Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, has promised support for scientific research as the United States under President Donald Trump has made moves to change leadership and cut funding for scientific agencies and programs. The men are seen in this file photo at the White House last February.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Canada must take the lead as a global champion of science as America under President Donald Trump presses its assault on fact and knowledge.
The first piece of the International Space Station was launched in 1998.
Wikimedia Commons/NASA
The students of class 3F at Ferny Grove State School want to know how they get oxygen into the International Space Station.
Looking up in the main chamber at SNOLAB’s facility in the Vale Creighton nickel mine in Sudbury, Ont., a giant spherical neutrino sensor array the size of a 10 storey building is used to detect subatomic particles that pass through the earth.
(Handout)
Deep underground, scientists research subatomic particles from space in a bid to understand the building blocks of our universe.
Science communication: it’s not rocket science.
Pexels
It might feel like rocket science, but scientists need to get better at explaining things to people outside academia.
Rick Sanchez of the animated series Rick and Morty embodies the erroneous popular archetype of the scientist as eccentric lone genius.
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The myth of the lone genius, hero scientist is dangerous for science and society. Here’s how to fix it.
Cannabis plant strains in jars in MediJean’s Health Canada-licensed tissue culture development lab are kept for research as manager Abdul Ahad works in the Richmond, B.C., facility, in this 2014 file photo.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
The legal cannabis industry will have to develop scientific research and evidence based growth methods and technology if it is to succeed against the secretive illicit industry.
Volcanologists often visit active volcanoes in order to observe eruptions and collect samples of lava and ash.
Flickr/MONUSCO Photos
Volcanologists study the formation and eruptions of volcanoes - surely one of the most interesting jobs around. However, it can also be very dangerous.
Research shows that when parents engage in simple science projects with their kids at home, it boosts their learning in school.
(Shutterstock)
From collecting bugs to using math apps, there are many ways parents can engage in STEM activities with their kids to support their learning.
Kaisha Morse/Shutterstock.com
The very existence of kindness and altruism seems to contradict Darwin’s theory of evolution. So how could kind behaviour have evolved?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dr. Mona Nemer, Canada’s new chief science adviser, check out a robot that launches balls, with science fair participants Van Bernat and Kate O'Melia of Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ont., on Parliament Hill in September.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
Science funding still falls short of 2005 levels. It’s time for Canada’s government to fix that problem, before it’s too late.
Navdeep Bains, Canada’s
innovation, science and economic development minister, takes part in a technology event in Ottawa in May 2017. The Canadian government has started up a $1.26-billion fund to support innovation-related business investments.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
If leaders of educational institutions are concerned about the employability of graduates, they should avoid over-investing in STEM subjects and stop snubbing liberal arts.
Strange new materials that propel the fictional Star Trek universe are being developed by scientists in reality today. Above, the USS Discovery accelerates to warp speed in an artist’s rendition for the TV series Star Trek Discovery.
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Advanced materials that seem like they come from Star Trek are becoming reality today.
Scientific fantasy.
PA/Parsons
Both systems are dangerous in the wrong hands.
If the government expanded the new $73 million Student Work-Integrated Learning program to all students it could help tackle Canada’s most intractable social problems — such as homelessness, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, affordable housing, social cohesion and intercultural understanding.
A new government program will create 10,000 work placements for undergraduates in only business and STEM subjects. Why not fund students to innovate in the social sector too?
Will the files show who was really behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy?
It’s been a good year for conspiracy theorists, so they say.
Balinese farmers with Mount Agung in the background. Areas with high volcanic activity also have some of the world’s most fertile farmlands.
Reuters/Darren Whiteside
Volcanic ash can cause a nuisance to farmers, burying agricultural lands and damaging crops. But in the long term, this ash will create highly productive soil that can support huge populations.
Former astronaut Julie Payette urges Canada to use science, knowledge, and innovation as paths to better future for all, during her installation ceremony as Canada’s 29th Governor General in the Senate chamber of Parliament on Oct. 2.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)
Society needs more research that is both excellent and useful. We can achieve this by shifting the academic culture toward research that is Highly Integrative Basic and Responsive (HIBAR).
Cmdr. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) goes on a scientifically implausible spacewalk in Star Trek: Discovery .
(Handout)
Star Trek Discovery is the latest offering in the 50-year-old science fiction franchise beloved by scientists — but it isn’t about science.
James Gillray’s ‘Scientific Researches! - New Discoveries in Pneumaticks! - or - an Experimental Lecture on the Powers of Air’ from 1802.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain
Sir Humphry Davy was the Professor Brian Cox of the 1800s.
Michael Shannon and Michael Stuhlbarg in the film “The Shape of Water.”
(Kerry Hayes /Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved)
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival is a further example of how science, technology, engineering and math illuminate movies – and, in the process, our minds.