News
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Magnetic field at Martian surface ten times stronger than expected
February 24, 2020
New data gleaned from the magnetic sensor aboard NASA’s InSight spacecraft is offering an unprecedented close-up of magnetic fields on Mars. In a study published today in Nature Geosciences, scientists reveal that the magnetic field at the InSight landing site is ten times stronger than… read more
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Key part of 70-year-old quantum theory holds up in antimatter
February 19, 2020
A quantum theory based on experiments that shook up the world of conventional physics 70 years ago has just passed a major test—this time in antimatter. In 1947, physicists led by Willis Lamb observed an incredibly small shift in the energy levels of the hydrogen atom as the atom’s… read more
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Ocean fish farming in tropics and sub-tropics most impacted by climate change: UBC study
February 12, 2020
Diners may soon find more farmed oysters and fewer Atlantic salmon on their plates as climate change warms Canada’s Pacific coast. In a study published in Global Change Biology, researchers at the University of British Columbia looked at how climate change could impact 85 species of… read more
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Protist expert awarded top UBC research prize
February 6, 2020
Patrick Keeling, a botanist who studies protists, single-celled organisms with a complex evolutionary history, has been awarded UBC's top research accolade, the Jacob Biely Faculty Research Prize. Keeling's work has uncovered clues into the evolution of the parasites that cause diseases such as… read more
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New quantum switch turns metals into insulators
February 3, 2020
Most modern electronic devices rely on tiny, finely-tuned electrical currents to process and store information. These currents dictate how fast our computers run, how regularly our pacemakers tick and how securely our money is stored in the bank. In a study published in Nature Physics,… read more
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Women in Science: Malabika Pramanik
January 27, 2020
Women who say that they strongly self-identify with mathematics are less likely than men to pursue a major in math. Why does this happen and how can we improve diversity in STEM fields? UBC mathematician Malabika Pramanik says that we need to first acknowledge this issue and then analyze the… read more
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A new home for life science students at UBC
January 17, 2020
Students can now study for careers in the life sciences – including genetics, healthcare, conservation and ecology – in renovated and expanded Undergraduate Life Sciences Teaching Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. The $91-million project, officially opened today,… read more
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Mysterious fast radio burst tracked down to nearby galaxy
January 6, 2020
Astronomers in Europe, working with Canada’s CHIME Fast Radio Burst collaboration, have pinpointed the location of a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) first detected by the CHIME telescope in British Columbia in 2018. It's only the second time scientists have determined the precise location… read more
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New laser technique images quantum world in a trillionth of a second
December 10, 2019
For the first time, researchers have been able to record, frame-by-frame, how an electron interacts with certain atomic vibrations in a solid. The technique captures a process that commonly causes electrical resistance in materials while, in others, can cause the exact opposite—the absence… read more
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Tracking BC’s vanishing glaciers
December 4, 2019
Western Canada’s glaciers are retreating quickly in the face of climate change, potentially putting BC’s water supply, agricultural output and power production at risk. UBC geophysicist Valentina Radic is working to improve projections of glacier loss, and its impact on stream flow and… read more