Science, Health and Technology

Students flex first aid and rescue skills in mine rescue challenge

Teams of mining engineering students from North American universities will test their mettle this week at Canada’s first student mine rescue competition, hosted at UBC’s Vancouver campus.

Feb 19, 2020

Peer mentorship programs vital for supporting women leaving prison

New UBC research underscores the value of peer mentorship programs in supporting incarcerated women navigating the transition from prison back into the community.

Feb 18, 2020

Aerial view of an open-ocean fish farm. Credit: Hanson Lu/ Unsplash

Ocean fish farming in tropics and sub-tropics most impacted by climate change: UBC study

Diners may soon find more farmed oysters and fewer Atlantic salmon on their plates as climate change warms Canada’s Pacific coast.

Feb 11, 2020

Lupus patients who take their medications lower their diabetes risk

Patients with lupus who take their medications as prescribed have much lower odds of developing type 2 diabetes, a common complication of the disease, finds a new study from UBC.

Feb 11, 2020

New device identifies high-quality blood donors

Blood banks have long known about high-quality donors – individuals whose red blood cells stay viable for longer in storage and in the recipient’s body.

Feb 4, 2020

Artist’s impression of the dissolving of the electronic “traffic jam." The red atoms are different in their quantum nature and allow transport of electrons in their surroundings. Credit: SBQMI

New quantum switch turns metals into insulators

Most modern electronic devices rely on tiny, finely-tuned electrical currents to process and store information. These currents dictate how fast our computers run, how regularly our pacemakers tick and how securely our money is stored in the bank.

Feb 3, 2020

Light therapy holds promise for people with bipolar disorder

Light therapy, consisting of daily exposure to bright, artificial light, is already a recognized line of treatment for people affected by seasonal and nonseasonal depressive disorder.

Feb 3, 2020

UBC students play Mars explorers in rover competition

Second-year mechanical engineering students inspired by NASA’s Mars explorations will race remote-controlled “rovers” that they’ve designed themselves in a battle of wits, speed and design excellence.

Jan 28, 2020

Google Home. Credit: Bence Boros/Unsplash

Hey Google, are my housemates using my smart speaker?

Surveys show that consumers are worried that smart speakers are eavesdropping on their conversations and day-to-day lives. Now University of British Columbia researchers have found that people are also concerned about something else: friends, family and others who may have access to these devices.

Jan 28, 2020

Switching grape varieties can help save world’s wine-growing regions: UBC study

Hotter temperatures threaten global wine production, with multiple studies now forecasting that more than half of regions suitable to planting wine grapes could be lost to climate change.

Jan 27, 2020

How do men and women store fat differently? Ask the fruit fly.

When it comes to determining how women and men store fat differently, it turns out fruit flies may hold the key.

Jan 27, 2020

Living near major roads linked to increased risk of dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS

Living near major roads or highways is linked to higher incidence of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS), suggests new research published this week in the journal Environmental Health.

Jan 23, 2020

Sepsis leading cause of death worldwide

New research published in The Lancet has found that sepsis is responsible for the most deaths worldwide, even more than cancer or coronary disease—previously believed to be the leading causes of death globally.

Jan 16, 2020

UBC researchers seek participants for spinal cord injury study

UBC researchers are investigating the effectiveness of a drug called Targin at treating chronic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury.

Jan 13, 2020

Dr. Nadine Caron named founding First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness at UBC

Dr. Nadine Caron — Canada’s first female First Nations general surgeon — has been appointed to a newly created UBC position dedicated to improving cancer outcomes and wellness among Indigenous peoples.

Jan 6, 2020

Announcing inaugural chair to improve cancer outcomes among Indigenous peoples

Today, UBC and the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) will announce the founding FNHA Chair in Cancer and Wellness at UBC.

Jan 6, 2020

UBC experts on LifeLabs data breach

The private information for 15 million Canadians has been breached as a result of a cyberattack on Canadian health-care diagnostics provider LifeLabs, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Dec 17, 2019

Researchers are studying if yeast can protect astronauts from space radiation. Credit: Justin Ohata/UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences

UBC researcher studies yeast to protect astronauts from space radiation

Corey Nislow is not an astronaut, but if humanity makes it to Mars safely, he will have played a vital role.

Dec 16, 2019

MengXing Na and Andrea Damascelli at UBC's Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (SBQMI). Credit: Research2Reality

New laser technique images quantum world in a trillionth of a second

For the first time, researchers have been able to record, frame-by-frame, how an electron interacts with certain atomic vibrations in a solid.

Dec 10, 2019

UBC experts on National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women

Tomorrow, December 6th, is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. It’s also the 30th anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre, in which 14 female engineering students were killed. UBC experts are available to comment.

Dec 5, 2019