News
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UBC Researchers Share in Cosmology's Most Prestigious Prize
June 20, 2012
Two UBC researchers have been awarded the 2012 Gruber Cosmology Prize for their work as part of a 2003 NASA mission that pinpointed the age of the Universe at 13.75 billion years.UBC Physics and Astronomy professors Mark Halpern and Gary Hinshaw will share the $500,000 award with NASA Wilkinson… read more
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Simon Peacock Reappointed to Second Term as Dean of Science
June 13, 2012
Simon Peacock, recruited to UBC in 2006 from Arizona State University, has been appointed to a second six-year term as Dean of Science. His second term will run July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2018. "Under Dean Peacock's leadership the Faculty has made outstanding achievements across undergraduate… read more
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Loss of Biodiversity Increasingly Threatens Human Well-Being: UBC, University of Michigan Research
June 6, 2012
The loss of the planet’s biological diversity is increasingly threatening Mother Nature’s ability to provide humans with goods and services like food, water, fodder, fertile soils, and protection from pests and disease, according to a sweeping review of 20 years of research by an… read more
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New Malaria Treatment Approach Shown Effective
June 1, 2012
Anti-inflammatory agents developed by UBC microbiologist Robert Hancock, used in combination with anti-malarial drugs, have been shown to boost survival rates of severe malaria by as much as 50 per cent.Malaria kills up to one million people worldwide every year, particularly children under five… read more
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Sensory Organ in Whale's Jaw Coordinates Mechanics of Lunge-Feeding: UBC, Smithsonian Researchers
May 23, 2012
UBC zoologists and researchers at the Smithsonian Institution have discovered a sensory organ in rorqual whales that coordinates its signature lunge-feeding behaviour – and may help explain their enormous size. Rorquals are a subgroup of baleen whales – including blue, fin, minke and… read more
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UBC Outreach Programs Receive PromoScience Funding
May 17, 2012
Three UBC outreach initiatives will get a boost from NSERC’s PromoScience Program this year, with the Michael Smith Laboratories, Life Science Institute and Pacific Museum of the Earth receiving a total of $90,000 in funding from the national competition.The grants will enable UBC's Life… read more
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UBC Research Breaks Down Seaweed's Survival Techniques
May 10, 2012
UBC botanists have placed seaweed in the underwater equivalent of a wind tunnel to get a better idea of how different types of algae withstand the onslaught of strong waves and currents.The findings, published in the American Journal of Botany, show that bladed and branched seaweeds take very… read more
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H1N1 Discovery Could Pave Way for Universal Flu Vaccine
May 8, 2012
UBC immunologists have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations.Each year, seasonal influenza causes serious illnesses in three to five million people and 200,000 to 500,000 deaths. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic killed more than 14,000… read more
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UBC Researcher Elected to UK's Royal Society
April 23, 2012
A UBC professor of Chemistry who studies how enzymes function, engineers them for use in industrial applications, and develops inhibitors as potential therapeutics has been elected to the Royal Society.Stephen Withers, Director of UBC's Centre for High-Throughput Biology, was elected to the United… read more
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Global Jellyfish Populations Increasing
April 18, 2012
Jellyfish are increasing in the majority of the world's coastal ecosystems, according to the first global study of jellyfish abundance by University of British Columbia researchers.In a study published in this month's edition of the journal Hydrobiologia, UBC scientists examined data for numerous… read more