Rey (Daisy Ridley), in Star Wars: The Last Jedi , ponders the light and dark sides of the Force.
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Star Wars: The Last Jedi leaves many questions about the saga in a galaxy far, far away unanswered. Fortunately, biology may offer a insights on the Force, midi-chlorians, clones, and Rey’s lineage.
The Luvabella robotic dolls are reportedly one of this season’s most wanted toys. It’s time to pause and ask about its impact on children.
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The technological revolution has hit the doll aisle this holiday season in the form of artificial intelligence dolls. What does it mean for children’s development, to confuse real bodies with machines?
Can you prove Santa Claus exists using mathematical logic?
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How do you prove Santa Claus exists using mathematical logic? A review of Fry and Evan’s book on the mathematics of Christmas.
Incentives are one way to get more people to buy electric cars.
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Despite the hype around electric vehicles, sales in most nations, including Canada, remain stagnant. Policy support in California and Norway have helped boost sales.
Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, trains in the ways of the Force in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
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The Force in Star Wars may be a form of quantum entanglement. Here’s how.
Protect the baby boomers in your life when you give them them technology gifts by giving them the gift of time to go along with their new device.
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Gifting techno-gadgets to baby boomers may be a good idea but may also put them at risk from sophisticated surveillance technology. To protect them, give the gift of time to go along with the new device.
A scientist works with DNA samples in a New Orleans laboratory in 2011.
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The rapid growth of genetic testing and data-gathering could revolutionize health and medicine if governments work to protect people against privacy and societal risks.
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.
Governments face disruption by the private sector and social unrest unless they embrace new technology. Here, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau meets a robot in Edmonton last May as others look on.
( THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)
Government is about to be disrupted by technology in the same manner as major industries. It’s about time.
Individuals wearing virtual reality headsets often look isolated. But research shows they can experience profound emotions such as awe, which enhance their feelings of social connection and wellbeing.
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Research shows that virtual reality experiences can help social disconnection and improve wellness - by inspiring awe.
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.
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Deep underground, scientists research subatomic particles from space in a bid to understand the building blocks of our universe.
Humanoid robots at an international robotics competition in Tehran, Iran, during 2014. Students from 22 countries, including Canada, were competing during the three-day event.
(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
In their relentless pursuit of research commercialization, and bigger robots, universities might miss the real opportunity of technology - to make our world a better place.
Cirque du Soleil is one of the many Canadian artist groups that have received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
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The new creative framework policy put forth by the Canadian government has been criticized for its capitalist and Silicon Valley leanings. But it’s actually Canada’s best creative policy to date.
Brain damage linked to concussions in football can resemble that found in elderly and comatose patients but there may be ways to prevent it so the sport continues. Toronto Argonauts’ Jeffrey Finley, left, rushes to take down Calgary Stampeders’ quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell in this August file photo.
( THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Concussions in football and other contact sports correlate with severe, long-term brain damage — but science shows it doesn’t have to be that way.
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.
While most Canadian nurses still use some paper charting systems, robots are being developed to complete intimate nursing tasks. Nurses need to embrace technological change, to direct their own future.
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Will nurses eventually be replaced by robots? Nurses themselves need to engage with the ongoing technological revolution in healthcare - to shape the future of the profession.
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.
The act of spending money to impress others is a signal of resources to potential mates. Having resources is a valued trait by females.
(Shamim Nakhai/Unsplash)
Dating apps have changed the way people present themselves. Visual cues and short 100 word bios are the new currency of dating.
Research shows that when parents engage in simple science projects with their kids at home, it boosts their learning in school.
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From collecting bugs to using math apps, there are many ways parents can engage in STEM activities with their kids to support their learning.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announces the launch of Oculus Go virtual reality headset in October.
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Will the arrival and popularity of Oculus Go and other VR systems make us think differently about alternative realities and so-called alternative facts?
Blockchain technology, in which real-world assets are symbolically represented by digital objects, harks back to medieval times when helmets, swords, and other items represented land and other valuables.
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Blockchain is a hot, innovative technology
— with roots in medieval treasuries.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially dismissed as “crazy” the warnings that Russia had been using Facebook to spread propaganda in the 2016 U.S. election. He has since apologized and introduced plans and tools aimed at fighting false information on the platform. In this file photo, he delivers the commencement address at Harvard University in May.
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In a fight for the global flow of information, social media firms must be regulated. Their billions of dollars in revenue put their financial interests in conflict with truth and democracy.
It’s a bird… It’s a plane… No, it’s an object from another solar system! Astronomers have been scrambling to identify a mysterious object passing through our solar system at a speed of about 160,000 km/h. This NASA file image shows a simulation of asteroids passing the earth.
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Astronomers have detected what is believed to be the first interstellar object ever seen passing through our solar system.
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.
An intricate crop circle spans a diameter of more than 45 metres in a barley field close to Barbury Castle near Wroughton, England, about 130 kilometres west of London, in 2008. The circle is noteworthy for its complexity, representing the first 10 digits of the mathematical constant pi, or 3.141592654.
Lucy Pringle
Crop circles are global phenomena gaining attention as paranormal culture becomes mainstream, along with a hybrid approach that emulates scientific investigation.