The 2015 discovery of water on Mars, an essential for life on Earth, sparked theories of thriving Martian life. Ideas of interstellar travel to find extracellular beings were suddenly within reach. The second Montreal Space Symposium on Oct. 18 to 19, offered a forum for the future of space exploration, where speakers shared their passion… Keep Reading
A research team led by Professor Lyle Whyte and post-doctoral fellow Jacqueline Goordial from McGill’s Department of Natural Resource Sciences has explored using low-cost, low-mass, and currently-available microbiological instruments to detect signs of life in astrobiological missions on other planets. Published in the December 2017 issue of Frontiers in Microbiology, Whyte and Goordial’s study employed… Keep Reading
NASA has always been an institute of great scientific accomplishment and innovation, but this comes with a hefty price tag. As the agency moves forward in its three-stage plan to put humans on Mars, the public agency’s budget is under heavy scrutiny. Increased pressure has been put on NASA to develop more cost-effective alternatives. In… Keep Reading
Thanks to a study published in the October issue of Nature Communications, ecosystems are now known to be capable of surviving in the ancient rocks of the Earth’s crust. Two members of McGill’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences—Boswell Wing and Thi Hao Bui—assisted colleagues from the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto… Keep Reading
Throughout history, blood moons have been associated with bad omens. In Chinese tradition, a blood moon foreshadowed famine or disease. Mesopotamians believed that a lunar eclipse resulted from attacks by demons. But on Sept. 27, from 10:11 p.m. to 10:37 p.m., when the moon turned red, there were no famines or attacks. Beautiful and eerie,… Keep Reading
On March 19, McGill students and the general Montreal public were taken on a tour of the solar system—while never leaving 103 Rutherford. Dr. Richard Léveillé, a planetary scientist who has worked on NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, presented to a packed room on what scientists have learned about our planet’s neighbours. Léveillé started the… Keep Reading
