Dark matter and dark energy make up roughly 95 per cent of our universe but can’t be seen. In order to reveal their influence, over its six-year mission, this new space telescope will observe the shapes, distances and motions of billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years and create …
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Traces of cannabis in human bones suggest 17th-century Italians were recreational pot users
Team of forensic scientists in Milan, Italy, discovered traces of cannabis in the remains of two skeletons from the 17th century. Scientists examined 9 femoral bone samples from people who lived in 1600s Milan. People have been consuming weed for a very long time. Ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about …
Read More »‘Am I actually seeing this?’: Muskox spotted in Fort Chipewyan, Alta.
Darlene Cardinal slammed her brakes in order to stop herself from crashing into a wild muskox last month. It was a rare event for someone who lives in Fort Chipewyan, Alta. ‘Everybody wanted to see the muskox. It’s an exciting thing.’ Darlene Cardinal slammed her brakes in order to stop …
Read More »This is the oldest black hole ever found — and it’s huge
Scientists have discovered the oldest black hole yet, a cosmic beast formed a mere 470 million years after the Big Bang. Black hole is 13.2 billion years old and 10 times the size of Milky Way’s black hole. Scientists have discovered the oldest black hole yet, a cosmic beast formed …
Read More »Meet the B.C. beetles on a cross-country mission to save Nova Scotia’s hemlocks
More than 3,000 tiny beetles have been shipped across the country from their native British Columbia to try to control an invasive species killing Nova Scotia’s hemlock trees. 3,600 beetles have been sent to N.S. to prey on hemlock-destroying invasive species. When a tiny black beetle crawled out of a …
Read More »Fear of AI is an old, old story. Rebelling robots have worried us for millennia
With recent developments in artificial intelligence, fears of rogue systems may seem a fresh concern. But the worries date back millennia, around long before Arnold Schwarzenegger went into the past to hunt Sarah Connor in The Terminator. Stories such as Pandora, Frankenstein and the golem of Prague highlight the fear …
Read More »Space mining is getting closer to becoming a reality, and Canada could play a major role
It’s the stuff of science fiction: Blasting off to the moon or an asteroid, drilling it, mining its resources and bringing some or all back to Earth. But, as we have our sights set on returning to the moon, that fiction is getting closer to becoming a reality. ‘This is …
Read More »AI ‘godfather’ Yoshua Bengio wins Canada’s top science award
Yoshua Bengio, who helped make the AI revolution possible, won Canada’s most prestigious science prize. He speaks to Bob McDonald about why he’s both proud and frightened of the potential of the field he helped create. Yoshua Bengio recognized for ‘remarkable discoveries and breakthroughs’ in artificial intelligence. Canada’s most prestigious …
Read More »Some marine mammals live longer in captivity, study finds
Harbour seals, polar bears, California sea lions and bottlenose dolphins live between 1.65 and 3.55 times longer in captivity than their wild counterparts due to advances in animal husbandry and care. Study results reflect the work of zookeepers, handlers and veterinarians, author says. New research shows some marine mammals in …
Read More »Rooster in the mirror: these bird-brains may be smarter than we thought
It turns out bird-brained might not be the insult we thought it was. According to research done by a pair of universities in Germany, roosters may have the ability recognize themselves. But it took an unconventional method to get there. A research team in Germany came up with a new …
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