Top Stories

Reefs help protect vulnerable Caribbean fish from climate change

New research from UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries suggests that larger reef areas may help protect the Caribbean’s coral reef fish communities from the impacts of ocean warming.

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Male squirrels kill offspring of rivals in years when food is plentiful, study shows

  In years when food is abundant for squirrels, males kill the young of rival males, according to new research from University of Alberta biologists.

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New diagnostic method makes testing for infections in people and animals quick and easy

Researchers in the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) have developed a fast, portable and inexpensive way to test humans and animals for different types of chronic and infectious diseases. This new “point of care” method tests for signals of infection, such as specific antibodies, in blood, milk or saliva samples.

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Large-scale Climatic Warming Could Increase Persistent Haze in Beijing

Over the past decades, Beijing, the capital city of China, has encountered increasingly frequent persistent haze events (PHEs). Severe PHEs not only lead to a sharp decrease in visibility, causing traffic hazards and disruptions, and, hence, affecting economic activities, but also induce serious health problems such as respiratory illnesses and heart disease. While the increased pollutant emissions serve as the most important reason, changes in regional atmospheric circulation associated with large-scale climate warming are found to play a role as well.

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After a Flood, How Do Insects and Other Invertebrates Recover?

After a 100-year flood struck south central Oklahoma in 2015, a study of the insects, arthropods, and other invertebrates in the area revealed striking declines of most invertebrates in the local ecosystem, a result that researchers say illustrates the hidden impacts of natural disasters.

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Even More Evidence that Electric Cars Could Save the Planet

Everyone's Saying It: The future of driving is electric. The big-name car companies have plans to start giving Tesla some tough competition. Jaguar’s I-Pace electric SUV will be on sale soon, and Porsche is teasing a new concept Mission E Cross Turismo, which looks like an SUV’d Panamera (in a good way). And normal cars for regular people are going the same way. Combined, Ford and GM plan to offer 34 full electric models in the next five years.

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On the Louisiana Coast, A Native Community Sinks Slowly into the Sea

Spring arrived early this year for Isle de Jean Charles. The southern gulf breeze is refreshing after an atypical freeze here deep in the Louisiana marsh. It’s late February and the thick vegetation is already sprouting a bright, luxuriant green. The birdsong threatens to drown out conversation. In a matter of weeks, shrimp, speckled trout, and redfish will be running. For members of this tribe of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians, this is nothing short of paradise.

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Land Under Water: Estimating Hydropower’s Land Use Impacts

One of the key ways to combat global climate change is to boost the world’s use of renewable energy. But even green energy has its environmental costs. A new approach describes just how hydropower measures up when it comes to land use effects.

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How to save at-risk birds? Talk to ranchers says biology researcher

They might seem like unlikely allies, but ranchers and prairie conservationists have a future working together.

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Save the bees

More than a decade after beekeepers first raised the alarm about a dangerously low global bee population, much progress has been made in understanding the mystery of colony collapse.

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