarf’s mass, however, is just at the threshold between being a Jupiter-like planet and a brown dwarf. It has thus also been called a free-floating, or rogue, planet, not bound to a star.
Climate change could result in contaminant spread in the High Arctic, McGill study finds
Warming temperatures and increased precipitation in the Canadian High Arctic are mobilizing new pathways for subsurface contaminants to spread from more than 2,500 contaminated sites associated with industrial and military sites across the region.
McGill’s handwritten copies of In Flanders Fields honoured as documentary heritage of outstanding value
Four handwritten copies of John McCrae's immortal poem In Flanders Fields, held at McGill University’s Osler Library of the History of Medicine, were inscribed this month on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s (CCUNESCO) Canada Memory of the World Register. The program, launched by UNESCO in 1992, recognizes documentary heritage of outstanding universal value and promotes its preservation and accessibility.
Ancient mammoth tooth offers clues about Ice Age life in northeastern Canada
A worn-down mammoth tooth discovered nearly 150 years ago on an island in Nunavut offers new insights into where and how the Ice Age giants lived and died.