News
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First-Ever Global Map of Surface Permeability Could Bring New Insights Into Water Supply, Climate Modelling
January 24, 2011
UBC researchers have produced the first map of the world outlining the ease of fluid flow through the planet's porous surface rocks and sediments.The maps and data, published in Geophysical Research Letters, could help improve water resource management and climate modelling, and eventually lead to… read more
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Wave-Generated ‘White Hole’ Boosts Hawking Radiation Theory: UBC Research
January 17, 2011
A team of UBC physicists and engineers have designed an experiment featuring a trough of flowing water to help bolster a 35-year-old theory proposed by eminent physicist Stephen Hawking.In 1974, Hawking predicted that black holes--often thought of having gravitational pulls so strong that nothing… read more
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Genes Contribute to Sockeye Mortality: First Major Biotelemetry, Genomics Study
January 13, 2011
Fraser River sockeye salmon with a certain genomic profile are more likely to die before spawning, contributing to the recent declines in British Columbian salmon, according to a new study by UBC and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.For the study, researchers conducted non-lethal biopsies and then… read more
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UBC Astronomers Help Crunch New Planck Satellite Data, Reveal Never-Before-Seen Galaxy Clusters
January 11, 2011
University of British Columbia researchers are part of European Space Agency’s Plank satellite mission that is revealing thousands of “exotic” astronomical objects, including extremely cold dust clouds, galaxies with powerful nuclei, and giant clusters of galaxies.The… read more
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Mountain Glacier Melt to Contribute 12 Centimetres to World Sea-Level Increases by 2100
January 9, 2011
Melt off from small mountain glaciers and ice caps will contribute about 12 centimetres to world sea-level increases by 2100, according to UBC research published this week in Nature Geoscience.The largest contributors to projected global sea-level increases are glaciers in Arctic Canada, Alaska… read more
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Tricorders and Earth-Like Planets: The Final Frontier or The Next Big Thing?
January 6, 2011
UBC Science researchers predict Star Trek-style medical ‘Tricorders’ and the discovery of Earth-like planets in the January issue of UBC Reports, The Next Big Thing.This is the fifth year that UBC Reports has asked UBC experts to identify advances that may transform the world. The 2011… read more
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Lights, Camera, Simulation!
January 5, 2011
UBC computer scientist Robert Bridson reviews the state-of-the-art in physics-based animation in a new Perspective article in Science."The movement and collisions of rigid bodies have long been the mainstay of physics-based animation, but modelling and integrating frictional contact remains a… read more
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Greenland Ice Sheet Flow Driven by Short-Term Weather Extremes, Not Gradual Warming
December 8, 2010
Sudden changes in the volume of meltwater contribute more to the accelerated spread--and eventual loss--of the Greenland ice sheet than increases in temperatures, according to a new study by a UBC glaciologist.The ice sheet consists of layers of compressed snow and covers roughly 80 per cent of… read more
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UBC Chemistry Appoints New Head
December 3, 2010
Professor Mike Fryzuk, a well-known inorganic chemist and former Associate Dean of Science, has been appointed head of the Department of Chemistry.Fryzuk is internationally recognized for his research on the design and synthesis of novel transition metal complexes. He earned his PhD from the… read more
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New CRC to Focus on Nanoscience, Joins Eight Renewals at UBC Science
December 1, 2010
Sarah Burke, an expert in nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic materials, has been appointed as a new Canada Research Chair (CRC), joining eight UBC Science CRCs renewed in the latest round of funding.In total, research at the University of British Columbia received a $20-million boost with the… read more