News
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Sparking a Passion for Chemistry in Rural BC
September 11, 2013
Children in remote areas are exposed to less hands-on science than their urban peers. One UBC Science program is working to change that. It’s a typical vacation-gone-wrong story: You arrive at your destination only to to find the chemistry supplies you meticulously packed and shipped haven… read more
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UBC researcher donates MacArthur ‘genius’ grant to biodiversity training program
September 9, 2013
UBC zoologist Sarah Otto is using the second installment of a MacArthur 'genius grant' to help connect young research talent with agencies tackling conservation and biodiversity-related issues. Otto’s gift of $100,000 will launch an endowment to provide on-going support for the university… read more
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‘Trojan’ asteroids in far reaches of Solar System more common than previously thought: UBC research
August 29, 2013
UBC astronomers have discovered the first Trojan asteroid sharing the orbit of Uranus, and believe 2011 QF99 is part of a larger-than-expected population of transient objects temporarily trapped by the gravitational pull of the Solar System’s giant planets. Trojans are asteroids that share… read more
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Marine life migrating to cooler habitats 12 times faster than land animals
August 6, 2013
Marine species are migrating toward the poles as much as 12 times faster than land-based species as a result of the warming climate, according to a new study by an international team of scientists. The study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows marine species… read more
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Captured: Mysterious oyster killers
July 25, 2013
University of British Columbia researchers have apprehended tiny, elusive parasites that have plagued oysters from British Columbia to California. First reported in 1960, Denman Island disease is caused by Mikrocytos mackini, a parasite that infects mainly Pacific oysters, and leads to unsightly… read more
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UBC physicists catch neutrinos “In the act”
July 18, 2013
Today at the prestigious European Physical Society meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, a new breakthrough in our understanding of neutrinos, nature’s most elusive particle, was announced. The T2K collaboration, which consists of scientists from Canada, Japan, and nine other nations, confirmed… read more
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Stars’ orbital dance reveals a generation gap: UBC, NASA research
July 18, 2013
UBC astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to track the orbital motion of 33,000 stars in one of the Galaxy’s oldest globular clusters, offering new insights into the formation of the Milky Way. The careful examination of ‘cosmic choreography’ enabled researchers,… read more
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Genomic survey of microbial ‘dark matter’ sheds light on BC’s unseen biodiversity
July 14, 2013
A landmark single-cell genomic study of microorgansims from sites across the globe is underscoring British Columbia's role as an 'oasis' of biodiversity. The findings, to be published Sunday in Nature, could also prompt scientists to redefine how the tree of life represents relationships among and… read more
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UBC zoologists develop bird vaccine for West Nile Virus
July 9, 2013
UBC zoologists have developed a vaccine that may halt the spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) among common and endangered bird species. WNV, a mosquito borne pathogen, arrived in North America in 1999 and is now endemic across the continent. In 2012 alone, WNV killed 286 people in the United States,… read more
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New director of UBC Life Sciences Institute brings a focus on personalized medicine
July 5, 2013
Pieter Cullis, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has been appointed as the new Director of the UBC Life Sciences Institute. As director, Cullis will work to nurture, expand and coordinate the work of the LSI's nine research groups and their scientists, and to… read more