The Conversation
Elon Musk may be on the hot seat for political donations and slurs against a British cave rescuer in Thailand, but his offer to pay for water filters in Flint, Mich., is laudable. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Can Elon Musk fix Flint’s water?

Fiona E. McNeill, McMaster University

Finding ways to link health care data in a secure and confidential way. PopTika/Shutterstock.com

Health-care companies explore blockchain

Ana Santos Rutschman, Saint Louis University

The strengths of blockchain technologies could help address the weaknesses of health care systems to store and secure medical records.
We need to know gene editing technology is precise before we try to use it to cure diseases. from www.shutterstock.com

Gene editing tool is less precise than we thought

Gaetan Burgio, Australian National University

A new study found the Cas9 gene editing scissors don't stop cutting after we tell them to.
Are microchips as secure as you think they should be? Yevhenii Kuchynskyi/Shutterstock.com

How security is reshaping microprocessor design

Mark Hempstead, Tufts University

As the microchip industry celebrates the 50th anniversary of chipmaker Intel's founding, engineers and researchers call for a complete rethinking of computer architecture.
Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

How culture influences children’s development

Ching-Yu Huang, Bournemouth University

Culture plays a role in forming a child's identity, conversational style and memory. This has many implications for how to deal with children, from school to the judicial system.
Math in yarn. Carthage College

Why I teach math through knitting

Sara Jensen, Carthage College

In this professor's class, there are no calculators. Instead, students learn advanced math by talking, drawing pictures, playing with beach balls – and knitting.
heic a.

The IceCube observatory discovers a blazar

Doug Cowen, Pennsylvania State University; Azadeh Keivani, Columbia University, and Derek Fox, Pennsylvania State University

A detector buried under more than a mile of ice in Antarctica has detected a high-energy subatomic neutrino and traced it to its origin, a blazar – a gargantuan black hole more than a billion times more massive than the sun.
A whale shark moves towards a piece of plastic in the ocean. (Shutterstock)

Not all marine fish eat plastics

Max Liboiron, Memorial University of Newfoundland

If we are truly invested in addressing the issue of marine plastic and offsetting the potential harms, we have to understand which fish eat plastic and which ones don't.
Canadian runner Leslie Sexton crosses the finish line as the fastest Canadian woman to compete in the Toronto Marathon on October 22, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov)

Will you run better with a nutritional supplement?

Jeffrey Smith, Carleton University

New research aims to better understand the bodies of runners, so that 'smart' nutritional supplements can be developed.
Bejing. Bird flu is transmitted in various ways and the process needs to be studied in depth. Sojourner in a Strange Land/Flicker

Bird flu: Are viruses still in the air?

Frédéric Keck, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

A scientific question fascinates experts : under which conditions can bird flu virus be transmitted to humans by aerial particles, and what will be the consequences for those who aren’t immune?

Editor's picks

MIT’s experiment with a serial killing AI called Norman, based on Psycho’s Norman Bates, underscores the importance of ensuring we get it right when embedding AI with culture. MIT

Should MIT’s Norman and Amazon’s Alexa hook up?

William Michael Carter, Ryerson University

Artificial Intelligence is set to explode and, as a result, multiple versions of AI are bound to co-exist. It's time to influence its development into a truly pan-global cultural environment.
Genetic ancestry testing might all seem like harmless fun, but there is a downside. (Shutterstock)

Ancestry tests don’t alter your ID, but you might

Wendy D. Roth, University of British Columbia

The results of genetic ancestry tests are grossly over-simplified. A new study shows the tests reinforce what you want to believe rather than offering objective, scientific proof of who you are.
The tiny mosquito can be a big summer nuisance. (Pexels)

A summer full of mosquitoes – or not

Heath MacMillan, Carleton University

Mosquito abundance is linked to climate and weather, and global climate change may be helping spread these dangerous carriers of disease.
The transformative nature of our move to a data-driven economy and society means that any data strategy will have long-lasting effects. That’s why the Canadian government needs to ask the right questions to the right people in its ongoing national consultations. (Shutterstock)

The public needs more say on data consultations

Blayne Haggart, Brock University and Natasha Tusikov, York University, Canada

The Canadian government is right to hold public consultations on digital and data transformation given how profoundly it affects society at large. But the scope is far too narrow.
The Canadian government recently approved the sale of genetically modified golden rice that’s fortified with Vitamin A. It’s an example of a GM food that directly benefits consumers. Josep Folta/Flickr

Showing consumers the benefits of GMO foods

David Di Zhang, University of Saskatchewan and Grant Alexander Wilson, University of Saskatchewan

Why are consumers so reluctant to embrace genetically modified foods? A new study suggests agricultural biotech companies are failing to show consumers a personal benefit to buying GM foods.
Math Catcher volunteer, Janelle Dobson-Kocsis from the Kwanlin Dun Band, works with a student to build an object called “tensegrity.” This is one of Math Cather’s hands-on activities developed by volunteer and former PhD student, Alejandro Erickson. Math Catcher Program

National Indigenous Peoples Day

Math talent abounds in Indigenous communities

Veselin Jungic, Simon Fraser University

The Math Catcher Program aims to encourage youth - with an emphasis on Indigenous students - to consider mathematics as a field of study but also to have them appreciate mathematics in everyday life.
There are now many gender categorizations, from the traditional ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ to ‘gender fluid’ and ‘undifferentiatied.’ Health researchers can work with these to gain a more accurate understanding of disease susceptibilities. (Shutterstock)

How sex and gender both shape your health

Lisa F. Carver, Queen's University, Ontario

Bigender, gender fluid, cisgender? Emerging gender categorizations are important -- for your health.
Cattle that are grass-fed, antibiotic- and growth hormone-free gather at a farm in Oregon in 2015. There’s a debate over whether antibiotic use in livestock makes germs more resistant to the drugs, and results in infections being passed on to humans who consume the meat. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Reducing antibiotics on farms isn’t that easy

Michael von Massow, University of Guelph and Alfons Weersink, University of Guelph

The use of antibiotics in raising livestock is complex. We could be moving towards a less-than-ideal result due to poor understanding, over-simplistic messaging and a rush for competitive advantage.

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