Researchers pleased with unfettered funding for granting councils. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration released its 2018 budget on 27 February and scientists couldn’t be happier. It includes almost Can$4 billion (US$3.1 billion) in new funding for science over the next five years, a significant portion of which will go to the country’s three granting […]
Nature
Most insect studies lack crucial species information
Survey results suggest that a lot of entomology research could be impossible to replicate. More than 98% of entomology papers contain so little species information on the insects being studied that they are essentially impossible to replicate, according to a survey of more than 550 articles published in 2016. Read more in Nature.
The microscope makers
A small community of scientists has taken a do-it-yourself approach to microscopy: when the right tool for the job doesn’t exist, make it. While pursuing a bioengineering PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Wesley Legant ran into a frustrating roadblock: he had ideas, but the equipment to carry them out didn’t yet exist. […]
Nature Outlook: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating disease with poorly understood causes and no known cure. But research is slowly beginning to bring hope to those affected. This Outlook discusses topics such as: how genetic and epidemiological research are beginning to reveal the secrets of ALS; new drugs and other treatments that are finally becoming […]
Cybersecurity for the travelling scientist
Virtual private networks, tracking apps and ‘burner’ laptops: how to protect sensitive data when you take your research on the road. Mark Gerstein has had his fair share of scares when it comes to losing track of his electronic devices — and, along with them, access to his private information and research data. “I’m very […]
Kinetica Dynamics: Skyscraper stabilizer
Kinetica Dynamics may be a young start-up, but its approach to stabilizing tall buildings is based on a well-established idea.“It’s a reinvigoration of an old vibration damping technology,” says Michael Montgomery, an engineer and the company’s co-founder and chief executive. The technology, a polymer that diminishes vibration and shock, is bonded tightly to the structure […]
SSIMWave: Seeing the screen
“We want to become synonymous with good user experience for video,” says Abdul Rehman, co-founder and chief executive of SSIMWave. The start-up, which was spun out of the University of Waterloo in Canada in 2013, wants to improve how people watch videos online. The company’s technology is based on a family of algorithms developed by […]
The big cull
Can New Zealand pull off an audacious plan to get rid of all invasive predators by 2050? Razza the rat nearly ended James Russell’s scientific career. Twelve years ago, as an ecology graduate student, Russell was releasing radio-collared rats on to small islands off the coast of New Zealand to study how the creatures take […]
Outlook: Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is a devastating disease that induces the body’s own immune system to eat away at the central nervous system, slowly robbing patients of their physical mobility. It is also mysterious. Despite years of research, the cause remains elusive, and treatments are few and far between. But new research to find the causes and […]
Nature Outlook: Kidney cancer
Kidney cancer has long flown under the radar despite being one of the top-ten cancer killers worldwide. It lacks the research spotlight and public awareness of other cancers that can help to drive new discoveries. It remains hard to detect, difficult to treat and poorly understood. But that is starting to change as researchers dig […]