News Tips

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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

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

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

Photo by Scott Blake on Unsplash

UBC team deploys AI-powered robots for faster, safer construction

Learn how it works and what this means for the future of construction.

Nov 14, 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

Salmon bones confirm sustainable chum fishery for 2,500 years under Tsleil-Waututh Nation

Salmon bones confirm sustainable chum fishery for 2,500 years under Tsleil-Waututh Nation

New research confirms that Tsleil-Waututh Nation has consistently and sustainably fished for chum salmon for 1,200 years longer than the archaeological record had previously demonstrated.

Aug 30, 2023

The future of drug testing at festivals

The future of drug testing at festivals

UBC researchers are bringing a prototype drug testing robot to Shambhala Music Festival.

Jul 18, 2023

Researchers investigating a rain garden in Vancouver. Photo credit: Dr. Timothy Rodgers

Rain gardens could save salmon from toxic tire chemicals

Specially designed gardens could reduce the amount of a toxic chemical associated with tires entering our waterways by more than 90 per cent, new research shows.

Jun 21, 2023

Dr. Yasmine Abdin (right) and her collaborators are transforming bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands into carbon fibre – at much less cost than what is currently available. Photo credit: UBC Applied Science/Paul Joseph

UBC researchers turn black bitumen into green carbon fibres

What if bitumen could be turned into something more valuable, like the carbon fibres that make aircraft and hockey sticks light and durable, and electric cars safer and more efficient?

Jun 13, 2023

A killer whale off the coast of Iceland. Iberian killer whales have been sinking boats off the coast of Spain.

Teenage orcas could be roughhousing with boats off the coast of Spain

Killer whales are in the news for sinking boats off the coast of Spain. The reason is a mystery, but one theory is that teenage bad behaviour is to blame, according to UBC researchers Dr. Andrew Trites, Taryn Scarff and Josh McInnes.

May 29, 2023

Yi Yi Du at the summit of Mount Currie near Whistler, B.C. in August 2021, shortly before the car accident.

He used to climb mountains. Now he wants to move them for others

When UBC mechanical engineering student Yi Yi Du came out of a two-month-long coma after being struck by a car in the fall of 2021, no one knew what the next stage of his life would look like.

May 29, 2023

Credit: Dominic Janus

​​How Vancouver’s geese affect our river systems

Canada geese were introduced by humans in the late 1960s for hunting and other purposes, and they thrived. But the same is not true for the river ecosystem they feed on.

May 16, 2023

Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash

How seaweed has been misleading scientists about reef health

New UBC research found that seaweed have been misleading scientists about coral reef health, and scientists need new ways to determine whether human activity is harming a particular reef.

May 4, 2023

Photo by David Marcu on Unsplash.

Spiritual connection with nature transcends politics, religion

Have you ever felt awestruck by a towering evergreen, waves crashing against rocks, or the vastness of a desert canyon? You’re not alone. Across time and cultures, humans have felt a spiritual connection with nature.

Apr 18, 2023

A top view of a lab experiment simulating a large submarine eruption. Credit: Johan Gilchrist, UBC

Simulating underwater eruptions reveals clues to hazards, including ‘surfing hot rock avalanches’

New research into volcanic eruptions could help predict their hazards, including tsunamis and surfing hot rock avalanches.

Apr 11, 2023

‘Greed is good’ for likes and retweets if you’re a U.S. senator

‘Greed is good’ for likes and retweets if you’re a U.S. senator

Tweet about greed. That’s what U.S. politicians ought to do if they want to gain likes and retweets on Twitter, according to new UBC research.

Mar 6, 2023

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash

So-called ‘safe’ pesticides have surprising ill effects

Health Canada is currently reviewing regulations for pesticides in Canada, and three UBC researchers say regulators might want to consider what happened in Japan.

Feb 21, 2023

Photo by Austin Neill on Unsplash

Clouds could delay the impact of climate change on reefs – but not for long

Clouds seem to offer some protection from excess heat to coral reefs – but most will still face frequent bleaching by 2080, according to new research.

Feb 8, 2023

Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

Why does the date of Lunar New Year change?

This lunar new year falls on Jan. 22, making it one of the earliest in recent history. So why does the date of the lunar new year change?

Jan 19, 2023