Exercise has a proven track record for relieving stress, yet less than half of Canadians use it this way, according to a recent study. A survey of 40,000 Canadians 15 or older found that exercise ranked 8th out of 13 coping strategies, below “talking to others”, “looking on the bright side”, “ignoring stress” and even […]
Posts by Kelly Fram (KellyFram)
Redefining the ‘big one’ for sports fishing
Every angler wants to catch the ‘big one’, but the heaviest fish are often more fertile and those needed most to continue the species. Researchers have analysed the approximately 1,200 species for which records are held by the International Game Fish Association and found that 85 of them are listed as ‘threatened’ by the International […]
Invasion of the shell-crushing crabs
As Antarctic waters begin to warm, they could become home to species of shell-crushing crabs that could devastate local organisms. Researchers found an adult female rocky crab – Halicarcinus planatus, normally found further north in New Zealand or South America – off the coast of Deception Island, a volcanic outcrop near the West Antarctic Peninsula. […]
Project FeederWatch
This citizen science project is a joint program of Bird Studies Canada and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For a $35 fee, participants receive a handbook and other materials that help them identify bird species. They enter this data into a central website, thereby helping scientists track changes in bird numbers and movements across North […]
Vibration is key to wind pollination
If you’re a plant, and the animals or insects that pollinate you are disappearing or gone, your next best option might be wind pollination, and a new study sheds light on what adaptations are needed to make this transition. Researchers looked at flowers of English plantain, which like most wind-pollinated plants evolved from an animal-pollinated […]
McGill Alumnus wins Nobel Prize
McGill graduate John O’Keefe won the 2014 Nobel prize in medicine for his discovery in 1974 of brain cells that makes it possible for us to orient ourselves, acting like inner-GPS. Professor O’Keefe earned his phD at McGill in 1967 in physiological psychology. In 1971 O’Keefe was part of a team that discovered a type of […]
Who is spending time in emergency departments?
Patients who need admission to hospitals but don’t require an operating room or critical care bed spend the most time in the emergency departments (ED) according to a new report. The study analysed 10 million emergency-room visits from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS). Some of the findings include: 90 per cent of ED […]
Est-ce que les vêtements antimicrobiens fonctionnent réellement?
Une nouvelle étude suggère que les vêtements antimicrobiens ne fonctionneraient pas aussi bien dans la vie de tous les jours qu’en laboratoire. Des chercheurs ont scellé trois tissus avec des agents antimicrobiens pour voir s’ils réduisent la quantité de microbes en comparaison aux tissus ordinaires. Bien que deux des trois tissus ont bien moins de […]
Prendre le pouls du stress
Des chercheurs ont découvert que, malgré la croyance répandue, les personnes avec un pouls plus constant que la moyenne sont plus à risque d’être stressées. Ils ont enregistré la variabilité du pouls chez 76 étudiants participants pendant une séance de relaxation et au moment où ceux-ci pensaient à des sujets qui les inquiétaient. Ils ont […]
Une nouvelle maladie génétique découverte avec une origine qui remonte à la Nouvelle-France
Des chercheurs québécois ont découvert une nouvelle maladie génétique rare dont les origines remontent au début de la colonie de la Nouvelle-France. Ils ont identifié 16 Québécois d’origine canadienne-française comme étant porteurs de « dysrythmie intestinale et auriculaire chronique » (DIAC), une combinaison d’arythmie cardiaque et d’obstruction des intestins. Les auteurs de l’étude ont trouvé […]
New rare genetic disorder traced to early Quebec settlers
A rare genetic disorder can be traced to early settlers in Quebec and their European ancestors according to a new study. Researchers have identified 16 people from Eastern Quebec of French descent who have Chronic Atrial and Intestinal Dysrhythmia. The disorder, also called CAID syndrome, is a combination of heart arrhythmia and intestinal obstruction. Researchers […]
Is ‘antimicrobial clothing’ for real?
Plenty of clothing products purport to kill bacteria that cause disease or damage fabric, but a new study suggests that what works in the lab doesn’t always work in practice. Researchers sealed fabric treated with one of three different antimicrobial agents against the skin of volunteers to see if they would reduce the amount of […]
Taking the pulse of stress
Researchers have discovered that, contrary to what you might think, a less variable heartbeat might be associated with a higher susceptibility to stress. The team recorded heart rate variability in 76 student participants while they were relaxing and while they were thinking about things they tend to worry about most. They also tracked participants’ moods […]
How railways helped AIDS spread in Africa
The HIV pandemic with us today may have begun its global spread from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) around 1920, according to a new study. A team of researchers have reconstructed the genetic history of the HIV virus by analyzing gene sequences found in a major HIV database. The authors […]
A litmus test for bacteria
Researchers have developed a way to use litmus paper – which changes colour to indicate high or low pH – to provide a simple and effective test for bacteria like E. coli. The team used tiny strands of DNA to create probes that are activated in the presence of bacteria. The activated probes then catalyse […]
“Sam McGee’s ashes” found from Europe to Alaska
A 1,200-year-old volcanic eruption in Alaska spread ash as far away as northern Europe, a much wider range than previously thought, according to a new study. The White River Ash originates from an ancient eruption of Mount Bona-Churchill and is found across Alaska and the Yukon. The White River Ash is sometimes called “Sam McGee’s ashes” in […]
