From Our Own Borealis Blog

How does stress make you sick?

Science Borealis Leave a comment Biology and Life Sciences, Health, Medicine, and Veterinary Science, Science in Society
by Pedro Figueras, Pexels

Michael Limmena, Health, Medicine, and Veterinary Science editor Restless nights. Late night snack binges. Pounding headaches. The ticking clock screams […]

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Spinning gold out of nanocellulose

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
If you’re hoping for a Rumpelstiltskin reference (there is more about the fairy tale at the end of this posting) and despite the press release’s headline, you won’t find it in this August 10, 2020 news item on Nanowerk, When nanocellulose is combined with various types of metal nanoparticles, materials are formed with many new and exciting properties. They may be antibacterial, change colour under pressure, or convert light to heat.“To put it simply, we…

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Russian ship played classical music to rescue entrapped belugas

Anaïs Remili Biology and Life Sciences, Communication, Education and Outreach, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science
The Moskva was the largest and most powerful non-nuclear icebreaker at her time of delivery. She got some international attention in 1985 when she herded around 2000 ice-entrapped belugas back to the open sea … by playing classical music. Yes, you read that right! Classical music saved the entrapped beluga whales What is an icebreaker? An icebreaker is a class of ships that can break the thickest ice and easily travel where no other ships…

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Right Turn: Observable progress for people with eye diseases

Various bloggers Biology and Life Sciences, Health, Medicine and Veterinary Science
The news that Health Canada has approved gene therapy Luxturna to treat blindness couldn’t come at a better time, as October is Blindness Awareness Month. You don’t have to look far to find other high impact research on blindness happening right here in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Molly Shoichet, University of Toronto (UofT), is a world renowned bioengineer with expertise in the areas of polymer synthesis, biomaterials design and drug delivery in the nervous system. Her…

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Learning About Gardening

Sci/Why Communication, Education and Outreach, General Science
 by Margriet RuursThere’s nothing like a pandemic to make people want to be more self-sufficient.First, everyone stocked up on toilet paper and flour. You never knew which shelves would be empty the next time you ventured into a supermarket. It even became difficult to buy new laying hens since, suddenly, everyone wanted chickens. And everyone, it seems, wanted to grow their own food to be on the safe side.Once school was discontinued, my ten year…

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Apply for faculty positions or entry to master’s programme at Canada’s Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Maryse de la Giroday Science in Society, Technology and Engineering
I think the title for this post says it all. Faculty positions From an Oct. 13, 2020 Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) announcement (received via email), Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is inviting applications for tenure-track Faculty positions in Quantum Matter and Quantum Information Science. For more information please visit our website.We would be very grateful if you would circulate this information to outstanding early career candidates who may be interested in this opportunity.Perimeter…

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CREATORS – Tyler Hobbs

artthescience Communication, Education and Outreach
Name: Tyler Hobbs Which came first in your life, the science or the art? For me, art and science co-evolved in different stages. Growing up, I was always creating artwork, and I wanted to study that, but Computer Science ended up being a much more pragmatic thing to study during college. My love for artwork never subsided, though, and after working as a programmer for a short while, I renewed my focus on it. By…

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