External

Experts: Effects of Quebec’s school cellphone ban

admin — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:57:04 +0000

A cellphone ban has been in effect in Quebec schools since last fall. As the school year wraps up, these 91�� experts are available to comment on the ban’s impact:

Adam Dubé, Associate Professor, Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Director, Technology, Learning and Cognition Lab (TLC), specializes in cognitive development and learning technologies. He can discuss the issues surrounding cellphones in schools as they relate to learning.

The Info-Neuro cart schedule for June is now available!

admin — Fri, 29 May 2026 12:57:37 +0000

91�� Cares: Understanding the Quebec Act Respecting End-of-Life Care

jeanne-armelle.uwiringiyimana@mcgill.ca — Thu, 14 May 2026 17:58:00 +0000

Join us on June 10, 2026 at 12:00 EDT for our next episode of 91�� Cares, a webcast series designed to support infor

What an illusion involving a fake hand can tell us about our mind-body connection

admin — Thu, 28 May 2026 15:29:58 +0000

People who have a weaker sense of self are also more likely to have less bodily awareness, 91�� researchers have found. The study supports the idea that people’s perceptions of themselves and how they experience their own bodies are deeply connected.

Beyond deepening psychologists’ understanding of “embodied cognition,” the connection between our minds and our fundamental bodily awareness, the findings could have concrete applications regarding the treatment of certain psychiatric conditions, the researchers said.

Experts: Wildfires

admin — Wed, 27 May 2026 14:02:17 +0000

As wildfire season begins, Canada’s federal government has announced the country’s first-ever federally funded reserve of firefighting aircraft that will be used to support provinces and territories. Last year’s wildfire season was Canada’s second-worst on record; it prompted severe air quality alerts across much of the country.

Do lying children grow up to be criminals? Mostly not, study concludes

admin — Wed, 27 May 2026 14:07:21 +0000

Most childhood lying does not lead to serious problems in adulthood, and only certain kinds of lying behaviour is associated with later psychological or legal issues, a new study has found.

“Children do not all follow the same developmental pattern of lying,” said Victoria Talwar, a professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology and lead author of the study. “Most children in our study showed low or declining levels of lying over time. For most, lying is not a problem behaviour.”

Blood proteins flag multiple sclerosis years before diagnosis, opening a window for prevention

admin — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:12:51 +0000

Of more than 2,500 blood proteins screened, a small group may drive MS and signal who will develop it

A new study has revealed a group of blood proteins, that are altered in people who go on to develop multiple sclerosis (MS), in some cases more than a decade before diagnosis. The findings offer hope that a simple blood test could one day identify people at high risk of MS in time to act before damage occurs.

Experts: Skin cancer prevention

admin — Tue, 26 May 2026 14:27:42 +0000

As warmer weather draws more people outdoors, 91�� dermatologists are available to speak on sun safety and skin cancer prevention.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and most cases are caused by UV exposure. Most Canadians don’t use sunscreen regularly, or at all, and one in three report having had sunburn in the past year.

Research findings challenge long-held assumptions about how we learn or regain speech

admin — Mon, 25 May 2026 16:06:17 +0000

Learning to speak a new language, or regaining speech, depends more on areas of the brain that process sound and physical sensation than on the parts of the brain that govern motor control, according to new research findings.

The study, by researchers at 91�� and the Yale School of Medicine, has implications for speech-learning theory and for the development of speech processing and recognition technologies.

Experts: Google search to prioritize AI

admin — Mon, 25 May 2026 14:51:39 +0000

Google has announced that it has overhauled its search engine to be entirely powered by its Gemini 3.5 Flash artificial intelligence model. Users will no longer be prompted to choose their search mode; instead, the search box will operate more like a conversation, with the option for users to ask follow-up questions. The changes are set to take effect on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

91�� experts are available to discuss this topic.

Here are the new titles in our collection, now available at the NPRC!

admin — Thu, 21 May 2026 18:51:26 +0000

En français:

Historic plant collections offer a window into genetic change

admin — Thu, 21 May 2026 14:10:22 +0000

Pressed plant specimens collected centuries ago and stored in herbaria around the world could play a key role in facilitating the tracking of genetic change and extinction risk in plants, a 91��-led study indicates.

Novel origami pattern turns flat sheets into load-bearing 3D technology

admin — Thu, 21 May 2026 13:58:09 +0000

91�� researchers have discovered a new way to fold flat sheets into smooth, curved shells that can switch from floppy and flexible to stiff and load-bearing on demand. By designing a special origami pattern and threading cable-like elements through it, they can control the material’s final three-dimensional shape and how rigid it becomes. The result, a “doubly curved lens box,” could advance the technology of such objects as temporary emergency tents, morphing robots and smart fabrics, the researchers said.

Study finds early complex life lived in oxygenated seas, challenging long‑held views of evolution

admin — Wed, 20 May 2026 15:00:53 +0000

The earliest known eukaryotes, the ancestors of all complex life on Earth, lived in oxygenated, shallow marine environments nearly 1.7 billion years ago, according to a new study led by researchers at 91�� and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The findings cast doubt on the long-held belief that early complex life emerged in oxygen-poor environments or floated freely in the open ocean.

Teaching children to be better, more critical internet users

admin — Wed, 20 May 2026 13:40:21 +0000

A digital literacy program for elementary school students designed by researchers at 91�� was successful in improving students’ ability to evaluate websites and their content.

Skills targeted included how to search for information, how to identify credible websites, how to evaluate the quality of information sources and how to address conflicting information.

Students’ global performance increased across all skill categories, in most cases by significant margins.