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Next episode in NOTL library's online Nobel series is Monday, Nov. 22 For Frances Arnold, the question was how to design a better enzyme to break up plastic or perhaps create new drugs? Frustrated
Of the three Nobel prizes in science awarded each year, my hands-down favorite is physics. Physics covers the really big stuff, such as the origins of the universe, the life cycles of galaxies,
Without our senses, our bodies and brains would be unable to make sense of what’s going on outside and within our bodies. Those senses depend on billions of sensors (receptors) and their related
The headline might sound esoteric, but the subject is not. The planet is awash with plastic, thrown every which way from car windows, piled up in dumpsites or cluttering the bottoms of rivers, seas and oceans
This year’s Nobel Prize in physics represents a timely change. No black holes, gravitational waves or birth of the universe, no laser tweezers and no new particles accompanied by inflationary claims that without this
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In 1953, a Nobel Prize was awarded to James Watson and Francis Crick for their model of DNA whose double-stranded helical structure hinted at how genes might be faithfully passed on from one
It wasn’t so long ago that some were upset by women wearing the niqab. Now, nearly two years into this pandemic, distancing, social bubbles and face masks have become the norm and the niqab is
Like Oliver Sachs, I eagerly look forward to the weekly arrival of the next issue of the journal Nature. Last week a piece written by Paul Nurse caught my eye. He quoted his
Sometimes, a rare disease can teach us a lot about treating more common diseases. Such is the case for a disease called transthyretin amyloidosis, which in its autosomal dominantly transmitted form, is rare
For most of us who have been sweltering in Ontario’s summer heat wave, the latest surge in infections in Israel seems too far away to worry. But Israel may be the canary in the mine
Unlike simple cells such as archaea and bacteria, viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID) are unable to make copies of themselves without host cells to exploit. Like most viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is a
No one knows when storytelling began but it would have required symbolic thought and language and the cognitive ability to imagine and literally “talk about” the past, present and future. Modern humans were probably not
At the most basic level, this pandemic has always been about a battle between hordes of mutating viruses and billions of human hosts, with no clear victor or end as yet in sight.
When I was a medical student, the dean of Medicine at Western University presented the history of a young man who had a malignant melanoma with metastases to his liver (based on a laparoscopic
For much of human history, the Earth was firmly planted at the centre of the known universe – a reasonable assertion given that the sun regularly rose in the east and set in
About 100,000 years ago, 36 stocky people walked along a beach in southern Spain leaving footprints behind in the sand which later fossilized. Most were made by adults and a few by children
For most healthy, middle-aged and especially younger people, infection with COVID-19 has been a non-event – a positive PCR test with few, if any symptoms to show for the infection. But for older folk
A week ago. the Sunday New York Times was in full celebration mode, festooned with plenty of photos of packed indoor and outdoor activities, open restaurants, bars and theatres, admittedly with some residual distancing and
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved aducanumab to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Like other similar drugs, it was designed to rid the brains of Alzheimer's patients of buildups of amyloid and, more importantly, slow the progression of
Try prodding yourself with your fingers – feels solid enough doesn’t it – maybe a little too much here and there, but solid. You’ll swear to it. What if I told you that you
Every airplane I’ve flown had a magnetic compass located in plain view well above the panel. With it, I could determine my magnetic heading should vacuum-driven devices such as the directional gyro or horizontal
During this pandemic we witnessed selfless behaviour by thousands of health care workers around the globe, who at great risk to themselves, struggled daily to save lives in a battle with a virus,
Back pain is one of the banes of humanity. The cause, especially in the later decades of life, is usually cumulative degenerative changes in the lower spine involving the vertebral bodies, the discs
We need maps, whether the maps embedded in our brain’s temporal and parietal lobes based on past experiences, tried and true paper maps or these days embedded in GPS devices in our cars
After more than a year of turmoil, suffering and death, there’s been one shining light in this pandemic – the rapid design of several highly effective vaccines. Troubles associated with the rollout of the
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