Move Over, SUE, There’s a New T. Rex in Town

March 26, 2019 L. E. Carmichael Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science

Of all the dinosaurs in all the world, SUE the T. rex might be the most famous. The most complete T. rex skeleton ever found, SUE is likely also the most well-traveled. Her bones, or at least casts of them, have been displayed all over the world. The casts I saw in Nova Scotia came with bilingual displays written in English and Arabic! But there’s a new king of the dinosaurs in town, and his…

From the ground up: How Bunchberry Meadows came to be a place for nature exploration

March 26, 2019 Nature Conservancy of Canada staff Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences

Learn about how Bunchberry Meadows came to be a place for nature exploration.

Comprendre et résoudre les conflits Humains- Éléphants à Campo-Ma’an

March 25, 2019 Le Beagle - CSBQ Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Environmental and Earth Sciences

Par Isaac Blaise DjokoCet été, je me suis envolé vers le parc national de Campo-Ma’an sur la façade atlantique au Sud-Ouest du Cameroun en Afrique Centrale pour la première phase de collecte des données de ma thèse de Doctorat sur les ‘’Conflits Humains Faune Sauvage autour du Parc National de Campo-Ma’an’’, supervisé par Dr Robert Weladji du laboratoire d’écologie et conservation à l’Université Concordia. J’étais accompagné sur le terrain par Valérie Michel, technicienne vétérinaire du Zoo…

Le « corps-cerveau » sous toutes ses coutures

March 25, 2019 Bruno Dubuc Biology and Life Sciences, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science

Je dis souvent qu’on ne devrait plus prononcer le mot cerveau tout seul, mais toujours de parler du « corps-cerveau ». Car on le sait maintenant hors de tout doute, un cerveau qui perçoit une situation stressante va causer, si la situation persiste, bien du tort au corps qui le porte. Et inversement un cerveau plein d’espoir va en quelque sorte s’auto-tromper au point où le corps qui le porte va aller mieux. On appelle…

We’ve got cams!

March 25, 2019 Kimberly Moynahan Biology and Life Sciences

In December 2017, we installed four Nest outdoor security cameras on our house. This was partly for security reasons — to warn us when someone comes up our driveway; to see who’s at the front door; and to keep an eye on the house when we’re away. But more exciting was the idea that we might catch wildlife on the cams. It’s hard to know what you have in your neighbourhood if you only count…

Reconciling the two functions of peer review

March 25, 2019 Stephen Heard Biology and Life Sciences, General Science

Image: Gandalf the Gatekeeper, CC 0 via goodfreephotos.com Peer review is arguably central to what we do as scientists – to a considerable extent it’s what lets us recognize an authentic scientific enterprise. Consider, for instance, the distinction between peer-reviewed publications and hack pieces in predatory journals; or think about how peer-reviewed grant proposals differ […]

The future of conservation is female (part three)

March 25, 2019 Nature Conservancy of Canada staff Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences

In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), over the course of the month we have been celebrating three young women working for the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s (NCC’s) Ontario Region. This week we will conclude our series with Megan Quinn, acting coordinator of conservation biology for eastern Ontario.

Interview – Jonathan Howard on Errors of Thinking in Medicine

March 24, 2019 The Body of Evidence Biology and Life Sciences, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science, Multimedia

Jonathan and Chris interview Jonathan Howard, a neurologist in New York who wrote a book that will make you, the patient, understand a bit more how your doctor is thinking. Howard is interested in how the brain fires (and misfires), which led him to write this book about the biases in the thinking of doctors and patients that can lead to correct answers... but that sometimes result in errors. This episode plunges you…

Quick introduction: the algorithmic lens

March 23, 2019 Theory, Evolution, and Games Group bloggers Biology and Life Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics, Technology and Engineering

Computers are a ubiquitous tool in modern research. We use them for everything from running simulation experiments and controlling physical experiments to analyzing and visualizing data. For almost any field ‘X’ there is probably a subfield of ‘computational X’ that uses and refines these computational tools to further research in X. This is very important work and I think it should be an integral part of all modern research. But this is not the algorithmic…

Skis with wolves

March 23, 2019 Nature Conservancy of Canada staff Biology and Life Sciences, Environmental and Earth Sciences

Around mid-January, a call came out for volunteers to participate in a wolf survey on NCC’s Kenauk property, which is less than an hour away from my house. This was the first CV event that I participated in, and I was very excited, to say the least.

Biology and Life Sciences