Research

A University of Waterloo researcher is set to transform the historical profession by revolutionizing the way historians sift through and retrieve sources created in the Internet age.

Professor Ian Milligan from Waterloo’s Department of History is leading a research project that will link history and big data to give historians the tools required to find and interpret digital sources from web archives. Milligan’s research is funded by a $140,000 Early Researcher Award (ERA) from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Think of the term ‘invasive species.’ It conjures images and feelings of an alien assault threatening our lives. It may be useful in raising awareness about a problem, but is it helpful in solving it?

When it comes to lifting the veil on computer technology, Stephanie Rozek isn’t playing games. That is, unless she is.

Rozek, who graduated with a Waterloo electrical engineering degree in 2000, is the co-founder and CEO of Hackademy Canada, a company that demystifies technology by teaching computer game design, coding, programming, and even interactive hardware classes in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.

Earthworms are usually a welcome addition to any garden or field. They can increase the amount of air and water in the soil and help break down dead organic matter. But 19 of Canada’s 27 earthworm species are European imports. When they enter a new ecosystem, things start to change, literally from the ground up.

The findings, published today in Tobacco Use in Canada: Patterns and Trends, reveal that approximately 20 per cent of youth between the ages of 15 and 19 experiment with vaping, the same number who try cigarettes.

“E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular among Canadians,” said David Hammond, lead author on the report and a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at Waterloo. “Now one in five youth will try vaping before graduating high school.”

To develop quantum technologies, it is critical to first build capabilities to control extraordinarily fragile quantum systems. The team from Waterloo found a way to control a quantum system without exposing it to vibration or other interference.

The new technique was published in Physical Review A.

Photo credit: iStock/ArtHdesign

Phosphorus is one of those nutrients that can be helpful or harmful, depending on its location. As a soil fertilizer it provides an essential nutrient for food crops but in our waterways it’s an unwelcome fertilizer providing the essential missing nutrient for toxic algae.

Several companies and charities in Waterloo region send their archives to the University of Waterloo Library. It was while cataloguing a box belonging to YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo that Jessica Blackwell, one of the librarians, noticed something unusual tucked inside and showed her colleague.

Popular Science, one of the most well-read science and tech publications in the world, has chosen an invention created at the University of Waterloo to be one of the Top 10 innovations for 2015.