Science + Tech – Views & Research

A total eclipse of the Moon, Saturn’s rings ‘disappear’, meteors and more: your guide to the southern sky in 2025

Nick Lomb, University of Southern Queensland

a pole with a camera mounted on top in the desert

Increased surveillance at the Canada-U.S. border means more asylum seekers could die

Petra Molnar, York University, Canada

What Roblox’s safety updates mean for its users

Sara M. Grimes, McGill University

A tablet displaying the login screen for the game Roblox

Australia is banning social media for teens. Should Canada do the same?

Christopher Dietzel, Concordia University and Kaitlynn Mendes, Western University

a large pale yellow sphere covered in swirls around a brighter section

Sunspots and solar flares, created by the sun’s magnetism, can affect the Earth’s surface

Martin Connors, Athabasca University

Why is it so hard to type in Indigenous languages?

Mark Turin, University of British Columbia and N̓a̓ṇ̓gáinúx̌v - Robyn Humchitt, University of British Columbia

the new letters of Haíɫzaqvḷa: two resemble an upside down Y, the other two are the same but with a line across the middle

Geneticists have finally solved the mystery of Garfield’s orange coat

Lluís Montoliu, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB - CSIC)

Canadian news media are suing OpenAI for copyright infringement, but will they win?

Robert Diab, Thompson Rivers University

How a solar Minecraft server is changing the way we play video games

Bart Simon, Concordia University and Darren Wershler, Concordia University

A computer attached to a solar panel on a rooftop, tall glass buildings in the background

When building Indigenous infrastructure, build relationally, like beavers

Andrew Wiebe, University of Toronto

If TikTok poses a grave threat to national security, why are Canadians told they can keep using it?

Claudiu Popa, University of Toronto

The TikTok icon on a phone next to other icons.

Updates to Canada’s Copyright Act bring consumers closer to the ‘right to repair’ your devices

Anthony D Rosborough, Dalhousie University

repair tools lie next to a disassembled mobile phone

The reasons for shutting down TikTok in Canada appear tenuous at best

Robert Diab, Thompson Rivers University

AI and criminal justice: How AI can support — not undermine — justice

Benjamin Perrin, University of British Columbia

A close up photo on a woman's face with various graphics superimposed onto the photo

purple star-shaped cells against a black background with green dots

New research supports brain cell transplantation as a treatment for some neurological disorders

Albert HiuKa Fok, McGill University and Sabrina Chierzi, McGill University

South Africa amended its research guidelines to allow for heritable human genome editing

Françoise Baylis, Dalhousie University

a white dna helix against a black background

Did a Canadian developer really invent bitcoin? A new HBO show explores an intriguing theory

Jeremy Clark, Concordia University

How a futuristic material is able to change its properties from soft to rigid, and back again

Damiano Pasini, McGill University

a roll of perforated white material against a blue background

The scale of fraud against seniors is huge, and still growing — here’s why

Annie Lecompte, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)

An elderly person's hand holds a cell phone.

Astronomy

An orange moon sets behind towers at night.

Canada’s first moon rover will soon have a name as it prepares to explore a hostile lunar region

Gordon Osinski, Western University

We need to consider alternatives to dark matter that better explain cosmological observations

Rajendra Gupta, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

bright white stars against a dark background with overlays of pastel-coloured spots

The planetary orbit in Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ is random and chaotic, but could it exist?

Peter Watson, Carleton University

promotional poster showing a disintegrating satellite dish and the text "3 Body Problem"

The sun was born when a dense gas cloud collapsed, 4.6 billion years ago

Hanika Rizo, Carleton University

starry sky with clouds in the lower half

100 years ago, our understanding of the universe exploded

Martin Connors, Athabasca University

a photo of the sky with a bright spot in the lower left corner and navy blue background with white spots

Scroll less, connect more: A new study shows how to make social media work for you

Vasileia Karasavva, University of British Columbia and Amori Yee Mikami, University of British Columbia

Youth social media: Why proposed Ontario and federal legislation won’t fix harms related to data exploitation

Teresa Scassa, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Social media warning labels and school cell phone bans: Do they unlock better youth mental health?

Audrey-Ann Deneault, Université de Montréal; Sheri Madigan, University of Calgary, and Tracy Vaillancourt, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa

Children using smartphones in a classroom

Addressing online gender violence requires both culture and policy change

Jaigris Hodson, Royal Roads University; Esteban Morales, University of Groningen; Kaitlynn Mendes, Western University, and Yimin Chen, Royal Roads University

A teenaged girl lies on a bed using a smartphone

Gamified investing apps are becoming more popular — but can be risky for young investors

Marius Zoican, University of Calgary

A picture of a businessman jumping off a cliff onto a gold box with a question mark on it similar to a Mario game

We discovered a new fossil species of prehistoric fish

Richard Cloutier, Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR); Alice Clement, Flinders University, and John Long, Flinders University

Nanoscopic motor proteins in the brain build the physical structures of memory

Albert HiuKa Fok, McGill University

How studying trends in human lifespans can measure progress in addressing inequality

Peter Zizler, Mount Royal University and Shoba Ittyipe, Mount Royal University

three small toy figures placed on a bar graph

Commercial whaling and climate change are inhibiting evolutionary change in Arctic whales

Matt J. Thorstensen, University of Manitoba

A bowhead whale mother and calf in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

Cats and dogs both like to play fetch − it’s rooted in their hunting instincts

Mikel Delgado, Purdue University and Judith Stella, Purdue University

A cat carries a toy in its mouth while walking indoors

a series of hands stitching together series of motifs in a grid like pattern

Survey on AI finds most people want it regulated, but trust in government remains low

Aftab Erfan, Simon Fraser University and Fergus Linley-Mota, Simon Fraser University

Transparency and trust: How news consumers in Canada want AI to be used in journalism

Nicole Blanchett, Toronto Metropolitan University; Charles H. Davis, Toronto Metropolitan University; Mariia Sozoniuk, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Sibo Chen, Toronto Metropolitan University

Person sitting at a desk with a laptop and larger computer screen displaying the words AI chat.

Science fiction stories allow us to explore what we want, and what we reject with AI

Burcu Olgen, Concordia University

A woman with her hands up in a formal dress.

AI without limits threatens public trust — here are some guidelines for preserving communications integrity

Terry Flynn, McMaster University and Alex Sévigny, McMaster University

A person, seen from the shoulders down, works on a laptop. One of their hands is raised with the palm facing upwards and an image of a computer chip that says AI in the middle floats above it

Talking to dead people through AI: the business of ‘digital resurrection’ might not be helpful, ethical… or even legal

Damián Tuset Varela, UOC - Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

The use of AI in war games could change military strategy

John Long Burnham, University of Alberta

Chess pieces with a blue and purple screen behind them.

Increasingly sophisticated AI systems can perform empathy, but their use in mental health care raises ethical questions

A.T. Kingsmith, OCAD University

a woman looks at a device with graphics related to health superimposed around her

The federal government’s proposed AI legislation misses the mark on protecting Canadians

Joanna Redden, Western University and Fenwick McKelvey, Concordia University

a robot arm reaches out to various icons related to justice including scales, a courthouse and a gavel

To make AI safe, governments must regulate data collection

Wendy H. Wong, University of British Columbia

A man with dark hair and in a blue dress shirt and grey tie speaks at a lectern. Large blue letters A and I are beside him.

a worker observes a burned out neighbourhood

Jasper’s wildfire recovery is challenged by its unique land classification and the approaching winter

Jack L. Rozdilsky, York University, Canada

Since Tesla recalled its vehicles in 2023, there have been 20 accidents and investigators are asking why

Francesco Biondi, University of Windsor

Gaming with empathy: How one video game offers a glimpse of life in Gaza under attack

Adan Jerreat-Poole, University of Waterloo

A black and white graphic of a girl carrying a dolls standing in front of ruble of destroyed buildings.

Using smart devices to schedule on-demand public transportation can save time and money

Seyed Mehdi Meshkani, Concordia University; Nizar Bouguila, Concordia University; Siavash Farazmand, Concordia University, and Zachary Patterson, Concordia University

an empty bus stop in a suburban neighbourhood

Deadly border technologies are increasingly employed to violently deter migration