Science

In this March 2021 file photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the company’s facility in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer via AP)

COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say

Researchers used data from 185 countries

In this March 2021 file photo provided by Pfizer, vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are prepared for packaging at the company’s facility in Puurs, Belgium. (Pfizer via AP)
The Canadian Coast Guard ship called John P. Tully has been used to bring scientists to the Explorer Seamount — Canada’s largest underwater mountain. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)

West Coast expedition off B.C. explores never-before-seen deep-sea habitat

‘We are going to habitats that nobody’s mapped before, that nobody’s seen before’

The Canadian Coast Guard ship called John P. Tully has been used to bring scientists to the Explorer Seamount — Canada’s largest underwater mountain. (Devon Bidal/News Staff)
Photo Description: The CLS located at the University of Saskatchewan. Courtesy: Frank Chen/Asia Times

B.C. researchers using lights brighter than the sun to curb hip implant failures

UBC-led team has discovered chemical particles corroding the body as it fights the new joint

Photo Description: The CLS located at the University of Saskatchewan. Courtesy: Frank Chen/Asia Times
Bioform’s Rami Younes (right) and Jordan MacKenzie (left) showing a sheet of the bioplastic. (Credit: Kai Jacobson/UBC Applied Science)

UBC scientists aim to put plastic in the past with 2 new inventions

Biodegradable product could replace plastic, unique coating could extend its life

Bioform’s Rami Younes (right) and Jordan MacKenzie (left) showing a sheet of the bioplastic. (Credit: Kai Jacobson/UBC Applied Science)
Spallanzani infectious disease hospital director Francesco Vaia talks to reporters during a press conference, in Rome, Friday, May 20, 2022. Vaia said that three cases of monkeypox have been confirmed and isolated at the Spallanzani hospital in two patients who traveled to the Canary islands, and one to Vienna. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

African scientists baffled by monkeypox cases in Europe, US

France, Germany, Belgium and Australia confirmed their first cases of monkeypox on Friday

Spallanzani infectious disease hospital director Francesco Vaia talks to reporters during a press conference, in Rome, Friday, May 20, 2022. Vaia said that three cases of monkeypox have been confirmed and isolated at the Spallanzani hospital in two patients who traveled to the Canary islands, and one to Vienna. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray points to a video display of a UAP during a hearing of the House Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Congress dives into UFOs, but no signs of extraterrestrials

‘We want to know what’s out there as much as you’

Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray points to a video display of a UAP during a hearing of the House Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence, and Counterproliferation Subcommittee hearing on “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena,” on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
This Feb. 10, 2022, image released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows Msituni, a giraffe calf born with an unusual disorder that caused her legs to bend the wrong way, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, north of San Diego. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

Bracing for her future: Human medicine rescues giraffe

Calf was born with her front limb bending the wrong way

This Feb. 10, 2022, image released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows Msituni, a giraffe calf born with an unusual disorder that caused her legs to bend the wrong way, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, north of San Diego. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)
This image released by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Thursday, May 12, 2022, shows a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A*, near the border of Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations. It is 4 million times more massive than our sun. The image was made by eight synchronized radio telescopes around the world. (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration via AP)

Astronomers capture 1st image of Milky Way’s huge black hole

‘It burbled and gurgled as we looked at it’

This image released by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, Thursday, May 12, 2022, shows a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A*, near the border of Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations. It is 4 million times more massive than our sun. The image was made by eight synchronized radio telescopes around the world. (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration via AP)
Kim Venn at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 2022. (Courtesy of UVic Photo Services)

University of Victoria astronomer’s team finds traces of first stars

Metal-poor cluster on outer edge of Milky Way galaxy a grouping of ancient stars

Kim Venn at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 2022. (Courtesy of UVic Photo Services)
A bee searches for pollen on a flower during a sunny spring day in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, April 8, 2022. A study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 says habitat loss from big agriculture and climate change are combining to threaten the world’s insects. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Climate change, big agriculture combine to threaten insects

Scientists have noticed dramatic drop in total bug numbers

A bee searches for pollen on a flower during a sunny spring day in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, April 8, 2022. A study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, April 20, 2022 says habitat loss from big agriculture and climate change are combining to threaten the world’s insects. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
This 1974 microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows changes in cells indicative of adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Some doctors say it’s time to rename low-grade prostate cancer to eliminate the alarming C word. About 34,000 Americans die from prostate cancer annually, but most prostate cancers are harmless. A paper published Monday, April 18, 2022 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is reviving a debate about dropping the word “cancer” when patients learn the results of these low-risk biopsy findings. (Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr./CDC via AP)

Doctors suggest new names for low-grade prostate cancer

Medical professionals look to eliminate alarming word

This 1974 microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows changes in cells indicative of adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Some doctors say it’s time to rename low-grade prostate cancer to eliminate the alarming C word. About 34,000 Americans die from prostate cancer annually, but most prostate cancers are harmless. A paper published Monday, April 18, 2022 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is reviving a debate about dropping the word “cancer” when patients learn the results of these low-risk biopsy findings. (Dr. Edwin P. Ewing, Jr./CDC via AP)
What do we know about ‘stealth omicron’ so far? (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

SCIENCE: What do we know about ‘stealth omicron’ so far?

Now the dominant coronavirus version in the U.S.

What do we know about ‘stealth omicron’ so far? (AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)
Vials of blood from a participant in a clinical study of the effectiveness of a new liquid biopsy technology are packaged for shipment at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore., on March 14, 2022. The clinical trial will follow hundreds of participants for three years to see if signals of any cancers that participants later develop were present in their blood. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

Can cancer blood tests live up to their promise of saving lives?

U.S. government researchers are planning a large experiment to test effectiveness

Vials of blood from a participant in a clinical study of the effectiveness of a new liquid biopsy technology are packaged for shipment at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore., on March 14, 2022. The clinical trial will follow hundreds of participants for three years to see if signals of any cancers that participants later develop were present in their blood. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
Physical forces conspire against Dustin Haracka and his ‘Batmobile’ as he tries to navigate a downhill slalom course during the first Vancouver Island University Engineering Soapbox Race on Thursday, April 7. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Nanaimo engineering students come to grips with gravity at soapbox derby

VIU Engineering Club holds race day, hopes to make it an annual event

Physical forces conspire against Dustin Haracka and his ‘Batmobile’ as he tries to navigate a downhill slalom course during the first Vancouver Island University Engineering Soapbox Race on Thursday, April 7. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
Mandy Hobkirk, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region coordinator, uses the iNaturalist app to examine flowers at Vancouver Island University campus. (Vancouver Island University photo)

‘Citizen scientists’ asked to help take inventory of mid Island’s ecosystems

VIU research institute hosting BioBlitz from April 8-10

Mandy Hobkirk, Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region coordinator, uses the iNaturalist app to examine flowers at Vancouver Island University campus. (Vancouver Island University photo)
An Asian giant hornet from Japan is held on a pin by Sven Spichiger, an entomologist with the Washington state Dept. of Agriculture in Olympia, Wash. in May 2020. University of California researchers are now looking into using sex pheromones to trap male Asian giant hornets and reduce mating. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

Sex traps could muzzle mating of Asian giant ‘murder hornets,’ slow spread to B.C.

Researchers experimenting with ensnaring male hornets with sex pheromones

An Asian giant hornet from Japan is held on a pin by Sven Spichiger, an entomologist with the Washington state Dept. of Agriculture in Olympia, Wash. in May 2020. University of California researchers are now looking into using sex pheromones to trap male Asian giant hornets and reduce mating. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
The mother tree experiment involves monitoring regrowth after selective harvesting in B.C. forests. (Submitted photo)

Experts are looking into how mother trees can help reduce risk of wildfires in northern B.C.

Network of ‘mother trees’ keeps forests healthy, says UBC researcher

The mother tree experiment involves monitoring regrowth after selective harvesting in B.C. forests. (Submitted photo)
When he established his lab at the University of British Columbia in the 1980s, Vancouver biochemistry professor Pieter Cullis, as shown in this handout image, says he never could have fathomed that his “curiosity-based” research would eventually play a critical role in the development of vaccines that have benefitted hundreds of millions of people across the globe. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-COURTESY OF MANUFACTURER-Paul Joseph

UBC biochemist wins Gairdner Award for role in COVID-19 vaccines

Pieter Cullis and his ‘curiosity-based’ research honoured for pioneering work

When he established his lab at the University of British Columbia in the 1980s, Vancouver biochemistry professor Pieter Cullis, as shown in this handout image, says he never could have fathomed that his “curiosity-based” research would eventually play a critical role in the development of vaccines that have benefitted hundreds of millions of people across the globe. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-COURTESY OF MANUFACTURER-Paul Joseph
A participant at a rally for old-growth forest conservation outside the B.C. legislature on Feb. 14.(Jake Romphf/News Staff)

90 scientists ask feds to protect carbon-rich old forests in upcoming climate plan

Canada is home to about 16 per cent of the world’s remaining old-growth forests

A participant at a rally for old-growth forest conservation outside the B.C. legislature on Feb. 14.(Jake Romphf/News Staff)
Niobe Thompson, left, is the co-director of Carbon – The Unauthorised Biography. (Photo courtesy of Carbon - The Unauthorised Biography)

Victoria filmmaker’s new doc explores the ‘wonderful and horrible irony’ of carbon

Carbon transitions from foundational element for life to one everyone loves to hate

Niobe Thompson, left, is the co-director of Carbon – The Unauthorised Biography. (Photo courtesy of Carbon - The Unauthorised Biography)