Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Published October 17, 2018 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) Rats are one of the most successful and prolific pests in human society, yet rat behaviour in cities remains poorly understood. Analysis of diets of 19th-century rats from Toronto show that rats in cities have significantly different […]
Wing veins help butterflies’ hearing
Biology Letters published October 17, 2018 17:01 EDT (Brief from the Royal Society) A distinguishing feature of a diverse group of butterflies called the Satyrini is a conspicuous swelling on their forewings. Using the Common Wood-Nymph as a representative Satyrini, researchers reveal that these butterflies have ears on their forewings that are sensitive to low-frequency sounds. The […]
Long-term data probe tree swallow declines
The Condor: Ornithological Applications: two papers Published October 17, 2018 09:00 EDT (News release from the American Ornithological Society) Long-term Canadian data reveal how demographic factors contribute to declining populations of tree swallows, which hunt insects while flying. In Ontario, drops in overwinter survival and the rate at which chicks successfully left the nest drove the […]
Le cannabis sous l’angle de la science et des effets sur la santé
LE CANNABIS SERA LÉGAL AU CANADA À COMPTER DU 17 OCTOBRE 2018. À la suite de ce changement, les adultes pourront cultiver (dans la plupart des provinces), acheter et posséder de petites quantités de cannabis à usage récréatif et les partager avec d’autres adultes. Le gouvernement fédéral a fixé à 18 ans l’âge minimal pour […]
BACKGROUNDER: Health Effects And Science Of Cannabis
As of today, possession of cannabis is legal in Canada for the first time since 1923. But there remain major gaps and a lack of consensus around what we actually know in several key areas. The science is far from settled when it comes to cannabis use and its implications for personal health and public […]
Smell and spatial memory share brain hardware
Nature Communications Published October 16, 2018 11:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) Of 57 volunteers, participants who did well in a test to identify odours performed better when they were asked to navigate between landmarks in a virtual town. Brain imaging revealed that increased thickness of the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and volume […]
New reservoir computer advances AI
Journal of Applied Physics Published October 16, 2018 11:00 EDT (News release from American Institute of Physics) Researchers have constructed the first reservoir computing device using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). The device is a virtual neural network that physically mimics the human brain, allowing the network to perform the highly complex calculations required by emerging artificial […]
SMCC Heads Up | October 16, 2018
Cannabis research | Butterfly ears | New tech for AI | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Smallest diplodocid dinosaur skull provides clues about sauropod life
Scientific Reports Published October 11, 2018 09:00 EDT (News release from Nature Research Press) The smallest skull yet discovered of a long-necked dinosaur ― with a total cranial length of approximately 24 centimetres ― suggests young sauropods may have had different diets, shown different physical features, and lived in separate groups from their parents. Compared to […]
Planned intermittent fasting may help reverse type 2 diabetes
BMJ Case Reports Published October 9, 2018 18:30 EDT (News release from BMJ) Planned intermittent fasting may help to reverse type 2 diabetes, suggest doctors after three patients in their care, who did this, were able to cut out the need for insulin treatment altogether. In addition, the patients also lost weight, reduced their waist circumferences and reduced their […]
Polar bears ate whales to survive past warm periods; won’t suffice as climate warms
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment Embargoed until October 9, 2018 12:00 EDT (News release from University of Washington) Researchers drew upon years of field observations to assess the importance of whale carcasses and how they might help polar bears survive an ice-free Arctic. Although whale carcasses provided critical fat and protein stores that helped […]
SMCC Heads Up | October 9, 2018
Smallest long-necked dino | Whale-eating bears | Refugee mental health | SMCC Heads Up – Embargoed and recently published research with a Canadian focus, curated by SMCC for science journalists. Read more>
Immigrant, refugee youth most likely to visit emergency departments with new, crisis mental health problems
Canadian Medical Association Journal Published October 9, 2018 00:15 EDT (News release from CMAJ) Refugee and immigrant youth in Ontario face barriers to accessing mental health services through primary care. Rather than presenting first to primary care, 61.3 per cent of refugee youth, 57.6 per cent of non-refugee immigrants, and 51.3 per cent of non-immigrant youth […]
Wild birds learn to sing new tunes
Current Biology Embargoed until October 4, 2018 11:00 EDT (News release from Cell Press) Researchers show for the first time that they can teach young, wild sparrows how to sing new tunes. The wild birds then passed the new songs on to the next generation. The findings also provide the first experimental evidence that timing of […]
Gluten-free industry a double-edged sword for individuals with celiac disease
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Published October 3, 2018 00.01 EDT Adults with celiac disease living in Canada experience the recent proliferation of the gluten-free industry as a “double-edged sword.” While study participants were grateful for more palatable gluten-free options, they were increasingly faced with misunderstandings about the severity of celiac disease due to many non-celiac disease […]
Warming climate shifts feeding relationships among Arctic predators
Royal Society Open Science Published October 2, 2018 During a 22-year period (1990–2012) of increasing sea temperature (1.0°C) and decreasing sea ice extent (12%) in Cumberland Sound, Nunavut, researchers examined how the feeding relationships between beluga whales, ringed seals, Greenland halibut and Arctic char have changed with the prevalence of capelin, a forage fish associated with the […]
