News

Low blood sugar in infancy is serious, but treatment can ward off long-term brain damage in infants, a new study has found.

The study from the University of Waterloo and the University of Auckland is the first research of its kind to declare stabilizing blood sugar levels in newborns with hypoglycemia prevents brain damage.

Congratulations to Prof. Laura Hug for receiving the 2022 Thermo Fisher Scientific Award. This award will be presented at the annual Canadian Society for Microbiologists conference scheduled to be held at the University of Guelph from June 26 to June 29, 2022.

Pharmaceutical drugs often take advantage of a specific shape in order to bind to the biological target. Some molecules, however, can exist with two versions that are mirror images of each other, similar to a left-handed and right-handed pair of gloves. In the body, often only one of the two molecules is an active pharmaceutical drug due to the difference in shape.

A new study shows that smoke from wildfires destroys the ozone layer. Researchers caution that if major fires become more frequent with a changing climate, more damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun will reach the ground.

Atmospheric chemists from the University of Waterloo found that smoke from the Australian wildfires of 2019 and 2020 destroyed atmospheric ozone in the Southern Hemisphere for months. The ozone shield is a part of the stratosphere layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that absorbs UV rays from the sun. 

Atoms and molecules are the building blocks of chemistry and are important to our understanding of the world. By cooling atoms and molecules to ultracold temperatures it opens up a new understanding of quantum chemistry. Working with nanokelvin temperatures, one billion times colder than Antarctica during winter, researchers can observe and control particles in ways not possible at room temperature. When really cold, particles behave in strange and exciting ways. Researchers are discovering unexpected results by looking at particles from a quantum perspective.

Professor Sherry Schiff from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences has been awarded the 2022 Frank Rigler Award, the highest honour given by the Society of Canadian Limnologists.

A study of more than 2,000 streams around North America found that those altered by human activity are at greater risk of flooding.

The study from the University of Waterloo analyzed the seasonal flow patterns of 2,272 streams in Canada and the U.S. and found that human-managed streams – those impacted by developments like dams, canals, or heavy urbanization – had significantly different flow patterns compared to streams in natural watersheds.

International Women’s Day is a time for celebrating the social, cultural and economic inroads women have made towards gender equality. This year’s theme, Break the Bias, has resonated with many women who have navigated long-standing barriers, glass ceilings and oppressive stigmas that continue to exist both at the workplace and in the greater community. This year, the Faculty of Science welcomes five alumni to our High Tea Social, including Nasra Smith (BSc '11), to discuss the necessities of breaking down existing biases.

Congratulations to Professor Linda Nazar , who was awarded the 2022 E.W.R. Steacie Award by the Chemical Institute of Canada. The award is presented to “a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution to chemistry while working in Canada."

Professor Scott Hopkins has been named the winner of the 2022 Keith Laidler Award for his outstanding early-career contributions to physical chemistry in Canada.