Science, Health and Technology

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Your local sea snail might not make it in warmer oceans – but oysters will

The frilled dog winkle may sound like a complex knot for a tie, but this local sea snail holds clues to our warmer future, including a dire outlook for species that can’t move, adapt, or acclimate as fast as their environment heats up.

Nov 29, 2023

Photo by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on Flickr

UN climate conference should not be ‘business as usual’, say climate experts

We spoke to four experts including current and former COP delegates to ask what the world, and Canada, needs to see come out of the conference.

Nov 28, 2023

Photo by cotxapi.com on Unsplash

Great UBC Bug Bake Off to serve up insect delights

On Nov. 28, media are invited as four teams of faculty of land and food systems students engage in a six-legged culinary showdown.

Nov 27, 2023

Stem cell-based treatment controls blood sugar in people with Type 1 diabetes

Stem cell-based treatment controls blood sugar in people with Type 1 diabetes

The therapy aims to replace the insulin-producing beta cells that people with Type 1 diabetes lack.

Nov 27, 2023

A baboon still stranded in a tree on the Gorongosa National Park floodplain almost a month after the cyclone. Photo credit: Dr. Jen Guyton

The bigger you are, the better you fare when climate change causes cyclones

The research findings could help wildlife managers develop strategies to help at-risk animals and pinpoint general traits that help animals survive.

Nov 22, 2023

Scott Ramsay gave up a hockey career for health care after multiple concussions changed his trajectory. He is graduating with a PhD in nursing while continuing his advocacy efforts for youth concussion prevention and management. Photo credit: BCCHR/UBC

Graduate channels broken NHL dreams into pioneering research on youth concussion care

Scott Ramsay, who graduates from UBC this month with a PhD in nursing, has been working to intervene in the lives of youth struggling in the same darkness of disability.

Nov 22, 2023

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Event: Unpacking the UN climate change conference

Media are invited to join climate experts as they share the pressing issues up for negotiation this year, including human health, adaptation measures, and the loss and damage fund.

Nov 21, 2023

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

New process for screening old urine samples reveals previously undetected ‘designer drugs’

The approach can support public health and safety by enabling swift identification of new substances, potentially saving lives and guiding timely clinical responses to drug-related emergencies.

Nov 15, 2023

Photo by Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

Future leaders are learning how to tackle climate change in math class this year

UBC and UBCO math teachers who want to use their math skills for good have collaborated with climate scientists to bring the climate crisis into their classrooms.

Nov 15, 2023

UBC experts on UN climate summit and related topics

UBC experts on UN climate summit and related topics

UBC delegates and experts are available to comment on the UN’s Climate Change Conference and other climate-related topics. 

Nov 15, 2023

scientist in lab collect dna sample in test tube with cotton swab

Genetic testing could greatly benefit patients with depression, save health system millions

The study shows that in B.C. alone, implementing pharmacogenomic testing could save the provincial public health system an estimated $956 million over 20 years.

Nov 14, 2023

Photo credit: Matt Bango/Unsplash

Cracking the code: Why songbirds are larger in colder climates

Scientists, including those from UBC forestry, use genome sequencing to find out.

Nov 7, 2023

Photo by Dương Nhân

Low-income countries could lose 30% of nutrients like protein and omega-3 from seafood due to climate change

That’s in a high carbon emissions and low mitigation scenario, according to the study published today in Nature Climate Change.

Oct 30, 2023

Mature Gordius paranensis inside a ground beetle Mecodema sp. (sampled by pitfall trap in New Zealand, 2021). Credit: Dr. Jeff Doherty.

Mind-control worms and eye-bulging fungus: real-life horror from nature this Halloween

UBC researchers share some gruesome parasites of nature, like worms that fill the entire gut of an insect to a fungus that grows from your nose to your brain.

Oct 30, 2023

Evidence of Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi) on an American elm (Ulnus americana). Photo credit: Joseph O’ Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org.

Can AI nip tree disease in the bud?

The researchers at UBC’s faculty of forestry hope to validate the concept through future field tests and are enthusiastic about its potential.

Oct 26, 2023

UBC engineers created the sensor in collaboration with Frontier Robotics, Honda’s research institute. Credit: UBC Applied Science/Paul Joseph

UBC engineers develop breakthrough ‘robot skin’ in collaboration with Honda researchers

A new soft sensor developed by UBC engineers and Honda researchers opens the door to a wide range of applications in robotics and prosthetics.

Oct 26, 2023

UBC doctoral student Bianca Iulianella Phillips prepares soil samples for DNA testing. Credit: Alex Walls.

Biological fingerprints in soil show where diamond-containing ore is buried

DNA sequencing technique can also help source minerals that are key to the green-energy transition.

Oct 25, 2023

How to forage for mushrooms – safely and legally – this fall

How to forage for mushrooms – safely and legally – this fall

Dr. Mary Berbee, professor in the UBC department of botany, discusses how to safely and legally forage for mushrooms around the city this fall.

Oct 19, 2023

UBC experts on Great BC ShakeOut and disaster preparedness

UBC experts on Great BC ShakeOut and disaster preparedness

UBC experts are available to comment on the Great BC ShakeOut, earthquakes and other natural disasters, and emergency preparation and management

Oct 17, 2023

World Food Day 2023: Water is Life. Water is Food. Leave no one behind.

World Food Day 2023: Water is Life. Water is Food. Leave no one behind.

Media are invited to the official North America World Food Day 2023 event today in Vancouver to highlight stories of hope and success on the theme: “Water is life. Water is food. Leave no one behind.”

Oct 16, 2023