News

March 12, 2015
Adriana Suarez-Gonzalez Plants feed us, give us shelter and clothing, and even provide biofuel. But pathogens are a constant threat, and fungi or bacteria can wipe out entire crops. Xin Li and her team at Michael Smith Laboratories have discovered that plants with an excessive amount of certain...
March 11, 2015
Microbiologists at the University of British Columbia have uncovered a novel mechanism that boosts B-cells’ sensitivity to extremely small amounts of foreign molecules. The immune system typically combines signals from B-cell antigen receptors (which distinguish foreign molecules) and Toll-like...
March 10, 2015
An international team of researchers has used infinitely short light pulses to observe ultrafast changes in the electron-level properties of superconductors, setting a new standard for temporal resolution in the field. The scientists—from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, the University of...
March 6, 2015
University of British Columbia researchers have found a new way to make state-of-the-art materials for energy storage using a cheap lamp from the hardware store. The researchers wanted to find a better way to make coatings that can be painted onto surfaces to conduct electricity or convert...
March 4, 2015
Take a closer look at local insect life in shutterbug, an exhibition of Ian Lane’s photography at UBC’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. This interactive family-friendly feature exhibition runs from March 11, 2015 – September 6, 2015. Ian Lane was a member of Nature Vancouver. An amateur photographer and...
February 23, 2015
The ancestors of a large family of parasites—including those that cause malaria—were equipped to become parasites much earlier in their lineage than previously assumed, according to University of British Columbia (UBC) research. The work, published in PNAS, traces the emergence of parasitism among...
February 20, 2015
UBC oceanographer Stephanie Waterman has been selected as a 2015 Alfred Sloan Research Fellow, receiving $50,000 to further her research. The two-year fellowships honour the achievements of outstanding young scholars in science, mathematics, economics and computer science in Canada and the US....
February 17, 2015
UBC Science research on urban pest infestations and responsible resource development are the focus of awards announced today by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Kaylee Byers and Rowan Cockett have been awarded NSERC’s $10,000 Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prize...
February 16, 2015
UBC professor Sara Harris has won a 3M National Teaching Fellowship for her work developing an online class looking at the science behind climate change, and potential policy responses to the global issue. Together with UBC colleague Sarah Burch (now with the University of Waterloo), Harris...
February 12, 2015
Closing the high seas to commercial fishing could distribute fisheries income more equitably among the world’s maritime nations, according to research from the University of British Columbia (UBC). The analysis of fisheries data indicates that if increased spillover of fish stocks from protected...

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