A new paper makes one of the first attempts to determine which types of sexual fantasies are rare, unusual, common, or typical from a statistical point of view. The authors used an internet survey with 1,516 adults from Quebec who ranked 55 sexual fantasies and wrote their own favourite. The survey indicated that men have […]
Tag: Québec
Saturated fat and heart disease, revisited
A new review suggests that national guidelines on the amount of saturated fats we consume per day need to be revisited. The authors note that while saturated fats can raise cholesterol levels, they have a relatively neutral impact on other key risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and that recent data from population studies challenge the […]
Common cause: how genes influence autism
A new study finds that mutations in two very different genes can have similar effects on developing brain cells, shedding light on the origins of autism. Researchers looked at neuronal stem cells with mutations in one of two genes; in humans, each of these mutations leads to a different neurodevelopmental disorder, although both disorders are […]
‘X-treme’ neutron stars
Researchers have discovered that a bright, pulsing neutron star is the source of ultra-bright X-rays coming from near the centre of the nearby galaxy Messier 82. Researchers have previously thought that only a black hole could emit so brightly in the X-ray region, but the team found that the source was pulsing, which black holes […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
How preschoolers choose who to trust
A new study indicates precisely when children begin to use logic instead of emotion to judge how trustworthy someone is. Children four years old and younger tend to believe information provided by a confident adults much more readily than adults who are hesitant. However, the study showed that beginning around age five, children increasingly trust […]
Roots of culture: How chimps learn from each other
It’s long been suspected that tool use in chimps is passed on socially, but a new study catches them in the act and puts a number on the impact. Researchers observing chimps in Uganda noticed that when one adult male discovered a new way of using leaves and moss to soak up water for drinking, […]
DNA signature in ice storm babies
A new study has detected a distinctive ‘signature’ in the DNA of children born in the aftermath of the 1998 Quebec ice storm. Five months after the 1998 Quebec ice storm, researchers recruited women who had been pregnant during the disaster and assessed their degrees of distress in a study called Project Ice Storm. Fifteen […]
Microplastic pollution found in the St. Lawrence River
Concentrations of microplastic particles in the St. Lawrence are as high as has been observed in the world’s most contaminated marine sediments, a new study shows. This is also the first time such pollutants have been found in freshwater sediments. The authors dug up microplastics (in the form of polyethylene ‘microbeads’, <2 mm diameter) from the […]
New technology could make our smartphones even smarter
Engineers have created a laser-written light-guiding systems that could embed the display glass of smartphones with layer upon layer of sensors. One example-system that the authors created is a temperature sensor that consists of one straight and one curved waveguide. When the glass heats up, it expands and changes the path length of the waveguides. […]
‘Stem cell factory’ could help treat blood disorders
Researchers have identified a molecule that causes the stem cells found in cord blood to multiply into more stem cells. Umbilical cord blood can be used to treat genetic and blood cell formation disorders, including leukemia, but the small number of blood stem cells in this kind of blood limits its widespread use. Researchers have […]
Got milk for your blood pressure?
Eating at least 2 portions of dairy products a day is linked to lower blood glucose and lower blood pressure according to a new study. Researchers asked a total of 254 healthy participants from the greater Quebec City metropolitan area to fill out a food frequency questionnaire and took blood samples from them. The study showed that […]
Long term use of pills for anxiety and sleep problems and Alzheimer’s
Prolonged use of benzodiazepines, drugs useful to treat anxiety and insomnia, is linked to higher risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a new study indicates. Researchers looked at the benzodiazepine drug use in 1,796 elderly patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease living in Quebec and compared them to a control group of elderly without diagnosed cognitive problems. They […]
