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"Nuclear pasta" ranked strongest material in the universe

Michael Irving September 18, 2018

Forget steel, forget diamond and even forget graphene – “nuclear pasta” may be the strongest material in the universe. This strange substance is formed in the intense pressures inside neutron stars, and researchers have now run computer simulations to test just how strong it is.

Computer simulations have found that "nuclear pasta" – strange material found inside neutron stars – may ...

Health & Wellbeing

MS treatment may center around a problematic protein

Ben Coxworth March 8, 2018

Although a cure for multiple sclerosis isn't necessarily right around the corner, we may at least be getting closer to one. Scientists at Canada's University of Alberta and McGill University have zeroed in on a protein that could be a target for treatment of the disease.

The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation estimates that approximately 2.5 million people worldwide have the disease

Medical

Family history found to impact onset age of Alzheimer's disease

Rich Haridy February 27, 2018

A new study is suggesting the genetic impact of Alzheimer's disease could be more significant than previously thought, finding a strong link between the ages of parents and children and the onset of the disease.

A new study suggests the age a parent develops Alzheimer's disease could impact when their offspring ...

Space

Neutron star cosmic collision keeps burning brighter, baffling scientists

Michael Irving January 21, 2018

Last year astronomers around the world witnessed the merger of two neutron stars as gravitational waves, light, radio and gamma rays, but the aftermath of the mashup hasn’t played out quite as expected. Rather than fade over time, the afterglow has continued to brighten.

An artist's rendition of the merger of two neutron stars, which was witnessed for the first ...

Space

Astronomers find a new twist to mysterious radio signals from space

Michael Irving January 10, 2018

An international team of astronomers has found that a strange repeating fast radio burst is even odder than previously thought. The radio waves from FRB 121102 are being “twisted” to an extreme degree, indicating that highly-magnetized plasma could be interfering.

Neutron stars are a leading candidate for what's behind Fast Radio Bursts, and now an international ...

Science

Gar-inspired gloves could guard against injury

Ben Coxworth January 24, 2017

The alligator gar is a pretty fearsome predator, but it may actually end up helping to keep people from getting hurt. Scientists at Montreal's McGill University have developed a protective ceramic coating for work gloves, inspired by the fish's scales.

Science

Cranberries crush bacteria's communication networks

Lisa-Ann Lee October 27, 2016

A new study shows that a cranberry extract might be more effective than commercial antibiotics at thwarting the spread of bacterial infections.

Drones

Dot-dabbing drones paint pixellated pictures

Ben Coxworth August 4, 2016

We hear about drones being used to do a lot of things, but the creation of art is one that doesn't come up too often. That could be about to change, though, as a computer scientist from Montreal's McGill University has been using tiny quadcopters to paint portraits on the campus' hallway walls.

One of the quadcopters works on a portrait of Grace Kelly

Materials

Minute "printing press" gets gold nanoparticles organized

David Szondy January 10, 2016

Using synthetic DNA as a kind of scaffold, McGill scientists have manipulated gold nanoparticles a millionth of an inch in diameter to form orderly structures that could have great scientific, engineering, and medical potential.

Nano-particles were used unknowingly in the Middle Ages

Environment

Metal makes for a promising alternative to fossil fuels

David Szondy December 12, 2015

A team of scientists led by McGill University are studying the combustion characteristics of metal powders to determine whether such powders could provide a more viable alternative to fossil fuels.

Stabilized flames of different metal powders burning with air, compared to a methane-air flame