Bioplastics may be the answer to Canada’s plastic waste problem

Photos by Silvie Harder

Katie Compton and Silvie Harder, Policy and Politics editors When COVID-19 reached Canada in the spring of 2020, the Government of Canada was on track to ban single-use plastics. But in the scramble to reduce the spread of the virus, grocery stores and coffee shops discouraged people from bringing their cloth bags and travel mugs. […]

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Rethinking rights of way landscapes to benefit important pollinator species

Photo by Silvie Harder

Silvie Harder, Policy & Politics editor My kids lie quietly on their bellies in the grass. They are watching a monarch butterfly flutter from flower to flower, daintily sipping the nectar with its straw-like proboscis. Watching its breezy movements in a backyard garden in Montreal, you could forget the herculean journey from the oyamel fir […]

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Your genes may (NOT) be used against you

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay, CC0

Katie Compton, Science Policy and Politics Editor When I’m not writing and editing for Science Borealis, I’m working as a cancer genetic counsellor. I spend a lot of time talking to people about the risks and benefits of having genetic testing. Sometimes my patients know that there is an inherited form of cancer in their […]

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Bike helmets protect your head from injury, but there’s a catch

Katrina Brain, guest contributor If you ever fall off your bicycle, you’ll want to be wearing a helmet. If you’re in a bike accident, a helmet could reduce your odds of a head injury by about 51 per cent, and reduce your odds of a fatal head injury by 65 per cent. This makes wearing […]

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Science Borealis Anti-Black Racism Statement

Science Borealis is committed to providing a platform free from discrimination, where all volunteers, collaborators and community members are treated with respect and dignity. This past week, the blatant acts of anti-Black racism have been a sobering reminder that racism and oppression remain a very real and perpetual problem facing the Black community in the […]

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