by L. E. CarmichaelMuscular dystrophy, hemophilia, Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), cancer... they all have one thing in common. They are genetic diseases, ultimately caused by missing or malfunctioning genes in the patient's DNA. Until recently, we could treat the symptoms of many genetic diseases, but not the causes. There was no way to reach inside a person's genes and repair the faulty code that started the whole problem.Research into gene therapy aims to change that.What…

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by Adrienne Montgomerie There are words everywhere at museums and science centres: on the walls, in the guide books, in their newsletters, blog posts, and marketing materials, in the visitor activities and kids’ clubs, and in the audio guides and press releases. And that’s just the stuff the public sees. Behind the scenes there are funding requests to write, reports, journal papers, and things like that.Sci/Why wanted to know what it was like to work on…

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By Simon ShapiroA quick summary of how our eyes work: they refract (bend) light and focus it on the retina. The job of doing the refraction is split between the cornea and the lens. Two thirds of the refraction is done by the cornea, so it's critical in enabling vision. After light passes through the cornea, it passes through the pupil (in the centre of the iris) to reach the lens. Muscles in the eye…

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By Margriet RuursThis is the second part of Margriet's story of her visit to the Galapagos Islands. Click here for the first part.Blue-footed Boobie!We hiked across Mosquera Islet seeing many birds up close, including – to my delight – the Blue-footed Boobie. We had watched documentaries about the Galapagos and were thrilled to see these birds in real life, as well as the bright red Sally Lightfoot Crabs scurrying across the black lava rocks, pelicans,…

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By Margriet RuursMargriet and Kees Ruurs start their Galapagos adventure.Galapagos Islands: the very name conjures up images of a mysterious paradise, of unique species of animals that have adapted to their environment in special ways.I am so glad and grateful that I had a chance to visit these faraway islands, even thought they have now lost some of their magic for me. But the intrigue has been replaced by memories of walking among iguanas and…

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The winner of the 2016 Lane Anderson award for excellence in Canadian science writing for youth is Anne Innis Dagg, for her book 5 Giraffes, published by Fitzhenry & Whiteside. This is her account of how she came to study giraffe. -CEBy Anne Innis DaggWhen I was three years old, my mother took me on a trip from our home in Toronto to Chicago where we visited the Brookfield Zoo. I was mesmerized by the…

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By Mirjam GlessmerHave you ever wondered what happens when you put a 13-m-diameter swimming pool on a merry-go-round? Probably not. But I am here to tell you today about what happens when you do just that, and what you can learn from doing so.I am part of an international group of scientists, doing research on currents in the ocean (and you can read more about who we are and what you do on our blog: http://skolelab.uib.no/blogg/darelius).…

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By Simon ShapiroLast month the SWCC (Science Writers and Communicators of Canada) presented me with their 2016 Youth Book Award, for Faster, Higher, Smarter. The book is about people who had brilliant ideas in sport, and explains the science behind those ideas. It is a huge honour to receive the award. It was that much better because the award was presented at the Ontario Science Centre, and a wonderful group of grade 5 and grade…

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By Claire EamerThink scientists are scary? How about sittingdown with a few scientists at your local pub?Not so scary after all, eh? Pint of Science isone of several organizations making that happen.A couple of days ago, I found myself in a Twitter conversation with an assortment of science communicators and scientists (sometimes, but not always, the same thing). We were talking about promoting science literacy. Or maybe not - because what do we actually mean by science…

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By Claire EamerThink scientists are scary? How about sittingdown with a few scientists at your local pub?Not so scary after all, eh? Pint of Science isone of several organizations making that happen.A couple of days ago, I found myself in a Twitter conversation with an assortment of science communicators and scientists (sometimes, but not always, the same thing). We were talking about promoting science literacy. Or maybe not - because what do we actually mean by science…

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