Science

Hundreds of people march along Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during a so-called Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

OPINION: The staggering socioeconomic costs of COVID anti-vaxxer behaviour

COVID-is-a-hoax crowd caused thousands more deaths, hundreds of millions in hospital costs: report

Hundreds of people march along Yale Road near Hodgins Avenue during a so-called Fraser Valley Freedom Rally on Saturday, April 3, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)
This photo made available by NASA shows the planet Jupiter, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, on June 27, 2019. On Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, scientists said they have discovered 12 new moons around the gas giant, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system. (NASA, ESA, A. Simon/Goddard Space Flight Center, M.H. Wong/University of California, Berkeley via AP)

Jupiter’s moon count jumps to 92, most in solar system

Astronomers have discovered 12 new moons around Jupiter, putting the total count…

This photo made available by NASA shows the planet Jupiter, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, on June 27, 2019. On Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, scientists said they have discovered 12 new moons around the gas giant, putting the total count at a record-breaking 92. That's more than any other planet in our solar system. (NASA, ESA, A. Simon/Goddard Space Flight Center, M.H. Wong/University of California, Berkeley via AP)
Dr. Eric Tran is an associate member at the Providence Cancer Institute in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Ucluelet Secondary in 2000. (Submitted photo)

From high school MVP to PhD: Meet the Ucluelet Secondary grad making strides in curing cancer

Dr. Eric Tran is part of a scientific research team pioneering breakthroughs in eradicating cancer

Dr. Eric Tran is an associate member at the Providence Cancer Institute in Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Ucluelet Secondary in 2000. (Submitted photo)
Ann Makosinski is currently collecting perspectives to inform her pending book The Inventing Mindset, alongside finishing that degree at UVic and judging a major Samsung STEM competition. (Christine van Reeuwk/News Staff)

Saanich’s Google science wonder kid is now a modern Renaissance woman

10 years later, Ann Makosinski looks to pen her first book – The Inventing Mindset

Ann Makosinski is currently collecting perspectives to inform her pending book The Inventing Mindset, alongside finishing that degree at UVic and judging a major Samsung STEM competition. (Christine van Reeuwk/News Staff)
A northeast B.C. dinosaur footprint compared to a human foot. (District of Hudson’s Hope website)

Theft of dinosaur footprints in northeast B.C. lands Alberta man jail time, $15K fine

Bennward Ingram sentenced to 25 days in jail and $15,000 fine for role in vandalizing protected site

A northeast B.C. dinosaur footprint compared to a human foot. (District of Hudson’s Hope website)
Visitors view artist Refik Anadol’s “Unsupervised” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in New York. The new AI-generated installation is meant to be a thought-provoking interpretation of the New York City museum’s prestigious collection. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Learning to lie: AI tools proving adept at creating disinformation

‘I think what’s clear is that in the wrong hands there’s going to be a lot of trouble’

Visitors view artist Refik Anadol’s “Unsupervised” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, in New York. The new AI-generated installation is meant to be a thought-provoking interpretation of the New York City museum’s prestigious collection. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows decreased functional connectivity in the human brain after exposure to traffic pollution. (Courtesy UBC Faculty of Medicine)

Traffic pollution can impair brain function, say UVic and UBC researchers

Groundbreaking study finds even brief exposures have adverse effects on human brain

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows decreased functional connectivity in the human brain after exposure to traffic pollution. (Courtesy UBC Faculty of Medicine)
Fish swim in a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia in a handout photo. Fish, it turns out, are a chatty lot. They communicate about everything from what area of the sea has the best food to where predators might be hiding and, of course, their desire for for a mate. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Simon Fraser University-Kieran Cox

Fish sounds could help scientists understand their ocean world

Scientists say acoustic monitoring can answer numerous questions related to ecology, evolution

Fish swim in a coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia in a handout photo. Fish, it turns out, are a chatty lot. They communicate about everything from what area of the sea has the best food to where predators might be hiding and, of course, their desire for for a mate. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Simon Fraser University-Kieran Cox
Travis Baker, assistant professor at Rutgers University-Newark’s Centre for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, is developing technology to treat substance-use disorders. (Photo submitted)

VIU alum now working abroad researching magnetic stimulation to treat substance abuse

Nanaimo’s Travis Baker earns $2.5-million grant for research at Rutgers University-Newark

Travis Baker, assistant professor at Rutgers University-Newark’s Centre for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, is developing technology to treat substance-use disorders. (Photo submitted)
FILE - A boat navigates at night next to large icebergs near the town of Kulusuk, in eastern Greenland on Aug. 15, 2019. A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7 degrees (1.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to new ice core data. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

New ice core analysis shows sharp Greenland warming spike

Warming spike mirrors a sudden rise in the amount of water running off Greenland ice

FILE - A boat navigates at night next to large icebergs near the town of Kulusuk, in eastern Greenland on Aug. 15, 2019. A sharp spike in Greenland temperatures since 1995 showed the giant northern island 2.7 degrees (1.5 degrees Celsius) hotter than its 20th-century average, the warmest in more than 1,000 years, according to new ice core data. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)
Members of the City and Borough of Juneau City Assembly during a Zoom meeting. (Screenshot)

‘Zoom fatigue’: New study suggests human brains need in-person interaction

Montreal researchers find brains ‘synchronize’ better when people are talking in person

Members of the City and Borough of Juneau City Assembly during a Zoom meeting. (Screenshot)
A statement from the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces says they’ve confirmed remains recovered in Vendin-le-Vieil, in northern France are those of Corporal Percy Howarth, who is believed to have died in the Battle of Hill 70 in 1917. The facade of the headquarters of the Department of National Defence is pictured in Ottawa, on April 3, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

A whistle, a watch and DNA identify B.C. soldier 106 years after death in France

Remains discovered in 2011, but it would be another decade before Cpl. Percy Howarth was identified

A statement from the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces says they’ve confirmed remains recovered in Vendin-le-Vieil, in northern France are those of Corporal Percy Howarth, who is believed to have died in the Battle of Hill 70 in 1917. The facade of the headquarters of the Department of National Defence is pictured in Ottawa, on April 3, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)

Bacteria harvested from B.C.’s coastline fight COVID-19 in a new and exciting way

UBC researchers have identified 3 compounds with long-term promise

Co-first author Jimena Pérez-Vargas works in the UBC Facility for Infectious Disease and Epidemic Research, studying natural compounds that can be used to fight COVID-19. (Credit: Paul Joseph)
This colorized electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in November 2022, shows cells, indicated in purple, infected with the omicron strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, orange, isolated from a patient sample, captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. (NIAID/NIH via AP)

‘Kraken’ as a COVID subvariant name beats ‘alphabet soup’ moniker: biologist

Canadian scientist proposing snappy names to better inform the public

This colorized electron microscope image made available by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in November 2022, shows cells, indicated in purple, infected with the omicron strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, orange, isolated from a patient sample, captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. (NIAID/NIH via AP)
Emily Lu, a student in the environment science graduate program at Ohio State, tries to extract ribonucleic acid (RNA) from wastewater samples to test for fragments of the coronavirus, March 23, 2022 at a school lab in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)

Canadian scientists watching for new COVID variants in airplane wastewater

‘A sentinel system for new variants — that’s really where we see the value add of airport testing’

Emily Lu, a student in the environment science graduate program at Ohio State, tries to extract ribonucleic acid (RNA) from wastewater samples to test for fragments of the coronavirus, March 23, 2022 at a school lab in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Patrick Orsagos)
Mothers breastfeed their babies during a worldwide breastfeeding event Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 in suburban Taguig City, south of Manila, Philippines. A Canadian study suggests children who were not breastfed while receiving antibiotics in the first year of life had triple the risk of developing asthma because they lacked specific protective sugars found in human milk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Pat Roque

Kids prescribed antibiotics but not fed breast milk at triple risk of asthma: study

Medications have been linked with disrupting the development of a healthy gut microbiome

Mothers breastfeed their babies during a worldwide breastfeeding event Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 in suburban Taguig City, south of Manila, Philippines. A Canadian study suggests children who were not breastfed while receiving antibiotics in the first year of life had triple the risk of developing asthma because they lacked specific protective sugars found in human milk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Pat Roque
Exhibitor Toru Yamanaka wears a Loovic augmented reality device during CES Unveiled before the start of the CES tech show, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. The IoT device, worn around the neck, uses tactile notifications and bone conduction audio to help guide the user without having to constantly look at a map app on their phone. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Best of CES 2023: Electric skates, pet tech and AI for birds

Tech companies of all sizes are showing off their latest products at…

Exhibitor Toru Yamanaka wears a Loovic augmented reality device during CES Unveiled before the start of the CES tech show, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. The IoT device, worn around the neck, uses tactile notifications and bone conduction audio to help guide the user without having to constantly look at a map app on their phone. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A mammal’s foot is seen inside the belly of a fossil of a crow-sized, birdlike dinosaur in an undated handout photo. University of Alberta paleontologist Corwin Sullivan says the fossil is an exceedingly rare glimpse into not only how these ancient animals looked, but into how they behaved and what their environment was like. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta, Alex Dececci

Dining dinosaur fossil has mammal in belly, sheds light on ancient ecosystems

A rare fossil of a dining dinosaur is shedding new light on…

A mammal’s foot is seen inside the belly of a fossil of a crow-sized, birdlike dinosaur in an undated handout photo. University of Alberta paleontologist Corwin Sullivan says the fossil is an exceedingly rare glimpse into not only how these ancient animals looked, but into how they behaved and what their environment was like. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-University of Alberta, Alex Dececci
People pass by large letters spelling out UBC at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on Nov. 22, 2015. Four British Columbia universities will receive $4.3 million from a government research and innovation program to help fund projects in the fields of health, technology and natural resources. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. universities to receive $4.3 million for innovation research funding: minister

Bulk of the funding going to existing projects at the Vancouver and Okanagan UBC campuses

People pass by large letters spelling out UBC at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on Nov. 22, 2015. Four British Columbia universities will receive $4.3 million from a government research and innovation program to help fund projects in the fields of health, technology and natural resources. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - This photo made available by NASA was taken during the first drive of the Perseverance rover on Mars on March 4, 2021. A NASA rover on Mars by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed overhead and caught the sound. Scientists released the first-of-its-kind audio Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP, File)

Mars rover captures 1st sound of dust devil on red planet

What’s a dust devil sound like on Mars? A NASA rover by…

FILE - This photo made available by NASA was taken during the first drive of the Perseverance rover on Mars on March 4, 2021. A NASA rover on Mars by chance had its microphone on when a whirling tower of red dust passed overhead and caught the sound. Scientists released the first-of-its-kind audio Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP, File)