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23,694 articles from CBC - Technology & Science News
Some planets could support life in a narrow twilight zone, study suggests
Bob McDonald's blog: Scientists used climate models to show how planets around other stars with extreme environments could have a relatively benign twilight zone — which could mean a higher chance of life existing on these...
As AI evolves, some Quebec teachers counter ChatGPT with their own bots
Some teachers are on uncertain ground, trying to determine if ChatGPT is doing student work.
Canadian researchers find new gene mutation that could be linked to increased breast cancer risk
A group of researchers led by a Canadian scientist have identified a rare gene mutation that could be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. In a peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the researchers identified a mutation in a gene called...
Tyrannosaurus rex and velociraptor may have had lips covering their teeth, new study finds
An international team of paleontologists has found evidence that may change the modern understandings of the Tyrannosaurus rex and...
THURSDAY 30. MARCH 2023
Lolita the orca is returning home to Puget Sound after more than 50 years in captivity
Lolita the orca will soon be swimming in her home waters of Puget Sound in Washington state after more than half a century in...
Saving the salamanders: Spring road closures help these critters migrate
In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we look at the steps taken every spring in Canada to protect migrating salamanders and what this week's federal budget promised on greening the electricity...
Why woodpeckers don't get concussions, a really weird tongue and other surprising facts about these birds
Woodpeckers are resourceful and beautiful. But they’re a lot weirder than you might think
Herring spawn off northern Vancouver Island dazzles residents and animals alike
Herring are spawning in an area off the coast of Vancouver Island where a spawn has never been...
Compostable takeout bowls contain 'forever chemicals,' study finds
If you bought a salad bowl for lunch in a compostable container, that greener choice may have come with a dash of “forever chemicals” called PFAS, a new study finds. Should you worry? Here’s a closer...
WEDNESDAY 29. MARCH 2023
Battery-powered 'shark' cleans plastic-infested waters
A robotic shark that gobbles up plastic waste has been let loose in London’s docklands, to clean up the water by removing the equivalent of more than 22,700 plastic bottles per day, according to its...
Logging near streams in B.C. Interior is warming water and threatening coho salmon: study
Decades of logging activities near rivers in B.C.'s Interior are driving up the temperatures of coho salmon habitats and threatening the species' survival, according to a new...
Scientists find water in beads from Chinese moon mission
Scientists have discovered a new and renewable source of water on the moon for future explorers in lunar samples from a Chinese...
Hit pause on AI development, Elon Musk and others urge
Elon Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives are calling for a six-month pause in developing systems more powerful than OpenAI's newly launched GPT-4, in an open letter citing potential risks to society and...
Giant meatball with woolly mammoth DNA unveiled by cultured meat startup
A giant meatball made from flesh cultivated using the DNA of an extinct woolly mammoth was unveiled on Tuesday at Nemo, a science museum in the...
TUESDAY 28. MARCH 2023
Halifax company pilots new technology to track lobster traps
A Halifax-based startup is testing out new technology aimed at helping the fishing industry recover lost lobster traps and other fishing gear that can be deadly to marine...
Pair of great horned owlets hanging out in popular Victoria park
A pair of great horned owl chicks are delighting the community around Victoria’s Beacon Hill...
MONDAY 27. MARCH 2023
Vancouver Park Board asking residents to report Canada geese nests to help with population control
Board staff are asking for help locating nests in order to swap the eggs out for ones that will not hatch in an effort to control a growing population that is wreaking havoc in public...
Nature puts on a show in this week's audience photo gallery
Have a photo you'd like us to see? Email us! Our address is nlphotos@cbc.ca.
SUNDAY 26. MARCH 2023
After getting hit by a truck, this great horned owl has been rehabilitated and released back into the wild
An owl hit by a truck near 100 Mile House last winter has been rehabilitated and released back into the wild, much to the excitement of those who rescued...
Moose Factory author brings to life the story of Oojakaduck or Fisher constellation
Norm Wesley of Moose Factory has been wanting to write a book about Oojakaduck for about 30...
SATURDAY 25. MARCH 2023
Avian flu threat fades on farms but may be back in the fall
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says only two poultry facilities here are dealing with avian flu outbreak. But as the virus continues to spread in the wild, there are worries about what could happen...
Here's what's behind the latest northern lights display
This month has been a good one for aurora photographers, and Thursday night featured auroras as far south as New Mexico. So what’s behind the latest light shows, and can we expect...
Huge masses of foul-smelling seaweed in the Caribbean could cause headaches for sun-seekers
Every winter, millions of Canadians head down to the Caribbean. This year, however, tourists may have noticed something not-so-pleasant awaiting them on the beach: stinky, brown sargassum. What is it, and should you be...
FRIDAY 24. MARCH 2023
No aliens needed: 'Oumuamua's behaviour has a natural explanation, scientists say
A new theory suggests that radiation from interstellar space reconfigured ice on 'Oumuamua's surface to trap hydrogen gas that was released as a propellant as it approached the...
Flyover of Mars crater shows details of an ancient lake
Bob McDonald's blog: A new simulation video produced by NASA and the ESA shows off the planetary features that make scientists believe the Red Planet's Jezero Crater was a lake billions of years...
Bison bone found in Prince Albert, Sask., area points to human life there more than 8,000 years ago
Community-oriented historian David Rondeau says it is an important discovery, as it shows humans were in the area about a thousand years earlier than was previously...
Fun with mechanical engineering: Sask. Polytech students get hands-on learning by building hovercraft
About two dozen students at Saskatchewan Polytech have worked together to build hovercrafts over a month, and got a chance to test their abilities this...
Grasslands store tons of carbon — and there's a movement to protect them
In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we look at the carbon capture potential of Canada's grasslands and growing concern about the overlap of pension funds and oil and gas companies.
Inbreeding is hampering population growth for orcas, study finds
A new study out of Washington state has found that inbreeding depression, which is the reduced survival and fertility of offspring that are a product of inbreeding, is preventing the southern resident killer whale population from...
THURSDAY 23. MARCH 2023
Scientists now know how beetles absorb water from the air through their butt. Here's why it's important
Scientists have long known that beetles can survive in extremely dry conditions — thanks to their unusual ability to suck water from the air through their rear ends. Now they know how they do...
What made Beethoven sick? DNA from his hair offers clues
Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven's death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him. Here's what they...
Study suggests lobster may be able to adapt to warming ocean temperatures
A new study from Atlantic Canada indicates lobster may be able to adapt to warming ocean temperatures. The results were presented at a meeting organized by a Nova Scotia non-profit group that helps co-ordinate collaborative research on Atlantic...
To boldly grow where no one has grown before: Space technology could help grow food in northern Labrador
A dietician and food manager with Nunatsiavut is one of the jury members on the Canadian Space Agency's Deep Space Food challenge, and she hopes the eventual winning idea will be used in the...
WEDNESDAY 22. MARCH 2023
Owl attacks 6 people at Killarney Provincial Park
Four people were treated at a hospital earlier this month after they were attacked by a great horned owl at Killarney Provincial Park, south of Sudbury,...
TUESDAY 21. MARCH 2023
Deadly 6.5 magnitude earthquake rattles Pakistan, Afghanistan
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled much of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday, sending panicked residents fleeing from homes and offices and frightening people even in remote villages. At least nine people...
Spring sprung at 3:24 p.m. on March 20. Here's the science behind the date and time
According to a local weather expert, Calgarians may have to wait some time to feel the effects of what many consider to be spring...
MONDAY 20. MARCH 2023
Rebuild of N.W.T. climate research station ramps up
Dieter Cazon, the director of lands and resources for Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation, expects May and June will be big construction months at Scotty Creek Research Station. The station was almost completely destroyed by an unusually late-season wildfire in...
We are heading toward IPCC's 1.5 C threshold of warming, but all is not lost
As we edge ever closer toward that 1.5 C, it may leave one with a sense of defeat, of helplessness, that we have failed and that we might as well give up. But that shouldn’t be the...
Trailblazing Nunatsiavut researchers study the ocean, and add Inuit context for other scientists
Michelle Saunders and Carla Pamak are the first Nunatsiavut members aboard the Canadian Coast Guard ship Amundsen for its annual research expedition through the Labrador Sea. Their cultural knowledge comes in handy when a rough day at sea causes the ship to seek refuge in Hebron, a former Inuit...
SATURDAY 18. MARCH 2023
These engineers are being hired to get the most out of AI tools without coding
The arrival of artificial intelligence software is both intriguing and alarming many about how the technology will shape our lives. So whose job is it to get the most out these systems? Enter the growing field of prompt...
FRIDAY 17. MARCH 2023
Volcanoes on Venus erupt every few months like Hawaii, study suggests
Scientists found evidence of active volcanoes on Venus by using new technology to examine old images of our next-door...
Markings on the leg and butt bones of early riders indicate people started riding horses 5,000 years ago
This is the first time scientists used human skeletons to provide insight about the origins of horse riding. Horseback riding allowed people to carry more and travel farther than ever...
30 years after an historic fight against clear cutting, Indigenous communities are still fighting for forests
Two directors tell the story of some of Canada’s last remaining old-growth forests, and the people trying to protect...
Ties between pension fund directors and fossil fuels are 'incompatible' for some Canadians
Despite mounting pressure from Canadians who want their money to stop supporting oil and gas, the majority of the country’s largest pension fund managers continue to invest in that sector — and are led by individuals with close ties to fossil fuel...
THURSDAY 16. MARCH 2023
Invasive snails are helping an endangered bird make a comeback in Florida
Since island apple snails invaded the Florida Everglades, an endangered species of bird known as snail kites has bounced back from the threat of...