Surprising new evidence on happiness and wealth
Global polls typically show that people in industrialized countries where incomes are relatively high report greater levels of satisfaction with life than those in low-income countries.
But now the first large-scale survey to look at happiness in small, non-industrialized communities living close to nature paints quite a different picture.
Looking at happiness in non-industrialized settings
Are environmental toxins putting future generations at risk?
In a study that signals potential reproductive and health complications in humans, now and for future generations, researchers from McGill University, the University of Pretoria, Université Laval, Aarhus University, and the University of Copenhagen, have concluded that fathers exposed to environmental toxins, notably DDT, may produce sperm with health consequences for their children.
‘LOVE’ is all you need: How play can help break the cycle of violence
In Canada, only 1 in 5 children who need mental health services receive them. Clinical and psychiatric programs, while effective, can involve long wait times and prohibitive costs. A new study involving McGill University researchers points to a solution to fill the gap: a low-cost, community-based program that has seen inspiring results.
McGill study finds that some Canadians may still be at risk of Genetic Discrimination despite new federal law
As Canadians share more and more genetic data with service providers such as insurance companies or databases like Ancestry.com, the potential for discrimination based on this data is growing. Known as Genetic Discrimination (GD), this practice is broadly defined as the differential treatment of an individual compared to the rest of the population based on actual or presumed genetic information.
A neurological disease paradigm shift
Researchers propose a new model for classifying Parkinson’s
One of the things that makes developing effective treatments for Parkinson’s disease so challenging is its complexity. While some forms are caused by genetics, others have environmental factors, and patients can show a wide range of symptoms of varying severity. Diagnosis of Parkinson’s is also currently made very late, after the disease may have been in the brain for a decade or more.
AI meets citizen science to unlock the nature of storytelling
A new project led by McGill University researchers seeks to understand one of humanity’s oldest practices and most powerful tools—storytelling. From ancient oral traditions to modern-day literature and digital narratives, storytelling is an essential part of the lived experience that is not yet fully understood.
What can today's architects learn from a lost ventilation system used in 19th century building design?
As the COVID-19 pandemic raises questions about efficient ventilation and the climate crisis threatens to exacerbate extreme temperatures, efficient building design is front of mind for today’s architects. But what can we learn from architectural techniques that were developed more than 100 years ago?
M87* One Year Later: Proof of a persistent black hole shadow
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, including Professor Daryl Haggard at McGill University, has released new images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Messier 87, using data from observations taken in April 2018.
What Zebra mussels can teach us about combatting invasive species, developing sustainable materials
A recent study from researchers in Canada and Germany has revealed that an unlikely event, occurring over 12 million years ago played an important role in shaping one of Canada’s most damaging invasive species. Zebra and quagga mussels, belonging to the Dreissenid family, are widespread freshwater invasive species throughout North America that present a significant danger to native ecosystems by competing for resources.
How does owning a mobile phone impact infant health?
Every year an estimated 20 million babies worldwide are born with low birth weight, according to the World Health Organization, leading to a wide range of significant short- and long-term consequences. And though you may think the obvious answer is greater emphasis on food and nutrition for pregnant women, leading McGill University researchers are proposing an unexpected solution: the cellphone.
Discovery unravels the mystery of a rare bone disease
A McGill-led team of researchers have made an important discovery shedding light on the genetic basis of a rare skeletal disorder. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals that a defect in a specific gene (heterozygous variants in the matrix Gla protein, or MGP) may cause a disorder that affects the structure of connective tissues that supports the body.
New paper explores four nearby fast radio burst sources
Fleeting blasts of energy from space, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), are a cosmic enigma. A Canadian-led international team of researchers has published new findings suggesting that supernovae are the predominant contributors to forming sources that eventually produce FRBs.
Stuck in traffic: Researchers identify cellular traffic jams in a rare disease
Researchers from McGill University, led by Professor Alanna Watt of the Department of Biology, have identified previously unknown changes in brain cells affected by a neurological disease. Their research, published in eLife, could pave the way to future treatments for the disease.
Secrets of a Hot Saturn and its Spotted Star Unlocked by McGill, Université de Montréal Astronomers
Exoplanets, planets located beyond our Solar System, captivate both scientists and the public, holding the promise of unveiling diverse planetary systems and potentially habitable worlds. Despite being very much not like our Earth, large gas giant planets found very close to their stars have proven to be ideal test targets for telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to refine astronomers’ methods of understanding exoplanets.
How does one species become many?
Evolutionary biologists have long suspected that the diversification of a single species into multiple descendent species – that is, an “adaptive radiation” – is the result of each species adapting to a different environment. Yet formal tests of this hypothesis have been elusive owing to the difficulty of firmly establishing the relationship between species traits and evolutionary “fitness” for a group of related species that recently diverged from a common ancestral species.