Technology and Engineering

Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Medical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Biotechnology, Green Tech, Information Science, Nanotech

Better Data, Please

Dan Gillis Communication, Education and Outreach, Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
After launching the Monitoring COVID-19 in Canada Dashboard, I sat down with my colleagues from the Ontario Veterinary College to reflect on some of the challenges we faced bringing it to life. We recently published our thoughts as part of the Canadian Science Policy Centre’s featured editorial series, Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impacts.Continue reading "Better Data, Please"

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Fourth Industrial Revolution and its impact on charity organizations

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf’s February 21, 2020 article (Technology and innovation: How the Fourth Industrial Revolution is impacting the charitable sector) for Charity Village has an ebullient approach to adoption of new and emerging technologies in the charitable sector (Note: A link has been removed), …Almost daily, new technologies are being developed to help innovate the way people give or the way organizations offer opportunities to advance their causes. There is no going back.The charitable sector –…

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McGill University team gets better understanding of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) also described as nanomachines

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
This research from McGill University (Montréal, Canada) focuses on enzymes and their possible utility as nanomachines for producing drugs. (For the uninitiated, nano means billionth, which, in turn, means these enzymes are measured at the nanoscale.) An April 30, 2020 McGill University news release (also on EurekAlert) describes the work, Many of the drugs and medicines that we rely on today are natural products taken from microbes like bacteria and fungi. Within these microbes, the…

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First major literary work (Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales) developed as an app

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
I wanted something completely different today and found it in a May 2, 2020 article, by Lucie Laumonier for University Affairs, about a multimedia app featuring the Canterbury Tales narrated in middle English, Four historians from Canada and England have launched the General Prologue app, the first app featuring an audio performance of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in its original 14th-century English.“Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Caunterbury,” says the expressive voice…

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The decade that was (2010-19) and the decade to come (2020-29): Science culture in Canada (an addendum)

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
I missed a few science journalists (part 1 of this series, under the Science Communication subhead; Mainstream Media, sub subhead) as the folks at the Science Media Centre of Canada (SMCC) noted on Twitter, Science Media Centre @SMCCanada Apr 16 Replying to @frogheartThanks for the mention. But I think poor @katecallen at the Toronto Star would be dismayed to read that @IvanSemeniuk is the only science reporter on a Canadian newspaper. And @row1960 Bob Weber…

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The decade that was (2010-19) and the decade to come (2020-29): Science culture in Canada (5 of 5)

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
At long last, the end is in sight! This last part is mostly a collection of items that don’t fit elsewhere or could have fit elsewhere but that particular part was already overstuffed. Podcasting science for the people March 2009 was the birth date for a podcast, then called Skeptically Speaking and now known as Science for the People (Wikipedia entry). Here’s more from the Science for the People About webpage, Science for the People…

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The decade that was (2010-19) and the decade to come (2020-29): Science culture in Canada (4 of 5)

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
I was hoping this would be the concluding part of this series but there was much more than I dreamed. (I know that’s repetitive but I’m truly gobsmacked.) Citizen science Astronomy and bird watching (ornithology) are probably the only two scientific endeavours that have consistently engaged nonexperts/amateurs/citizen scientists right from the earliest days through the 21st century. Medical research, physics, chemistry, and others have, until recently and despite their origins in ‘amateur’ (or citizen) science,…

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COVID-19 Outpacing Other Leading Causes Of Death

Dan Gillis Communication, Education and Outreach, Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
As of April 22nd, COVID-19 is the cause of more deaths in Canada than what would be expected from homicide, automobile accidents, liver disease, or suicide. In the United States, COVID-19 deaths have also overtaken the expected number of deaths due to influenza & pneumonia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and cerebrovascular disease (such as stroke, aneurysms,Continue reading "COVID-19 Outpacing Other Leading Causes Of Death"

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The decade that was (2010-19) and the decade to come (2020-29): Science culture in Canada (3 of 5)

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
Part 1 covered some of the more formal aspects science culture in Canada, such as science communication education programmes, mainstream media, children’s science magazines, music, etc. Part 2 covered science festivals, art/sci or sciart (depending on who’s talking, informal science get togethers such ‘Cafe Sccientifque’, etc. This became a much bigger enterprise than I anticipated and so part 3 is stuffed with the do-it-yourself (DIY) biology movement in Canada, individual art/sci or lit/sci projects, a…

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Undergraduate Independent Study Opportunities – Summer 2020

Dan Gillis Communication, Education and Outreach, Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
I am currently recruiting senior undergraduate students to join my research lab this summer. There are numerous opportunities available but I am also open to discussing other ideas you might have. The projects (outlined below) span computer science, software engineering, data science, statistical modelling, risk assessment, community-engaged scholarship and pedagogy. In most cases, you willContinue reading "Undergraduate Independent Study Opportunities – Summer 2020"

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