Why the cure to HIV remains hidden – and how we might find it at the bottom of the ocean

elephant ear sponge; HIV-infected T cell

Komal Adeel, New Science Communicator HIV is pretty young disease. Unlike malaria, which was with us when humans first migrated out of Africa some two million years ago, or tuberculosis, which has been found in the bodies of ancient Egyptian mummies, HIV infections did not exist in humans until the 20th century. However, in this […]

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Living in the shadow of a volcano: B.C.’s Mount Meager shows signs of stirring

Christian Phillips, New Science Communicator One hundred kilometres north of Whistler, BC, up the Lillooet River, lies Mount Meager, a sleeping giant. Mount Meager is just one of 13 volcanoes that punctuates the west coast, from California to Alaska.   However, it is starting to look like this sleeping giant may not be asleep much […]

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Pinned: How natural history museums bridge research gaps in space and time

Photo by Alex Proimos

Kris Cu, New Science Communicator Jayme Lewthwaite, a PhD candidate who studies evolutionary biology at Simon Fraser University, enters the grand halls of the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History in Washington, DC. She walks past the elegant and elaborate exhibits, heading to the sun-lit research labs. She climbs to the floor labelled ‘Lepidoptera Collections’, which […]

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Wild cats of Canada

photo by Mike Dembeck

Adam Hunter, Nature Conservancy of Canada In honour of International Cat Day, an occasion started by the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2002 and held earlier this month on August 8, learn about the three wild cat species found in Canada. Bobcat The smallest of Canada’s three wild cat species, the bobcat got its […]

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Travel back to the Carboniferous

Andre-Papp-CC-BY-2.0

Hai Lin Wang, Nature Conservancy of Canada Alongside marshes and in forests and meadows lives a group of plants that are older than the dinosaurs. Called horsetails, these plants have had quite a trek through time. This group is also referred to as the Equisetum genus, a type of biological classification that contains all known […]

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