Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield says that, from where he’s sitting, the Artemis moon missions are coming along just fine. ‘If everything was perfect, I’d be suspicious,’ says former International Space Station commander. Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield says that, from where he’s sitting, the Artemis moon missions are coming along …
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‘Cutting the heck’ out of Canada’s boreal forest has put caribou at risk
A new study examining nearly a half century of logging in Ontario and Quebec warns the practice has left forests in the provinces severely depleted — and put the majestic woodland caribou at risk. New study finds more than 14 million hectares cut in Ontario and Quebec since 1976. Canada …
Read More »Amid rise in AI deepfakes, experts urge school curriculum updates for online behaviour
Amid incidents of AI-generated, deepfake nudes of teens found circulating among classmates, some experts are calling for updates and improvements to both school policies and curriculum to address technology-facilitated sexual violence. Fake nude images generated by AI are some of the distressing new challenges facing students and educators. When called …
Read More »New study investigates threat of ‘watermelon snow’ to mountain glaciers
The darker the snow, the faster it melts — and new research sheds light on the threat snow algae poses to shrinking glaciers across northwestern North America. The colourful algae colonize thousands of North American snowfields each summer. The Rocky Mountains conjure up images of grey rugged peaks capped with …
Read More »Carbon offsets are helping protect B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest. But is that sustainable?
Coastal First Nations communities in B.C. are using traditional knowledge and laws to manage the Great Bear Rainforest, a world-leading conservation project. But their work is precariously funded by carbon offsets, raising questions about whether the model is truly sustainable. Coastal First Nations communities using traditional knowledge to manage Great …
Read More »Small-brained hominid species challenges human exceptionalism, says paleoanthropologist
The 2013 discovery of the largest collection of hominid fossils ever found is rewriting the origin of complex behaviours we thought were uniquely human, says a renowned paleoanthropologist. ‘H. naledi was capable of behaving in a way very nearly, if not as complex as we do today’: prof. In 2013 …
Read More »Lunar lander issue complicates privately-led U.S. moon mission
A robotic lander built by a private company was bound for the moon on Monday in an attempt to make the first U.S. lunar soft landing in more than half a century, after launching into space aboard a new rocket that was the result of a joint venture from Boeing …
Read More »Paleontologists discover rare fossils of a Cretaceous-era lizard near Grande Prairie, Alta.
Fossils of smaller animals such as lizards are found infrequently, scientists say. The discovery may help paleontologists better understand what prehistoric environment in the Grande Prairie region looked like. The prehistoric lizard is related to the Gila monster. Not far from the bank of Wapiti River, just 11 kilometres from …
Read More »Canada could face more record-breaking heat this year. How can we prepare for wildfires?
With the global El Niño weather system continuing through this spring, forecasts suggest 2024 could be even hotter — prompting wildfire and public policy experts to call for more wildfire prevention efforts now. Low snowpack and higher temperatures forecast for El Niño year already raising wildfire concerns. The first week …
Read More »How artificial intelligence can help beavers fight floods, droughts and wildfires
A few years ago, a couple of Google employees reached out to a Minnesota scientist with an unusual proposal: What if they could teach computers to spot beaver habitats from space? EEAGER, a new machine learning algorithm, identities beaver dams from satellite and aerial images. A few years ago, a …
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