Jean-René Roy, Université Laval Thursday, February 10, 2000 From the earliest tracking of the motions of the stars during the Stone Age to the discovery of the expansion of the universe in the 20th century, astronomy has held an irresistible fascination for humanity. The quest to know the universe is also the story of the […]
John Clague, Simon Fraser University Thursday, March 16, 2000 Western British Columbia is one of Canada's earthquake hotspots. On average, one detectable quake occurs there every day. Nine large earthquakes of Richter magnitude 6-7 have struck B.C. and adjacent Washington state since the late 1800s. Even more worrying is the growing body of scientific evidence […]
John Cross, Philom Bios Inc., Saskatoon Thursday, April 13, 2000 Microbes have been both friend and foe for food producers since the beginning of time - friends as drivers of natural processes to prepare nutritional foodstuffs, and foes as disease-causing agents. Both fungi and bacteria are used in agriculture to give plants better access to […]
Kim Vicente, University of Toronto Thursday, May 11, 2000 When designers ignore people, the result is products that are difficult for people to use. Just think of all of those flashing 12:00's on the VCRs in our homes. Poorly designed systems exist because the vast majority of engineers and scientists who design technology never get […]
Peter Jones,McGill University Thursday, Sept 28, 2000 No other lifestyle decision can influence your long term health prospects as much as the food you eat. Arriving soon on your supermarket shelves is the latest wave in "healthy" offerings. Functional foods are defined as foodstuffs with ingredients that confer additional benefits to the human body. Although […]
Verena Tunnicliffe, University of Victoria Thursday, March 15, 2001 The hottest water on Earth, over 400°C, gushes into the otherwise barren depths of the cold ocean. One such spectacular site lies in Canadian waters just off Vancouver Island. Hydrothermal vent studies are changing basic ideas in many sciences. They present a new model for the […]
Thomas (Tom) Hudson, Montreal Genome Centre Thursday, April 5, 2001 As the human genome sequencing project nears completion, researchers have begun grappling with its implications for the study of life processes and the understanding of disease. The impact of genomics can be seen in the explosion of new protein technologies, the tremendous growth of the […]
John Smol, Queens University Thursday, May 10, 2001 (originally Tuesday, October 31, 2000) Human activities are greatly affecting water systems, but data from the past are hard to get. Is water quality changing? If so, why and by how much? Fortunately, aquatic systems archive an immense library of information in their sediments. From the fossil […]
Rory McGreal, TeleEducation, Fredericton NB Thursday, June 7, 2001 The online learning industry is growing at an increasingly rapid rate. Worldwide, more than 2 million students are now studying online. The majority of the courses offered online originate in the United States (74%). More than 16% of online courses are Canadian. New Brunswick, now offers […]
Edward (Ted) H. Sargent, University of Toronto Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Bommy Lee, Carleton University Edward (Ted) H. Sargent, University of Toronto Mardi 25 septembre 2001 Bommy Lee, Carleton University Lorsque l'on comprime les tailles à des millionièmes de centimètre, la matière ne respecte plus les lois habituelles de la mécanique classique de Newton. […]
Christine D. Wilson, McMaster University Tuesday, October 30, 2001 Bommy Lee, Carleton University Much of the astronomical research of the next decade is expected to focus on understanding the origins of planets, stars, galaxies, and even the universe itself. Millimetre-wave radio astronomy is a crucial tool in this quest allowing us to probe into the […]
Ming-ko Woo, McMaster University Thursday, November 29, 2001 Bommy Lee, Carleton University Northern water resources are very sensitive to weather and climate, and they may be affected substantially by the warming trend being experienced over many parts of Canada. This talk is about how the atmosphere, the snow and the permafrost collectively control the freshwater […]