Fear can be measured in the brain and fearful life-threatening events can leave quantifiable long-lasting traces in the neural circuitry of the brain with enduring effects on behaviour, as shown most clearly in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A new study by...
Jeff Renaud
Western’s first steps in getting Canada to the Moon
In February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada is joining the international effort to explore the Moon with robots and, eventually, humans. In order to prepare for these future missions, a team of Western University faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate...
Bright fireball event near Bancroft, Ont. may have dropped meteorites
A fireball as bright as the full moon was observed by the Western University All-Sky Camera Network across southern Ontario and Quebec 2:44 a.m. ET this morning (Wednesday, July 24). Western’s Physics and Astronomy Department runs an all-sky camera network in...
Western University develops first-of-its-kind task-based map of the human cerebellum
It is the second largest part in the human brain and contains more neurons than any other. Tucked under the back of the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum is often overlooked when considering how the brain manages complex cognition such as language or problem solving....
Apollo 11 and Canada ‘re-launch’ to the Moon this Saturday at Western University
Fifty years ago today, Apollo 11 launched on a mission to the Moon. Five days later, on July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the lunar surface – a first for humankind. In celebration of these remarkable highlights of human achievement, Western...
Researchers decipher the history of supermassive black holes in the early universe
Astrophysicists at Western University have found evidence for the direct formation of black holes that do not need to emerge from a star remnant. The production of black holes in the early universe, formed in this manner, may provide scientists with an explanation for...
Brain and Mind Institute study shows how fast human brains ‘see’ the world
A new study from Western University’s renowned Brain and Mind Institute shows how fast our brain makes sense of a world in which the images of people, places and things are constantly shrinking, expanding and changing on the retina at the back of our eyes. The...
Bring your personal ‘space oddities’ to Western’s Asteroid Day event
Are you desperate to find out, once and for all, if the rock your grandfather found when he was plowing the family farm back in the 1960s actually fell from the heavens? Or what about the weird object you found on the beach in Port Stanley that’s kind of magnetic and...
Life on Mars was possible after last great meteorite impact nearly 4.5 billion years ago
A new international study led by Western University shows that Mars’ first ‘real chance’ at developing life started very early, 4.48 billion years ago, when giant, life-inhibiting meteorites stopped striking the red planet. These findings, published online today in...
Western’s Northern Tornadoes Project goes coast to coast to coast with new national scope
Western University is set to become Canada’s leading authority on tornado tracking, research and analysis thanks to a major expansion of its renowned Northern Tornadoes Project (NTP). The expansion has been made possible by a partnership with ImpactWX, a Toronto-based...
Sanitary pad innovation wins 2019 World’s Challenge Challenge
University of Waterloo’s SheCycle project – an initiative to introduce a unique antimicrobial reusable sanitary pad that can be locally sourced and distributed in Uganda – won the 2019 World’s Challenge Challenge, which was held this week at Western University in...
New BrainsCAN research examines how diet and obesity can form memories
A new study from Western University shows how the brain controls what information becomes memories and the role diet and obesity play in these formations. Published in the journal Trends in Neuroscience, the study describes the critical importance of perineuronal nets...