Research

The disruption of Indigenous-controlled fire use at the onset of colonization has resulted in high-severity fire activity, according to a new study by a research team at the University of Waterloo.

The researchers examined how Indigenous fire stewardship—specifically cultural burning—reduces the risks of interface fires, which have the potential to involve buildings and vegetation simultaneously, and fire impacts to ecological and human communities.

Researchers have found that the perceived race and ethnicity of a software developer based on their online name may determine how their open-source software projects are judged by others.

The following opinion piece originally appeared in the Report on Business section of The Globe and Mail on July 26, 2021.

On ethical AI, the world is calling – and it’s time for Canada to answer

When COVID-19 struck Canada, we were caught flat-footed by a lack of domestic capacity to produce personal protective equipment.

A year later, we were home to 90 new companies pumping out PPE by the truckload for the North American market.

Olympic medals are not only good for the country and athletes who win them, but they can also have trickle-down effects on youth sports participation and leisure-time physical activity, a new study has found.

Smartphone gaming can be harmful to players who game to escape their negative mood and feelings of boredom, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo found that bored “escape players”—those who have difficulty engaging with the real environment and sustaining attention—may seek “flow,” which is a deep and effortless state of concentration in an activity linked to loss of awareness of time and space.

Imagine reading a map or email on a head-up display right in front of your eyes — it sounds like something from a sci-fi novel, but it’s one of the many possible future uses for contact lenses that has been predicted through current and emerging research.

> Lyndon Jones
> Director of CORE

Researchers are using computer models to simulate COVID-19 infections on a cellular level – the basic structural level of the human body.

The models allow for virtual trials of drugs and vaccines, opening the possibility of pre-assessment for drug and vaccine efficacy against the virus.

The research team at the University of Waterloo includes Anita Layton, professor of applied mathematics and Canada 150 Research Chair in mathematical biology and medicine, and Mehrshad Sadria, an applied mathematics PhD student.

Funding from a prestigious Canadian scholarship will help a new chemical engineering doctoral student improve the performance and lifespan of lithium-ion batteries.

Manh-Kien Tran will receive $50,000 annually for the next three years from the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship to further develop his research focused on building a smart cloud-based battery management system.

Unlike other population-level stressful events such as natural disasters, COVID-19 has not resulted in a net increase in smoking, according to a new study from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Project, at the University of Waterloo.

The researchers also found that although nearly half of smokers reported that COVID-19 made them think about quitting, the vast majority of smokers did not change their smoking habits during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the successful advancement of mRNA vaccine technology. This has however left many people wondering how it is mRNA vaccines were developed so quickly. Bill Anderson, professor emeritus in chemical engineering, provides answers to this and other questions.

How do mRNA vaccines work?