Involution? The biggest threat to China’s quantum computing field is internal risk: expert

Involution? The biggest threat to China’s quantum computing field is internal risk: expert

China urgently needs to develop elite talent in the field of quantum computing, according to a leading academic, who has warned that the hi-tech sector must avoid internal trends that strangle innovation. Yu Dapeng, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said a lack of ingenuity was hindering China’s quantum computing development, despite the significant public … Read more

Cancer patients nearly 5 times more likely to experience bankruptcy: Researchers

Cancer patients nearly 5 times more likely to experience bankruptcy: Researchers

New Delhi: Cancer patients are nearly five times more likely to experience bankruptcy, as financial fallout can follow patients with cancer and their families in the form of lower credit scores and other forms of monetary challenges years after a cancer diagnosis. For patients with bladder, liver, lung, and colorectal cancers, the impact on credit … Read more

Forever chemicals are everywhere. These burnt wood chips could help change that

Forever chemicals are everywhere. These burnt wood chips could help change that

Forever chemicals are everywhere, from cookware to cosmetics to clothes to carpets. For decades, they’ve been building up in the environment and our water – and in our bodies.  Now Canadian researchers say they have developed a practical way to remove the toxic compounds from our drinking water.  “There’s no natural way for this thing … Read more

B.C. researchers find fossils in ‘relatively unexplored’ area

B.C. researchers find fossils in ‘relatively unexplored’ area

Paleontologists have uncovered dozens of fossils in northern B.C., only one of which came from a dinosaur that was previously known to that area. Victoria Arbour, curator of paleontology at the Royal B.C. Museum, said it was her team’s third time to the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park, southeast of Dease Lake. The area is … Read more

What do we know about how female bodies deal with heat?

What do we know about how female bodies deal with heat?

White Coat Black Art26:30Hot as hell Britnee Miazek didn’t immediately make the connection between her periods stopping and her job as a second-year ironworker apprentice in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.  It was only after a three-month stint in 2023 working on top of the coke ovens used in the steel-making process that the 35-year-old began to notice a pattern.  “As … Read more

AI tool cuts unexpected deaths in hospital by 26%, Canadian study finds

AI tool cuts unexpected deaths in hospital by 26%, Canadian study finds

Inside a bustling unit at St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto, one of Shirley Bell’s patients was suffering from a cat bite and a fever, but otherwise appeared fine — until an alert from an AI-based early warning system showed he was sicker than he seemed. While the nursing team usually checked blood work around noon, … Read more

Invasive peach blossom jellyfish spreading through B.C. waterways

Invasive peach blossom jellyfish spreading through B.C. waterways

Some time more than 30 years ago, a single Chinese peach blossom jellyfish made its way into a lake in British Columbia. Exactly how it arrived is not clear, researchers say — perhaps it was in aquarium water — but decades later, thousands of genetic clones of the same organism have been spotted in 34 waterways around the province. … Read more

This sea creature turns into a baby when it’s stressed out — but is it reverse aging?

This sea creature turns into a baby when it’s stressed out — but is it reverse aging?

An invasive sea creature with a disappearing anus and a penchant for cannabalizing its own young may have yet another trick up its sleeve.  When life is going badly for the sea walnut, it will shrink and take on the shape of its larval form, and stay that way until things are looking up again, according … Read more

Report shows salmon numbers slowing from B.C. landslide

Report shows salmon numbers slowing from B.C. landslide

A new report is providing some early insight on how last month’s landslide into the Chilcotin River affected the run of salmon that swims up the Chilcotin and Fraser rivers every year to reproduce.  Monitoring efforts reveal the number of salmon that head upstream during August has slowed — but the exact scale of the disruption isn’t yet clear.  “The … Read more

Rare fossil specimen offers evidence of social behaviour among ancient snakes

Rare fossil specimen offers evidence of social behaviour among ancient snakes

A perfectly preserved burrow of fossilized snakes shows that the reptiles have been social creatures for almost 40 million years, says a new research paper co-authored by a University of Alberta paleontologist.  It’s well known that snakes today gather in burrows for all kinds of reasons, including breeding and surviving cold temperatures by piling together … Read more