Research & Ideas | U of T Magazine - Part 4

Illustration of two spherical spacecrafts in orbit, each attached to a gigantic disc-like solar sail.

A New Generation of Spacecraft, Powered by Light

Solar sails could propel ships to other planets – and even stars – with much less fuel Read More

Illustration of a spaceship-like vehicle towing a gigantic pill while navigating around red blood cells inside a blood vessel.

Tiny Robots, and the Future of Drug Delivery

Microscopic machines may soon swim through our bodies, delivering cancer drugs to tumours and assisting with difficult surgeries Read More

Scientists Can’t Read Your Mind. But They’re Working on It

Prof. Tom Chau’s lab can already tell what word you’re thinking of, or if you’re singing a song to yourself Read More

Illustration of seats in a movie theatre with the screen showing the

Surfing the Net Is Old School. Soon, We May Inhabit It

A computer science alum has created a technology that turns the web into a virtual world Read More

Illustration of an armed soldier upfront and helicopters, smoke and running soldiers in the background.

Suppressing Our Most Fearful Memories

Research on mice reveals that specific memories can be weakened. Could this one day help treat the effects of trauma in humans? Read More

With Damaged Organs, a Chance for “Regrowth”

Prof. Michael Sefton imagines being able to treat diabetes with a single injection Read More

Illustration of a pair of shoes casting the shadow of a person.

A Way to Make Things Disappear

Prof. George Eleftheriades is developing a radar-evading technology that he thinks could be used one day to make anything invisible Read More

Photo of a plastic-gloved hand picking up the fourth of six prescription medicine containers in a row.

Many Medicines Are Considered Essential. Not All Are Effective

A U of T doctor is leading efforts to review the medical evidence for more than 2,200 commonly prescribed drugs Read More

One of Canada’s Mightiest Computers Tackles a Very Complex Question

A U of T professor is using serious processing power to understand what role the world’s oceans play in climate change Read More

Illustration of a magnifying glass magnifying a mosquito, with mosquitoes on the left of the glass transforming into airplanes on the right.

Predicting Where Infectious Diseases Will Strike Next

Climate change adds a new wrinkle in the quest to get out in front of epidemics Read More

Illustration of a chart with a line graph in the shape of a smiling face and arms, and with a heart in the upper left corner.

Dark Data

The usefulness of “steps per day” and other information our devices help us track Read More

Photo of Spartan Bioscience's DNA-testing device.

Could This Palm-Sized Cube Replace an Entire Lab?

Spartan Bioscience, founded by three alumni, aims to make DNA testing more accessible Read More

Photo of a pair of hands operating a video game controller.

Ready Student One

English class gets an update with a new kind of “text” Read More

Photo of four cards, the top three facing up showing the Jack, Queen and King of hearts with definitions for

All In on Gutenberg

Students in Prof. Paolo Granata’s book and media studies class learn print culture terms while playing poker Read More

Greener Pastures

Can a simple high-tech tool for farmers boost crop yields in developing countries? Read More

A Professional “Safe Space” in the #MeToo Era

U of T alumni created #GoSponsorHer to advance women’s careers Read More

Photo of a smiling Alison Wiley carrying a large backpack and holding out a cellphone.

“Everything in Life Requires Confidence”

How a U of T prof taught Alison Wiley the art of negotiation Read More

Illustration of a man with bandages in the shape of a cross on his chest

After the Shooting, a Search for Salvation

I spent two years with people who had been shot, and recorded how their lives had changed. For many, the church offered a powerful source of hope Read More

What Does an Ethnographer Do?

The goal is to get “an intimate and authentic representation of the person’s life,” says U of T prof Jooyoung Lee Read More

UHN chief patient safety officer Emily Musing at Toronto General Hospital.

Make No Mistake

Can a group of Toronto hospitals eliminate medical errors? Read More

Business Threats Can Arise at Any Time. Are You Ready?

It’s easy to say “be prepared.” Scouts learn it. Even Scar in The Lion King sang it. So why do executives so often avoid it? Read More

Michael Inzlicht, a U of T professor of social psychology, shown here at his UTSC lab

Ghost Effects

Social psychologist Michael Inzlicht launched his academic career on the study of “ego depletion.” His research suggested it was real. Then came doubts Read More

What Does It Mean to Replicate a Study?

Replication studies put researchers’ conclusions to the test by creating new versions of the original experiment Read More

What Will Solve the Replication Crisis?

U of T scholars and others are calling for four major changes to how research is conducted Read More

Photo of lost of different kinds of candy, representing a profusion of consumer choice.

Why We Sometimes Make Bad Decisions

Economists have long known that consumers can make confounding choices when presented with too much selection. But they’ve never agreed on why. Enter neuroscience Read More

Group photo of Gulshan and Pyarali Nanji in front, three of their children behind them and Dr. Sherif El-Defrawy behind them to their right

With Restored Sight Comes Opportunity and Hope

A gift from the Nanji family to U of T will help people “see the light of all the world” Read More

Prof. J.B. Caron of ecology and evolutionary biology in his lab at the Royal Ontario Museum

The Big Bang

Life on Earth exploded about 540 million years ago. Scientists are now beginning to understand why Read More

Illustrations of astronaut Chris Hadfield and singer Celine Dion.

A Distinctive Look?

English-Canadians are pretty good at identifying French-Canadian faces but the reverse isn’t true Read More

Illustration of a squirrel looking at a mobile device.

Save Your Money

An app from Vicis Labs aims to help millennials and the precariously employed manage their cash Read More

An elderly woman holding onto a credit card, while a hand reaches out of a laptop and holds the other end.

Seniors Want to Know Whom They Can Trust Online

U of T study finds older Canadians are highly concerned about digital security – sometimes to their disadvantage Read More

A Ugandan man, before and after restorative dental treatment.

Bringing Smiles to Uganda

On a two-week visit to remote villages, a U of T dental team fixes teeth – and changes lives Read More

North Korea’s supreme leader, Kim Jong-un

Finger on the Button

Could a war of words lead to an actual war between the U.S. and North Korea? Read More

Protesters at an alt-right rally in Berkeley, California

Antifa

An anti-fascist movement that started in 1930s Europe is making headlines again Read More

Yoga Is Good for You

But just what are the health benefits? Read More

The Struggle Is Real

Filmmaker Maureen Judge’s latest project captures stories of millennials venturing out on their own Read More

The Day the Stars Collided

It was all hands on deck for U of T astronomers during a rare cosmic event that led to the first sighting of a new object Read More

A scene of a night sky with a church and a person with a telescope

How Did the Universe Begin?

Prof. Barth Netterfield’s lifelong journey into faith, physics and astronomy Read More

Illustration of the dome-like Ontario Place IMAX theatre and a giant bag of popcorn next to it

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know Were Invented by U of T Alumni

These include everything from life-saving innovations to everyday conveniences Read More

Will Ginsberg and Afifa Saleem sitting at a desk in front of an open laptop, a student out of focus in the foreground

Teaching Kids How to Code

U of T undergrads are bringing the language of computers to youth in Toronto’s low-income neighbourhoods. Will it “future-proof” them? Read More

Photo of Prof. Suzanne Stewart standing indoors beside a railing.

A Refuge from the Streets

Having spent time homeless herself, Prof. Suzanne Stewart envisions a new kind of shelter – one that truly understands and cares for Indigenous women Read More

Photo of Prof. David Pettinicchio sitting on the stairs outside of a UTM building.

When Getting a Job Is Mission Impossible

Laws to end workplace discrimination against people with disabilities have mostly failed to boost employment. Sociologist David Pettinicchio wants to know why Read More

Close up shot of researcher turning a screw on a quantum computer.

AI’s Quantum Leap

In combining two of computing’s hottest trends, the Creative Destruction Lab sees new opportunities for startups Read More

Astroturfing

The practice of faking a grassroots movement gets an update in the age of social media Read More

Illustration of a pencil eraser erasing lines from a drawing of a brain.

Some Forgetfulness? It’s a Good Thing

Researchers discover that our brain erases certain memories for a reason Read More

Close up shot of a medical provider's hand tipping two pills onto a patient's hand

Among Syrian Refugees, a Need for Insulin and Heart Meds

As the media share images of wounded migrants, some of the biggest medical threats go almost unmentioned Read More

The WinterLight Labs team: Frank Rudzicz, Katie Fraser, Maria Yancheva, who is holding up a tablet, and Liam Kaufman

How a Verbal Test Can Reveal Your Brain Health

WinterLight Labs analyzes speech for evidence of even mild dementia. All patients need to do is describe a picture Read More

Sunset shot of hands in the air, waving Canadian flags

What Canada Got Right

An acceptance of diversity may be the country’s defining strength Read More

Photo of Colin Arrowsmith biking along Huron Street, pulling a device.

How Much Methane?

A U of T study aims to create the most accurate estimate yet of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions Read More

Night sky lit up by drones with blue and green dots of light

3D Movies in the Sky

A U of T startup is developing a whole new kind of night-time entertainment Read More

Illustration of a cross section view of a three-storey building. First floor: receptionist and a coffee station. Second floor: three people brainstorming on a whiteboard. Third floor: a conference room and an outdoor garden.

So You Want to Build a Startup?

10 tips from some of Canada’s top entrepreneurs Read More

Lost Words

Dozens of Indigenous languages in Canada are in danger of disappearing. What will it take to save them? Read More

How to Type in Inuktitut

A U of T PhD student is making fonts and keyboard layouts for Indigenous languages available for free Read More

Upwardly angled view of a corner of a square white building, with decorative, white panels lining the sides and a ground floor walled with glass

ICUBE UTM

The name of this U of T Mississauga business accelerator refers to three “i” words central to entrepreneurship Read More

Photo of the International Space Station

How Do You Eat in Space?

UTM students design educational games about life on the International Space Station Read More

Illustration of a woman asleep with a pair of lung-shaped blank space on her body

U of T Doctors Keep Patient Alive Without Lungs for Six Days

The procedure allowed Melissa Benoit to have a life-saving transplant Read More

Data Minding

A mathematician offers ideas on how to protect ourselves from hackers without making our digital devices impossibly complex to use Read More

Illustration of an eye (left), a closed hand (middle), a megaphone (right)

Woke

The term emerges from African-American vernacular as a call to action, says U of T prof Cassandra Lord Read More

Illustration of a man climbing out of a black hole on a ladder

A Stronger Safety Net

Can a minimum income guarantee help lift people out of poverty? Ontario is about to find out Read More

Artistic rendering of a section of the Black Creek Channel, with murals along the left wall, a bike lane alongside the ravine, and a stairway on the right

Reimagining Toronto’s Ravines

Daniels students’ projects find new uses for the the city’s neglected river valleys Read More

Photo of job candidates waiting for their interviews

Revealing the True You

New model for assessing personality traits could benefit employers Read More