University of Calgary Works with Energy Regulator on Data Visualization Initiative
According to the University of Calgary, University of Calgary researchers are working with the National Energy Board (NEB), the country’s energy regulator. It is the beginning of a 3-year project to transform the NEB energy data into “clear, publicly accessible, online visual tools.”
Professor in the faculty of science’s department of computer science, and a Canada Research Chair, Sheelagh Carpendale, said, “Data visualization is a way of realizing the potential of data by helping people as individuals understand what’s there, and empowering them so they can use that data and make their own decisions.”
It is enabling human being see the patterns in the data. The work from this initiative will be completely freely available too. In other words, the designs and other information created by the project will be freely available for “libraries, other regulators and third parties.”
10th Science Rendezvous Festival in Saskatoon and Other Events Across Canada
The Star Phoenix reported that the “10th Science Rendezvous Festival in Saskatoon ? one of hundreds of events across 30 Canadian cities ? showcases science achievements and features hands-on activities for people of all ages.”
The event’s organizers are working with Let’s Talk Science from the University of Saskatchewan. Let’s talk Science is housed in the Geology building. A biology graduate student, Laurel Sacco, talked about the 2017 event.
Sacco said, “There’s a lot of new things ? I’d like a ton of people to come and participate and have a good time ? I think one of our favourite things is whenever a kid or an adult comes away saying, ?Oh, That’s awesome?, and then you see them go tell somebody else about it.”
Canada Signs Arctic Agreement with Seven Neighbours
Foreign affairs minister of Canada, Chrystia Freeland, said, “The Agreement will reinforce Canada’s role as a leader in Arctic science and help attract international researchers to the Canadian Arctic?It will also facilitate Arctic scientific cooperation, which will help us make better decisions for Northerners and all Canadians.”
According to Radio Canada International, Freeland was describing the binding science cooperation agreement signed by Canada and seven of its Arctic neighbors. The purpose of the science agreement is to ease cooperation between them.
One important aspect to Canada is the reinforcement of Canadian leadership in the Arctic. Besides the scientific and politic benefits, Freeland argued this will “help us make better decisions for Northerners and all Canadians.”
16-year-old wins top national science prize
“A 16-year-old student from Vincent Massey Secondary School in Windsor took home the top prize at the national final for the Sanofi Biogenius Canada competition held in Ottawa on Monday,” CBC News: Windsor said.
The 16-year-old, Tasnia Nabil, produced a research project entitled “A Novel Computational Approach to Advance Ferromagnetic NanoTherapy as a Therapeutic Solution for Cancer.” It explored new ways to calculate the impacts on the human body’s cancerous cells from nanoparticles.
Nabil has worked on the project for 3 years. Her parents were supporting her work from a young age, according to Nabil. $500 of the prize money will be for the Vincent Massey Secondary School. The remaining $5,000 will go to Nabil.
New Canada Research Chairs, 15 for McGill University alone
McGill Reporter reported, on May 4, that the Honorable Kirsty Duncan, Canadian Minister of Science, made the announcement that $126 million will be for 142 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs (CRCs). 15 went to McGill University alone, coming in at $12 million.
The Government of Canada also made the announcement of $7.3 million for modern research tools through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund of the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI). CFI and the CRC program assist Canadian universities attract top researchers, and keep them.
The finances equip the CRCs with up-to-date research technologies too. Six of the 15 CRCs for McGill University are women. “Minister Duncan also announced new measures designed to ensure better representation among chairholders of women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities,” McGill Report said.
Advancing science here in Canada
The Winnipeg Free Press, in a Saint Boniface-Saint Vital MP Constituency Report of Dan Vandal, stated, “In mid-April, researchers at the St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre and the University of Manitoba announced an important scientific breakthrough that can help in the fight against antibiotic resistant bacteria.”
Drs. Grant Pierce and Pavel Dibrov developed PEG-2S. It is able to fight against 2 of the top 10 antibiotic-resistant pathogens described by the World Health Organization (WHO). The top 10 are the worst threats to human health.
It may take 10 years for the complete development and approval, and distribution, of the PEG-2S. Drs. Pierce and Dibrov are at the Saint Boniface-Saint Vital Albrechtsen Research Centre.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the AUSU VPFA. He works with various organizations, and runs In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, and In-Sight Publishing.
