News
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UBC statistician picks apart popular algorithm used to screen chlamydia
August 23, 2012
The US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has recognized UBC statistician Liangliang Wang for her research questioning the accuracy of a popular algorithm used in chlamydia screening tests.Wang and her co-authors used computer simulated scenarios to test the accuracy of the patient estimation… read more
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UBC researcher to help NASA peer deep into the centre of Mars
August 20, 2012
NASA has approved funding for the Mars InSight lander, a mission that will enable scientists, including UBC geophysicist Catherine Johnson, to gather the first seismic information from any planet other than Earth."We’ve all been captivated by the Mars Rover's stunning images of the surface… read more
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Global ocean health gets passing grade: UBC researchers
August 15, 2012
The health of the world’s oceans received a score of 60 out of 100 from a team of international scientists, including fisheries researchers at the University of British Columbia.The team undertook the first global quantitative assessment of ocean health and created the Ocean Health Index … read more
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Tiny airborne pollutants lead double life: UBC, Harvard research
July 30, 2012
University of British Columbia and Harvard researchers have provided visual evidence that atmospheric particles - which are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, especially above densely populated areas - separate into distinct chemical compositions during their life cycle.The observations could have… read more
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Single-cell parasites co-opt “ready-made” genes from host: UBC research
July 19, 2012
Two species of single-cell parasites have co-opted “ready-made” genes from their hosts that in turn help them exploit their hosts, according to a new study by University of British Columbia and University of Ottawa researchers.Part of a group of parasitic microbes called microsporidia,… read more
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Cutting Fleets Could Boost Global Fisheries' Value
July 16, 2012
Rebuilding global fisheries would make them five times more valuable while improving ecology, according to a new University of British Columbia study, published today in the online journal PLoS ONE.By reducing the size of the global fishing fleet, eliminating harmful government subsidies, and… read more
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Arctic Duck Diving Inspires Math Study on Dynamic Patterns
July 9, 2012
What do eider ducks hunting for sea urchins and bargain shoppers have in common? New research from UBC mathematician Leah Edelstein-Keshet and former post-doctoral fellows Nessy Tania, Ben Vanderlei and Joel Heath analyzes how social interactions can create evolving foraging patterns.The findings,… read more
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Seabirds study shows plastic pollution reaching surprising levels off coast of Pacific Northwest
July 4, 2012
Plastic pollution off the northwest coast of North America is reaching the level of the notoriously polluted North Sea, according to a new study led by a researcher at the University of British Columbia.The study, published online in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, examined stomach contents… read more
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UBC Faculty of Science awarded CREATE grants to train young researchers
June 26, 2012
University of British Columbia students and postdoctoral fellows in the fields of geochemistry and quantum sciences have received grants totaling $3.3 million from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The NSERC Collaborative Research and Training Experience … read more
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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