research

Jorge E. Macias-Samano, a research scientist at Simon Fraser University, holds a varroa mite trap that was removed from a bee hive at an experimental apiary, in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. A team at SFU is testing a chemical compound that appears to kill varroa mites without harming the bees, in hopes it could one day be widely available as a treatment for infested hives. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. scientists hopeful in fight against mites that puncture and kill honeybees

Varroa mites kill bees by puncturing their exoskeleton, creating a wound that doesn’t close

Jorge E. Macias-Samano, a research scientist at Simon Fraser University, holds a varroa mite trap that was removed from a bee hive at an experimental apiary, in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. A team at SFU is testing a chemical compound that appears to kill varroa mites without harming the bees, in hopes it could one day be widely available as a treatment for infested hives. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Raye is an 18-foot fully-autonomous sailboat designed and constructed entirely by UBC students. It’s set to attempt a solo voyage from B.C. to Hawaii in either September 2022 or the following year. (Courtesy of UBC Sailbot)

B.C. to Hawaii: UBC students launching fully-autonomous sailboat on epic maiden voyage

‘Raye’ will attempt to cross the Pacific without human assistance or feedback

Raye is an 18-foot fully-autonomous sailboat designed and constructed entirely by UBC students. It’s set to attempt a solo voyage from B.C. to Hawaii in either September 2022 or the following year. (Courtesy of UBC Sailbot)
Mitchell Miller, CEO of Atlas Power Technologies in Abbotsford, gives a tour of his facility to ministers Ravi Kahlon and Anne Kang on Aug. 24. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)

Student research gets $8.6M boost from B.C. government

Funding will increase work opportunities while developing ideas, projects around clean energy

Mitchell Miller, CEO of Atlas Power Technologies in Abbotsford, gives a tour of his facility to ministers Ravi Kahlon and Anne Kang on Aug. 24. (Jessica Peters/Abbotsford News)
The first Artemis mission will travel 64,000 kilometres past the moon in preparation for future record-breaking human-crewed space missions. (Photo: NASA).

UBC researcher’s algae and yeast boarding NASA spacecraft to test deep space conditions

Corey Nislow wants to explore how organisms can survive radiation, other factors

  • Aug 29, 2022
The first Artemis mission will travel 64,000 kilometres past the moon in preparation for future record-breaking human-crewed space missions. (Photo: NASA).
(Ivan Hardwick photo)

UBC Okanagan researcher urging fur trap changes as grizzlies keep losing toes

Four out of 57 collared bears were missing toes

  • Aug 25, 2022
(Ivan Hardwick photo)
Four-year-old Rylie Nicholls continues to battle stage four neuroblastoma (Toni Nicholls/Facebook)

‘Army on steroids’: Lake Country girl fighting cancer looking for support

BC Children’s Hospital Foundation is supported by the Dream Lottery, tickets on sale now

  • Aug 19, 2022
Four-year-old Rylie Nicholls continues to battle stage four neuroblastoma (Toni Nicholls/Facebook)
Jessica Schaub will depart for her international tour to study Jellyfish on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. (Vancouver Aquarium photo).

UBC PhD student takes to trans-national waters to study jellyfish bloom mischief

Indigenous oceanographer will show her year-and-a-half journey on social media

Jessica Schaub will depart for her international tour to study Jellyfish on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. (Vancouver Aquarium photo).
Fish fragments unearthed from the villages of Ts’ishaa and Huu7ii in Barkley Sound, B.C. (Dylan Hillis/University of Victoria)

Ancient Vancouver Island fish bones may hold lessons for adapting to climate change

5,000-year-old bones show how Indigenous people worked with warming oceans

  • Jun 22, 2022
Fish fragments unearthed from the villages of Ts’ishaa and Huu7ii in Barkley Sound, B.C. (Dylan Hillis/University of Victoria)
Honey bees flit in and out of their colony atop an apartment building in Vancouver’s West End. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

VIDEO: Vancouver rooftops home to a new breed of honey bee: one made to survive

Ensure Hive Future breeding queen bees to be resistant to deadly mites

Honey bees flit in and out of their colony atop an apartment building in Vancouver’s West End. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)
Registered Nurse Manjot Kaur Munday prepares to attend a COVID-19 patient at the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey, B.C., Friday, June 4, 2021. A lack of data tracking Canadians who have had COVID-19 could hinder efforts to understand potential post-infection conditions, such as diabetes and brain fog, experts have warned. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

COVID data void in Canada could hamper understanding of lingering impact: experts

Reliance on at-home rapid testing causing major gap in COVID numbers

Registered Nurse Manjot Kaur Munday prepares to attend a COVID-19 patient at the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey, B.C., Friday, June 4, 2021. A lack of data tracking Canadians who have had COVID-19 could hinder efforts to understand potential post-infection conditions, such as diabetes and brain fog, experts have warned. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
This March 2002 file photo shows a deer tick under a microscope in the entomology lab at the University of Rhode Island in South Kingstown, R.I. Lyme disease has settled so deeply into parts of Canada many public health units now just assume if you get bitten by a tick, you should be treated for lyme disease. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Victoria Arocho

Online map tracks B.C.’s high-risk Lyme disease zones

About 1 in 100 ticks carry Lyme disease in B.C.

This March 2002 file photo shows a deer tick under a microscope in the entomology lab at the University of Rhode Island in South Kingstown, R.I. Lyme disease has settled so deeply into parts of Canada many public health units now just assume if you get bitten by a tick, you should be treated for lyme disease. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Victoria Arocho
Bioform’s Rami Younes (right) and Jordan MacKenzie (left) showing a sheet of the bioplastic. (Credit: Kai Jacobson/UBC Applied Science)

UBC scientists aim to put plastic in the past with 2 new inventions

Biodegradable product could replace plastic, unique coating could extend its life

Bioform’s Rami Younes (right) and Jordan MacKenzie (left) showing a sheet of the bioplastic. (Credit: Kai Jacobson/UBC Applied Science)
One of InSight’s 7-foot-wide solar panels imaged by the lander’s camera. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Mars robot worked on by B.C. scientist powers down as dust settles over solar panels

The NASA InSight lander launched in 2018 to study the inside of Mars

One of InSight’s 7-foot-wide solar panels imaged by the lander’s camera. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Kim Venn at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 2022. (Courtesy of UVic Photo Services)

B.C.-led astronomy team discovers traces of the universe’s first stars

Metal-poor cluster on outer edge of Milky Way galaxy a grouping of ancient stars

Kim Venn at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in 2022. (Courtesy of UVic Photo Services)
Academics and members of racialized and Indigenous communities in B.C. say anti-racism data collection is a step in the right direction. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

B.C.’s anti-racism legislation could hold real power, if done right: advocates

Data collection must be intersectional and empowering, say academics and community members

Academics and members of racialized and Indigenous communities in B.C. say anti-racism data collection is a step in the right direction. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
A coated (left) versus uncoated catheter. The UBC-developed coating shows promise for preventing infection from implanted medical devices. (Credit: Kizhakkedathu Lab)

UBC-developed silver coating could be answer to bacteria-free catheters, feeding tubes

Implanted medical devices carry a high risk of infection

A coated (left) versus uncoated catheter. The UBC-developed coating shows promise for preventing infection from implanted medical devices. (Credit: Kizhakkedathu Lab)
People take part in a climate change protest in Montreal, Nov. 21, 2020. A new project by a team of Simon Fraser University researchers aims to build a tool by monitoring social media that can determine Canadians’ climate distress in real time. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

B.C. researchers developing tool to measure climate distress in real time

Social media data will be key to Simon Fraser University team’s multi-year work

People take part in a climate change protest in Montreal, Nov. 21, 2020. A new project by a team of Simon Fraser University researchers aims to build a tool by monitoring social media that can determine Canadians’ climate distress in real time. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Vancouver seafood menus are shifting as climate change impacts ocean temperatures, a new UBC study has found. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Jumbo flying squid landing on menus as climate shifts seafood supply: UBC study

Researchers say warming sea temperatures are impacting what we eat

Vancouver seafood menus are shifting as climate change impacts ocean temperatures, a new UBC study has found. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A giant rainbow flag is carried on Robson Street during the Vancouver Pride Parade in 2017. A new report out of UBC suggests the lives and health of LGBTQ youth in B.C. are improving. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Health, lives of LGBTQ youth in B.C. improving but not yet equal: report

UBC report shows positive signs between 2008 and 2018

A giant rainbow flag is carried on Robson Street during the Vancouver Pride Parade in 2017. A new report out of UBC suggests the lives and health of LGBTQ youth in B.C. are improving. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Canadians aged 65+ are experiencing higher levels of depression and loneliness since the pandemic began, according to a Simon Fraser University study. (Credit: Pixabay)

Loneliness, depression on the rise among older adults amid pandemic: B.C. study

Women aged 65 to 74 reported 67 per cent increase in loneliness, according to study

Canadians aged 65+ are experiencing higher levels of depression and loneliness since the pandemic began, according to a Simon Fraser University study. (Credit: Pixabay)