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When signing up to Connect2Canada, you indicated an interest in science and technology. We thought you would be interested in the following science and technology news from Canada.
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The Connect2Canada Team
Over-consumption of sugar linked to aging
Université de Montréal biochemistry professor Luis Rokeach, and his student Antoine Roux, published a study in PLoS Genetics explaining that it is not sugar itself which enhances the aging process, but the ability of cells to sense the mere presence of sugar. By removing the gene for a glucose sensor from yeast cells, used to replicate human cells, the team of scientists discovered that the imitation human cells lived as long as those on a glucose-restricted diet. In short, the fate of these cells doesn’t depend on what they eat but what they think they’re eating.
Researchers find brain differences between believers and non-believers
Research from the University of Toronto unveils discrepancies between believers and non-believers. In a paper appearing in Psychological Science, co-authors Ian McGregor and Kyle Nash of York University, and Jacob Hirsh of the University of Toronto, found that religious people or even people who simply believe in the existence of God show significantly less brain activity in relation to their own errors. They’re much less anxious and feel less stressed when they have made an error. Their conclusion stems from religious participants demonstrating a lower level of activity in their anterior cingulated cortex, a section of the brain that helps govern behaviour by signalling when attention and control are needed.
Power to the people
Pooja Viswanathan, PhD student at the University of British Columbia, has created computer software which could allow seniors that suffer from cognitive impairment a taste of independence. Her invention, called Navigation and Obstacle Avoidance Help (NOAH), integrates a stereovision camera with software in order to make any commercially available powered wheelchair into a quasi-robotic device. This idea, developed by Viswanathan at the University of Toronto’s Intelligent Assistive Technology and Systems Lab, allows patients who suffer from diseases such as dementia to move from point A to point B without breaking current provincial laws that prohibit such persons from utilizing powered wheel chairs.
Childhood trauma has life-long effect on genes and the brain
A group of scientists from McGill University and the Douglas Institute have uncovered that trauma from a person’s early years can change their DNA, and manipulate the way one's genes operate. Using a sample of 36 brains; 12 suicide victims who were abused; 12 suicide victims who were not abused and 12 controls, the researchers discovered different epigenetic markings in the brains of the abused group. These markings influence the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function, a stress-response which increases the risk of suicide.
An answer to inflammatory disease and fatigue
A research team from the University of Calgary has identified how immune cells infiltrate the brain during experimental liver inflammation, potentially explaining why people with inflammatory diseases develop symptoms such as fatigue. This new understanding could lead to treatments that improve the quality of life for patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. The study was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, The Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Canadian Liver Foundation.
University of Manitoba research team recognized with Brockhouse Canada Prize
Digvir S. Jayas of the University of Manitoba (agricultural engineer), and Noel White (entomologist) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are the winners of the 2008 Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering. Bother researchers have committed over twenty years to studying grain spoilage. Their universally accepted prevention methods have proven to reduce spoilage for a variety of cereals, oilseeds, and legumes under a wide range of environmental conditions. This benefits Canada’s grain exports, but also acts as a solution for grain storage around the globe.
Holywood was right; the world's biggest snake slithered around northern South America
Jason Head, an NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) funded researcher from the University of Toronto, may have discovered the fossilized bones of the world’s largest snake ever known. The species was found in Columbia, and was described by Head and his research team in the February 5th issue of Nature; "The discovery of Titanoboa challenges our understanding of past climates and environments, as well as the biological limitations on the evolution of giant snakes."
NSERC awards Canada’s top science prize, honours rising international stars
The Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal, awarded for sustained excellence and overall influence of a body of research, was awarded to physicist Paul Corkum this week. The two runners-up for the medal are Gilles Brassard of the Université de Montréal and Brenda Milner of McGill University. Dr. Corkum’s work at the National Research Council and the University of Ottawa marks the first time a beam of light has been controlled for a shorter time and distance than what is defined by a single wavelength. This has led to the development of “attosecond science” – a field that uses ultra-short laser pulses which can provide images of electrons moving around atoms, and can allow researchers to see chemical reactions as they unfold.
