Climate diets | Ancient clam gardens | Deep-sea plastic | February 26, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
In Memoriam: Penny Park
Penny Park – founder, first Executive Director, and guiding light of the SMCC – passed away this past weekend. Penny was one of Canada’s leading science journalists, a passionate defender of free speech for both journalists and scientists, and a proud promoter of Canadian research. Penny began her science journalism journey in 1980 at […]
Swimming speed affects benefits of schooling
Royal Society Open Science Published February 20, 2019 17:01 ET (Brief from the Royal Society) As groups of fish swam faster, they form more elongated and more linearly aligned groups. Information flow between individuals increased at faster speeds and when individuals were more aligned within the linear group formations, supporting the group’s collective functioning and energy […]
Fish find food best by watching others
Royal Society Open Science Published February 20, 2019 17:01 ET (Brief from the Royal Society) Analyzing behaviour of different stickleback species to determine when the fishes’ use of social information evolved, how it develops, what it is used for and how it works, the researchers found each species differed in its ability to use social information […]
February 19, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up
Speedy schooling | Socially informed fish | Women’s heart health | February 19, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Oral antifungal drug increases risk of miscarriage
Canadian Medical Association Journal Published February 19, 2019 00:15 ET (News release from Canadian Medical Association) Researchers linked data on 441,949 pregnancies from the Quebec Pregnancy Cohort between 1998 and 2015 to filled prescriptions listed in the Quebec Prescription Drug Insurance database. They found that taking oral fluconazole, a medication commonly used to treat vaginal yeast infections, […]
Climate change may increase food-poisoning incidents
Royal Society Open Science Published February 13, 2019 17:01 ET (Brief from the Royal Society) Due to changes in fly-population sizes, the spread of campylobacter and incidences of food poisoning may more than double by 2080. Campylobacter is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness worldwide. Researchers used an infectious disease transmission model describing Campylobacter […]
Breast pumps deplete human milk microbiome
Cell Host & Microbe Published February 13, 2019 (News release from Cell Press) A large-scale analysis in humans reveals that indirect breastfeeding using pumped milk is linked to depletion of oral bacteria and a higher abundance of potential pathogens, compared with direct breastfeeding at the breast. The findings suggest that milk microbiota is affected by bacteria […]
City heat: Contemporary climate comparisons for North American cities in 2080
Nature Communications Published February 12, 2019 11:00 ET (News release from Nature Research Press) If emissions continue to rise throughout the 21st century, the climate in 540 North American cities – including 10 Canadian cities – will become, on average, most like the climate found today in locations 850 kilometres away and generally to the south by […]
February 12, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up
City heat | Food poisoning prospects | Breast-pump microbiome | February 12, 2019 | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Gender diversity improvements at top US, UK, and Canadian universities fail to match promises
The Lancet special issue Published February 7, 2019 18:30 ET (News release from The Lancet) This analysis of the 15 highest-ranked social sciences and public health universities in the U.S., U.K. and Canada show gender and ethnic disparities remain at senior academic levels, despite diversity policies and action plans. Lead author: Helena Legido-Quigley, London School of […]
Gender gaps in research funding are due to less favorable assessment of women, not their science
The Lancet special issue Published February 7, 2019 18:30 ET (News release from The Lancet) Analysis of nearly 24,000 grant applications at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research finds that women are less successful in receiving funding when reviewers are explicitly asked to review the principal investigator, rather than when they are asked to assess the […]
Effects of teen motherhood last generations
PLOS One Published February 6, 2018 14:00 ET (News release from PLOS) In a study that linked population data, province-wide kindergarten assessment scores, and Canadian Census data, researchers found that 36 per cent of kids whose grandmothers had been adolescent mothers were not developmentally ready for school Lead author: Elizabeth Wall-Wieler, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, […]
Crop diversity increased over the last 60 years
PLOS One Published February 6, 2019 14:00 ET Data from the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization provides evidence that the 1970s–80s marked a widespread period of major increases in diversity of crops grown in nearly all regions of the world. However, while regional differences in crop species pools persist, a trend towards greater homogeneity in the […]
Fins into feathers: Salmon nutrients support forest birds
PLOS One Published February 6, 2019 14:00 ET Marine-derived nutrients from Pacific salmon are transferred to streams and riparian forests through diverse food web pathways. Researchers quantified the influence of salmon on the abundance and composition of songbird communities across a wide range of salmon-spawning biomass on 14 streams along a remote coastal region of British […]
Climate impacts of melting ice sheets refined
Nature Published February 6, 2019 13:00 ET (News release from Nature Research Press) Researchers used satellite measurements of recent ice-mass changes to refine simulations of the melting Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and the potential impacts on climate. They find that, within a few decades, increasing meltwater will slow the major ocean currents, climate variability may […]