Environment
Herbicide Roundup disturbing freshwater biodiversity
As Health Canada extends the deadline on public consultation on higher herbicide concentrations in certain foods, research from McGill University shows that the herbicide Roundup, at concentrations commonly measured in agricultural runoff, can have dramatic effects on natural bacterial communities. "Bacteria are the foundation of the food chain in freshwater ecosystems. How the effects of Roundup cascade through freshwater ecosystems to affect their health in the long-term deserves much more study,- say the researchers." Resistance, resilience, and functional redundancy of freshwater bacterioplankton communities facing a gradient of agricultural stressors in a mesocosm experiment " was published in Molecular Ecology.
Mapping the genome of lake trout to ensure its survival
An international team of researchers from the U.S. and Canada, including researchers from McGill University, have managed to create a reference genome for lake trout to support U.S. state and federal agencies with reintroduction and conservation efforts. Lake trout, once the top predator fish across the Great Lakes, reached near extinction between the 1940s and 1960s due to pollution, overfishing, and predation by the invasive lamprey eel. Once showing striking levels of diversity in terms of size, appearance, and ability to adapt to varied environments, now the only lake trout populations to have survived are to be found in Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Genomes of salmonids, a family that includes lake trout, are harder to compile than those of many other animals, the research team said. -Between 80-100 million years ago, the ancestor of all salmonid species that lake trout belong to went through a whole genome duplication event. As a result, salmonid genomes are difficult to assemble due to their highly repetitive nature and an abundance of duplicated genomic regions with similar sequences,- explains Ioannis Ragoussis , the Head of Genome Sciences at the McGill Genome Centre, where the sequencing took place." A chromosome-anchored genome assembly for Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) " was published in Molecular Ecology Resources.
Why do species live where they do?
As the climate changes, what factors will decide where species can survive and thrive? Scientists try to answer this question by studying what governs where species live today. Harsh and cold environmental conditions play a role, especially toward the poles like in Canada. But researchers Anna Hargreaves , an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Alexandra Paquette show that interactions with other species - like competition and predation - are also major driving factors in determining where species can live, especially in warmer conditions toward the equator." Biotic interactions are more often important at species- warm versus cool range edges " was published in Ecology Letters.
Health
Rhythms of music and heartbeats
When you listen to or perform music, you may notice that you move your body in time with the music. You may also synchronise to music in ways that you are not aware of, such as your heartbeats. Scientists from McGill, led by Caroline Palmer , the Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Performance, investigated how musicians- heart rhythms change when they perform familiar and unfamiliar piano melodies at different times of day. Contrary to some predictions, they found that musicians- heart rhythms were more predictable and rigidly patterned when they performed unfamiliar melodies, and when they performed early in the morning. These findings suggest that musicians- heart rhythms may be influenced by time of day as well as by how novel or how difficult a performance is. Ultimately, this research can inform us about how to best apply music in therapeutic settings such as in interventions that target abnormal cardiovascular patterns." Physiological and behavioural factors in musicians- performance tempo " was published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
Stress affects our motivation to do difficult tasks
Stress increases people’s tendency to avoid cognitively demanding tasks, without necessarily altering their ability to perform those tasks according to new research from McGill University. -People are demand-averse,- says Ross Otto , an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. -We found that stress increases that aversion.- Study participants had to choose between repeating a single task over and over, or the more cognitively demanding process of frequently switching from one kind of task to another. They then compared the choices made by individuals under acute stress against those of a control group. -The interesting thing is - the stress effects didn-t come out in performance,- Otto explains. -So, it’s not that the study participants were worse at either the more demanding or the less demanding task - their performance was no different; it-s just that when you give them the choice of whether they want to do one or the other, stress increases their unwillingness to invest effort.-" Acute Psychosocial Stress Increases Cognitive-Effort Avoidance " was published in Psychological Science.
" After 200 years: the structure of bleach and characterization of hypohalite ions by single-crystal X-ray diffraction " was published in Angewandte Chimie.
Technology
Dining in space: crickets with a side order of microalgae
Deep space travel may soon be within reach, but what will astronauts eat on missions that last for years, taking them far from Earth? Two student-led teams from McGill University were selected as semifinalists of the Deep Space Food Challenge , a joint initiative of NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Impact Canada.Among the projects, is a first-of-its-kind technology to breed and harvest crickets suitable for human consumption. Starting with nothing but a few hundred eggs, the team anticipates that the Cricket Rearing, Collection, and Transformation System will quickly support the growth of tens of thousands of crickets every month. The technology produces a finely-ground powder that is stored safely within the system itself. When combined with water to form a paste, cricket powder is a versatile ingredient, packed with protein.
The second project, the InSpira Photobioreactor, is a highly automated system to grow, harvest, and package spirulina drink products. This type of blue-green algae packs a nutritional punch and is commonly available as a dietary supplement at health food stores. The proposed technology is a unique, cartridge-based photobioreactor, coupled with an in-house harvesting, dewatering, and processing unit to transform the culture into edible forms.
The teams will be building prototypes of their proposed solutions for deep space food production soon.
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Can mobile phones help promote gender equality in politics?
Do people who use mobile phones hold more positive views towards gender equality in politics? A team of international researchers including Luca Maria Pesando , an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, set out to investigate this question in 36 African countries. They found that regular use of mobile phones is associated with more positive attitudes towards women’s participation in politics; however, this was only observed among women and not men. The results strengthen the idea that technology adoption on the part of women - by improving connectivity, expanding access to information, and broadening one’s own physical and remote network - may be a promising lever to promote gender equality and societal well-being, and to address some of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The researchers also point out an important yet often neglected issue: policies aimed at changing gender attitudes are often targeted at women, but men’s attitudes can be harder to shift than women-s, requiring different approaches.-Mobile Phones and Attitudes toward Women’s Participation in Politics: Evidence from Africa - was published in Sociology of Development.
