New Atlas

Space Audio available

Revolutionary new telescope picks up 13 fast radio burst signals, including one repeater

Michael Irving January 9, 2019

The CHIME telescope has picked up 13 unexplained radio signals coming from beyond the Milky Way. These fast radio bursts are part of one of the strangest mysteries of modern astronomy, but the new detections could help unlock their source, thanks to a rare one that seems to be repeating.

The revolutionary radio telescope CHIME has now detected 13 new fast radio burst signals, including a ...

Architecture

On the right track: Calgary's stunning new library is built atop a rail line

Adam Williams November 9, 2018

Snøhetta and Dialog drew inspiration from local Chinook cloud arch formations when designing Canada's Calgary Central Library. The building is situated in a very challenging plot that incorporates an existing light rail track and wows visitors with an eye-catching timber-lined atrium.

The total cost for Calgary Central Library came in at CAD 245 million (roughly US$187 million)

Science

Legal marijuana: The world watches as Canada’s massive social experiment begins

Rich Haridy October 20, 2018

As Canada becomes only the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, the world is closely watching. The country will offer the grandest social experiment we have ever seen in drug legalization and may help answer some questions that have been divisively debated for decades.

What are the questions we hope the Canada experiment will help us answer?

Military

Quantum radar to render stealth technologies ineffective

David Szondy April 25, 2018

Stealth technology may not be very stealthy in the future thanks to a new quantum radar system that uses the phenomenon of quantum entanglement to eliminate heavy background noise, thereby defeating stealth anti-radar technologies to detect incoming aircraft and missiles with much greater accuracy.

The new quantum radar would negate the near-invisibility of stealth aircraft like the B-2 Spirit bomber

Space

"Ultramassive" black holes may be the biggest ever found – and they're growing fast

Michael Irving February 20, 2018

Black holes can be anywhere from a few times the mass of the Sun up to millions of times that, but some even bigger than that. A new study of data gathered by NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope has found these so-called “ultramassive” black holes may be larger and more common than we thought.

An illustration of one of the ultramassive black holes discovered by the Spanish-Canadian team

Architecture

Work begins on Canada's tallest skyscraper

Adam Williams October 9, 2017

Construction work has officially begun on a new supertall skyscraper in central Toronto. Designed by high-profile British architecture firm Foster + Partners, the mixed use building will rise to a height of 306 m (1,003 ft), making it Canada's tallest skyscraper once complete.

The One (the tallest building on the left of this image) will be Canada's tallest building.

Automotive

Anibal Icon: German heart meets Canadian Soul

Scott Collie September 28, 2017

From all-electric cars like the NIO EP9 to the graphene-laden GTA Spano, free thinkers are currently spoilt for choice in the supercar world. That hasn't deterred Anibal from having a crack at creating a handsome, fast supercar. Meet the Icon, a Canadian supercar with a German heart.

Space

"Unprecedented" CHIME radio telescope completed

David Szondy September 9, 2017

Assembly of a new giant Canadian radio telescope that has no moving parts yet is capable of scanning half the sky in a single day has been completed. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment is composed of four 100-m-long metal troughs covering an area the size of five NHL hockey rinks.

CHIME can scan half the sky in a single day

Telecommunications

4D quantum encryption successful in first real-world test

Michael Irving August 25, 2017

Quantum encryption could make for much less hackable communication networks. But for it to really take off it needs to work out in the real world, among other signals and natural air turbulence. Now, researchers have successfully sent a message with 4D quantum encryption between two rooftops.

Researchers have used 4D quantum encryption to transmit messages between two building rooftops in a real-world ...

Health & Wellbeing

The protein that can make your heart think you exercise

Michael Irving August 8, 2017

When it needs to pump more blood, the heart can grow in response to exercise and pregnancy, but after a heart attack, swelling can lead to further complications. Now scientists have found that a protein called cardiotrophin 1 (CT1) can trick the heart into the good kind of growth and reduce the bad.

A protein called cardiotrophin 1 (CT1) has been shown to improve heart health in the same ...