The Conversation
A staff-wielding Arcstrider character takes on foes in Destiny 2. The video game by Bungie studio, published by Activision, makes use of badges and other achievements to spur on players — a technique that can be applied to education. Handout

Back to School

How gamification can boost student success

Aaron Langille, Laurentian University

Megabots, coming soon to sports channels? Screenshot from Youtube

Can giant fighting robots save TV?

David Tuffley, Griffith University

US and Japanese tech companies are building fighting megabots to kicktstart what they envisage as a sporting franchise on the scale of Formula 1.
Sea ice trapped atmospheric carbon dioxide in the last ice age. Pearse Buchanan

Future uncertain: Ice-age CO₂ trapped by oceans

Karen Kohfeld, Simon Fraser University and Zanna Chase, University of Tasmania

The last ice age locked atmospheric carbon dioxide into oceans, which has major implications for how the oceans and carbon dioxide may be linked in the future.
The latest trend in the video gaming industry is the creation of “whales,” people so addicted to games that they spend their entire life savings to keep playing. A3250/_Oliver Berg

Video games court addiction like casinos

Joshua Krook, University of Adelaide

The video gaming industry has transitioned from a group of backyard innovators to an industry of multi-billion dollar companies.
While office workers often worry they sit too long while on the job, research suggests standing at work increases the risk of heart disease. (Shutterstock)

Standing for work can double heart disease risk

Peter Smith, University of Toronto

Annoyed you don't have a sit-stand desk? Spare a thought for those workers who have to stand all day: Standing may double the risk of heart disease.
This picture of a reconstruction of a hominin skull is one of a variety of multimedia that can be experienced in the Origins Virtual Reality experience. Wits University

Virtual reality breathes life into African fossils

Tammy Hodgskiss, University of the Witwatersrand

Bringing the past into a digital space creates so much more overt space for interpretation and different narratives.
Metropoles like Shanghai have survived and thrived in large part because of their massive populations. But what happens when people start to become a liability rather than an asset? Reuters/Aly Song

Can megacities survive the digital age?

Christopher H. Lim, Nanyang Technological University and Vincent Mack, Nanyang Technological University

Research shows that technology disrupts economies of scale, turning megacities' huge populations from strength to liability. To survive, megacities, like companies, must adapt.
As the iPhone X rolls out, there are plenty of security expectations and concerns waiting to be verified by users and researchers. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Security issues in new iPhone X, FaceID, iOS 11

Wencheng Yang, Edith Cowan University and Guanglou Zheng, Edith Cowan University

While security researchers are yet to perform a thorough analysis of iOS 11 and Face ID, past issues with the hardware and software of the iPhone point to areas of potential concern.
Michael Shannon and Michael Stuhlbarg in the film “The Shape of Water.” (Kerry Hayes /Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved)

TIFF 2017: Movie magic from math and science

Anthony Bonato, Ryerson University

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.
A recent research project about the 2015 Canadian election showed social media is no substitute for local news coverage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Peter Power

Twitter is no substitute for local news: study

Jaigris Hodson, Royal Roads University

Local news is as important to communities as clean air, but the failing business model of traditional journalism has left the local news industry in rapid decline.
Canadian companies say there’s a shortage of skilled workers, but are they investing in training? (Shutterstock)

Is the skills gap real or is industry at fault?

Jeff Boggs, Brock University

Canadian firms say there's a dire shortage of skilled workers. But recent studies suggest they're not investing in training, apparently expecting universities to train their employees for them.
Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the CTBTO at a press briefing following the recent suspected nuclear test in North Korea. CTBTO

North Korea tests bomb & global nuclear monitoring

Trevor Findlay, University of Melbourne

A former member of the Australian delegation to the Committee on Disarmament in Geneva explains how the CTBTO monitoring system detects nuclear tests.
Smart home technology, such as cameras, could be used as part of domestic violence. Vasin Lee/Shutterstock

Smart home could worsen domestic abuse

Mark Burdon, The University of Queensland and Heather Douglas, The University of Queensland

Can we use smart home data to better identify and report abusers, while protecting victims of domestic and family violence?

Editor's picks

Foxconn was nominated for the 2011 Public Eye Award, which produced this image as part of its campaign to end labour exploitation. Greenpeace Switzerland/flickr

A bloody decade of the iPhone

Jack Linchuan Qiu, Chinese University of Hong Kong

The first ten years of the iPhone has been a bloody decade of labour abuse, especially in Chinese factories such as those run by Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer.
Both Voyager spacecraft are only in communication with Earth via a Canberra tracking station. NASA/JPL

Voyager probes still talking at 40

John Sarkissian, CSIRO and Ed Kruzins, CSIRO

The Voyager space probes sent back some amazing images of the planets in the outer Solar System, and they're still talking to Earth every day via Australia's tracking station.
Private companies are policing online hate without independent oversight or regulation, which has serious implications and poses risks for basic human rights and freedoms. (Shutterstock)

Why we shouldn’t cheer hate website crackdown

Natasha Tusikov, York University, Canada

After violence in Charlottesville, internet firms are erasing bigoted content. But should private companies serve as unaccountable regulators and be responsible for policing complex social issues?
The Acros Fukuoka eco-building in Fukuoka, Japan boasts one of the world’s most famous green roofs. The GRIT Lab at the University of Toronto is working to bring green roofs to the city and beyond in order to combat climate change. (Shutterstock)

How green roofs can stop city streets from flooding

Catherine Howell, University of Toronto; Jennifer Drake, University of Toronto, and Liat Margolis, University of Toronto

Green roofs could play a critical role in helping cities cope with extreme rainfall events in the age of climate change. The roofs essentially suck up stormwater like sponges if designed properly.
Assumptions, authoritarianism and errors are just a few of the ways in which the world could be confronted by a nuclear disaster, physicist and disarmament expert MV Ramana suggests in his book reviews. Shutterstock

Worth reading: Trump, nuclear, climate crises

A nuclear physicist and disarmament expert recommends reading on nuclear disasters, weapons, authoritarianism and climate change.
In school makerspaces, students problem-solve with traditional craft materials alongside. digital technologies such as 3D printing, virtual reality, programmable robots and video work.

Back to school

How to help kids innovate from an early age

Janette Hughes, University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Creative makerspaces in Ontario schools weave passion with digital technologies to teach 21st century skills.
People reject science such as that about climate change and vaccines, but readily believe scientists about solar eclipses, like this one reflected on the sunglasses of a man dangerously watching in Nicosia, Cyprus, in a 2015 file photo. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Eclipse of reason: Why disbelieve scientists?

Bryan Gaensler, University of Toronto

People universally believe scientists' solar eclipse calendars, but vaccine warnings or climate predictions are forms of science that strangely do not enjoy equivalent acceptance.
A total solar eclipse will be visible across parts of the United States Aug. 21, treating amateur and professional astronomers alike to sights similar to this NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory ultraviolet image of the moon eclipsing the sun on Jan. 31, 2014. (NASA)

How to safely watch an eclipse

Bryan Gaensler, University of Toronto

If you've ever wondered why you can look at a solar eclipse and why it can harm your eyes, the answer is in the sun's rays.
Male scientists dominate labs, often with little to no female representation in the work or research subjects. Shutterstock

Sex matters: Male bias in the lab is bad science

Thomas Merritt, Laurentian University

Research laboratories are dominated by men, and that's not only bad for lab culture, it can be dangerous for science.

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  1. Standing too much at work can double your risk of heart disease
  2. Experimental brain technology can rewind Alzheimer’s disease
  3. Smart cities present risks, opportunities
  4. Carbon dioxide trapped by ice-age oceans raises questions for future
  5. 3D printers: A revolutionary frontier for medicine

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