News
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Discovery of Land Plant Characteristic in Seaweed May be Evolutionary Curve Ball
January 27, 2009
A chemical vital to the self-supporting nature of land plants--and thought unique to them--has been found in marine algae by a team of researchers including scientists at UBC and Stanford University. Lignin, a substance that strengthens cell walls and enables land plants to sprout upward through… read more
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Physics, Computer Science Stand Out in Killams
January 26, 2009
Researchers in the departments of Physics and Astronomy and Computer Science stood out in this year's Killam research award series—one of UBC's most prestigious internal competitions. Fellowships are designed to assist promising faculty members who wish to devote full time to research, and… read more
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UBC Animation Research Breathes Reality into Inkheart Monster
January 23, 2009
The Shadow—the smoke and ash monster featured in the finale of the new adventure film Inkheart—has Robert Bridson to thank for its frighteningly realistic 'good' looks. Algorithms created by the assistant professor with Computer Science's Imager and Scientific Computing labs played a… read more
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Astronomy Students Act Out: Form Human Model of Solar System
January 22, 2009
An inventive update to an astronomy course at UBC is giving students a hands-on feel for the scale, structure and motion of the Solar System. The Human Orrey Project--supported by UBC's Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative--involves 40 students placing sticky notes on the floor of the Irving… read more
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Environmental, Computing Research Highlight New Science CFI Funding
January 16, 2009
Eight UBC Science researchers have recieved a total of $660,000 in support in the latest round of Canada Foundation for Innovation Leaders Opportunity funding. Newly funded projects look at a range of issues, including the impact of human activity on African savannas, global change, numerical… read more
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Bonn Named Head of Physics and Astronomy
January 6, 2009
Professor Doug Bonn has been named head of UBC's Department of Physics and Astronomy, effective January 1, 2009. Bonn's research into the electromagnetic properties of high-temperature superconductors has helped make UBC a world leader in the area, and his administrative contributions include… read more
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UBC researchers peek into pressure valve under Vancouver Island
January 5, 2009
UBC researchers have unearthed new insights into the role that trapped liquids play along a portion of a major fault line off British Columbia's coast, including the possibility that water escaping from pores in the ocean crust deep beneath Vancouver Island might be the cause of regular tremors. … read more
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UBC Cosmologists Poke Holes in Anti-Copernican 'Void' Theory
December 18, 2008
New number crunching by UBC researchers strongly refutes recent theories that propose the Earth holds a central position in the Universe. Advanced analysis and modeling by Physics and Astronomy post-docs Jim Zibin and Adam Moss and astronomy professor Douglas Scott have debunked 'void theory'… read more
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UBC Advances to Battle of the Brains Final Despite Upset
December 10, 2008
Despite being upset by teams from Berkeley and Stanford in the regionals of the International Collegiate Programming contest, UBC has been awarded a wildcard spot in the competition's world finals based on their strong fourth-place finish in a difficult Pacific Northwest Region. Computer Science… read more
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Barlow Awarded Canada's Premier Mathematics Prize
December 9, 2008
UBC mathematician Martin Barlow--the leading international expert in diffusion on fractals--has been awarded the 2009 CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize. The award, presented by the Centre de recherches mathematiques, the Fields Institute and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences, is worth $10… read more