Science - University of Toronto Magazine

John English in a wide-brimmed hat, operating an aerial drone over an open field bordered by trees

Which Plants Work Best to Keep Cities Cool?

U of T Scarborough researchers are using thermal cameras, drones and AI to learn more about how urban parks affect the climate Read More

Artist rendering of a building constructed with mass timber and columns of well-spaced out windows.

For Greener Buildings, We Need to Rethink How We Construct Them

To meet its pledge to be carbon neutral by 2050, Canada needs to cut emissions from the construction industry. Here’s how Read More

Cross section of a tree trunk with variously coloured tree rings, some lighter brown and some darker brown to black

Solving a Climate Puzzle, One Tree Ring at a Time

A natural archive reveals how Canada’s arctic climate has changed over the past 1,000 years Read More

A grassy field full of white clovers in a Toronto park, surrounded by trees and condo buildings in the distance

Cities Are Driving Evolution

Globally crowdsourced study shows that white clovers are biologically adapting to city life, demonstrating the profound impact of urbanization Read More

Two students wearing baseballs caps take measurements from a plant, with one student standing and working on a laptop and the other crouched over a box of plants.

What Is the Future of Urban Farming?

Researchers at U of T Scarborough are testing which crops fare best on city roofs Read More

Picking Up the Pace of Scientific Discovery

Prof. Alán Aspuru-Guzik is using AI and robotics to help create new, more sustainable materials in a fraction of the usual time Read More

Researcher in safety goggles and a lab coat examining one of five test tubes with different coloured lids, four of them containing DNA fragments suspended in liquid and the fifth containing a longer DNA chain

The Power of Information

The world produces mountains of data every day. A new U of T institute will help us make better sense of it all Read More

A Nudge in the Right Direction

Insights from psychology and business can steer people toward better decisions – for themselves and society Read More

A honeybee on the left and a leafcutter bee on the right

Which Bees Are the Best Pollinators?

A U of T Scarborough biologist is using high-resolution cameras to find out Read More

Researcher holding a goldfish with two gloved hands

Ontario’s Growing Goldfish Problem

Pets that were released into ponds are becoming ‘super-invaders’ that could wreak havoc with the ecosystem Read More

Illustration of the top view of the head of a larval zebrafish with the brain in green

What the Zebrafish Can Tell Us

How this tiny animal is helping scientists investigate disorders of the human brain Read More

Photo of U of T and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre clinical microbiologist Robert Kozak wearing a lab coat and a mask, taken through a small window in a door of a lab

The Search for a Vaccine

U of T scientists are pursuing a made-in-Canada solution to end the pandemic Read More

Illustration of a scientist in a lab with AI machines, one of which is pipetting liquid into test tubes

Alán Aspuru-Guzik Has Seen the Lab of The Future, and It’s Very, Very Fast

By bringing artificial intelligence into chemistry, Prof. Aspuru-Guzik aims to vastly shrink the time it takes to develop new drugs – and almost everything else Read More

Three petri dishes containing microplastic samples

Sea of Troubles

Prof. Chelsea Rochman explores how plastic is breaking down – and where it’s ending up 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo of blue whale carcass on Newfoundland’s west coast

Out of the Depths

Royal Ontario Museum exhibit tells the story of the world’s largest mammal Read More

The War of Currents

U of T startup ARDA Power is looking to change people’s ideas about where electricity should come from Read More

Natalie Enright Jerger, a professor of electrical and computer engineering is one of the first recipients of the Percy Edward Hart Professorship, worth $225,000 over three years.

Giving Younger Academics a Boost

The Hart Professorships support the next generation of engineering research pioneers Read More

Looking for a Good Wine and Cheese Pairing?

A U of T scientist uses data to find the perfect match Read More

Illustration of a metal can with a poison symbol sitting on its side on top of a field of flowers

Hungry for Hazardous Waste

How pollution-eating microbes could help clean up toxic sites Read More

When Memory Fails

Understanding how we learn and make memories will lead to better treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, says Brain Prize winner Graham Collingridge Read More

Illustration of a laptop with gene sequencing on the screen.

The Gene Editors

U of T scientists are using a powerful new technology to alter DNA and possibly cure disease Read More

How CRISPR Works

Proteins and RNA all play a part in this age-old defense against invading viruses Read More

Dr. Yvonne Bombard, a U of T professor in the Institute of Health Policy

The Ethics of Gene Editing

Drawing the line at “designer babies” Read More

Illustration of a biker in a forest looking at a giant carbon dioxide molecule in a field of glass panels

Could Carbon Dioxide Be the Solution to Climate Change?

Greenhouse gas could be harvested from the atmosphere and recycled into renewable fuel, says researcher Read More

Data in Search of Scientists

With the U.S. facing a shortage of data analysts, a company led by a U of T grad is looking to bridge the gap Read More

Why Do Tornadoes Form?

UTSC researcher uses 30 years of climate data to understand what causes these devastating storms Read More

New Centre to Fight Cancer

A U of T Mississauga team is tackling some of the most fatal forms of the disease Read More

Science Goes Social

Research2Reality, a new social media campaign, digests science for the public Read More

The Hidden Lives of Cells

Novel protein “map” developed at U of T could yield better treatments for many diseases Read More

Picture of a liver in a x-ray view of a body.

Engineering a Human Liver

Liver tissue created in a U of T lab could help reduce the time and cost of drug development Read More

Illustration of a figure with a flashlight walking through a double helix DNA structure.

The Dark Corners of Our DNA

A “deep-learning” algorithm shines a light on mutations in once-obscure areas of the genome Read More

Prof. Max Friesen’s research team excavates a 400-year-old, large cruciform house at Kuukpak in the Northwest Territories

The North’s Vanishing Past

Max Friesen is racing against time to preserve the cultural history of Canada’s western arctic people Read More

Biochar

Agriculture scientists have become interested in this potential environmental champion Read More

NASA prepares the launch of a balloon-borne telescope from Antarctica, in 2012

When Time Began

A new telescope may shed light on the universe’s first moments Read More

Bringing the Universe Down to Earth

Student scientists at Astronomy Summer School learn how to design the instruments that show us the cosmos Read More

9 Incredible Science Facts about the University of Toronto

A celebration of unique, extraordinary and record-breaking feats and facts from the U of T's 187-year history of learning and discovery Read More

Honest Lying

Brain dysfunction can cause us to make false statements that we believe to be true Read More

$Instructor Janine Newton works with students at the Summer Math Kangaroo Camp$