News
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Where should our digital data go after we die? UBC study explores possibilities
May 6, 2021
People want control over what personal digital data is passed along after they die, along with tools to make it easier to do so, according to a new case study by computer science researchers at the University of British Columbia. On the other hand, people found the idea of creating AI-powered… read more
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UBC-grown biotech leads global pandemic efforts
April 26, 2021
Millions of Canadians have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, but what many may not realize is that a key component of the injection was developed right here at UBC. Acuitas Therapeutics, a UBC spin-off company co-founded by Dr. Pieter Cullis, developed the lipid nanoparticle… read more
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Why so Siri-ous? Striving to create natural voice agents
April 13, 2021
While voice user interface agents like Siri and Alexa are now commonplace, their designers are still striving to make their conversation ever more natural. But what does ‘natural’ mean for a human-agent conversation? A new study by UBC computer scientists investigates what designers… read more
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Discovery of new liquid phases in aerosol particles could better explain how air pollutants interact with the atmosphere
April 12, 2021
Scientists, led by researchers at the University of British Columbia, have discovered three liquid phases in aerosol particles, changing our understanding of air pollutants in the Earth’s atmosphere. While aerosol particles were known to contain up to two liquid phases, the discovery of an… read more
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Against anti-Asian racism and violence
April 8, 2021
Last week members of the UBC Science community joined together in a community of care in support of faculty, staff and students impacted by increased anti-Asian violence and words of hate in Vancouver, across Canada, and internationally. We can't express how profoundly disturbed we are by this… read more
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Aquatic biodiversity key to sustainable, nutrient-rich diets
April 5, 2021
Seafood is a pillar of global food security—long recognized for its protein content. But research is highlighting a critical new link between the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems and the micronutrient-rich seafood diets that help combat micronutrient deficiencies, or ‘hidden hunger… read more
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Canadian-built laser chills antimatter to near absolute zero for first time
March 31, 2021
Researchers with the CERN-based ALPHA collaboration have announced the world’s first laser-based manipulation of antimatter, leveraging a made-in-Canada laser system to cool a sample of antimatter down to near absolute zero. The achievement, detailed in an article published… read more
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Mystery of photosynthetic algae evolution finally solved
March 30, 2021
New research in Nature Communications details the painstaking unraveling and reconstruction of a key protein in a single-celled, photosynthetic organism called a cryptophyte, a type of algae that evolved over a billion years ago. Up until now, how cryptophytes acquired the proteins used to… read more
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From modest digs at UBC, Canadian Earth science journal celebrates 100 years
March 11, 2021
The Canadian Mineralogist, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers from worldwide authors on all aspects of mineralogy, crystallography, petrology, geochemistry and mineral deposits, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. In typical Canadian fashion, the journal operates on… read more
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Blue herons identified as a significant juvenile salmon predator
March 8, 2021
Pacific great blue herons could be scooping up as many as three percent of all juvenile salmon and as many as six percent in some years with low water flow, according to a new University of British Columbia study. The study, published in The Canadian Journal of Zoology, is the first to estimate… read more