Polycystic ovary syndrome causes the ovaries to produce abnormally high levels of male hormones
By the time she was 15, Sarah Chambers knew something wasn’t right with her body. “I was late getting my first period, I’d only have a couple a year, and I had facial hair, but I got told it was teenage hormones.” So she waited, hoping the embarrassing symptoms would fade as she matured –…
Shelterbelts and hedgerows reduce emissions of greenhouse gas by an average of 89 per cent
Both dead and alive, trees are an essential ally for farmers in helping the environment, a new University of Alberta study shows. Preserving and planting shelterbelts and hedgerows – and keeping the deadwood they contain – next to cropland helps store carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Retaining those live and dead trees, and planting…
Research has found that the sulphur content in some high-performance fabrics weakens them when exposed to moisture
Researchers have solved the mystery of why a high-performance fabric commonly used in firefighting and other protective garments weakens prematurely when exposed to moisture. The breakthrough helps solve a big safety challenge, says Saiful Hoque, a researcher with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. “As the garment weakens over time,…
Surface temperatures in Edmonton have increased by as much as 12C compared with surrounding rural areas over the last two decades
Last summer, Nilusha Welegedara and her family sweltered in their rented Edmonton townhouse, relying on air conditioning and fans to help make life bearable. With no trees for shade and living next door to a sun-baked parking lot, even going outside offered little relief, the University of Alberta researcher recalls. But then they moved to…
Men’s and women’s satisfaction in relationships is equally important to predicting happiness
Keeping a romantic relationship healthy takes work – and the burden doesn’t just rest on women, according to a new University of Alberta study. When mixed-gender couples were asked about their relationships, men’s satisfaction levels were found to be just as significant as those of their female partners in predicting their future happiness together, the…
Partnership with SVG Ventures|THRIVE will help researchers and startups move new technologies
The University of Alberta is partnering with a leading Silicon Valley firm to support innovation growth in Alberta’s agriculture and food sectors. An agreement with SVG Ventures|THRIVE, a venture capital firm investing in agricultural technology startups and supporting corporations with open innovation, powers the U of A to accelerate its development and adoption of technology-driven solutions…
Spot-treating soil with lime could give farmers another option to stem the costly disease and improve soil health
Lime is showing promise as an additional way to help manage clubroot, a deadly disease in canola crops, University of Alberta research shows. Spot-treating soil with the mineral reduced the overall occurrence and severity of the disease by 35 to 91 per cent, growth experiments showed. The finding, published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology,…
Increases phosphorus needed for plant growth and reproduction
A new study is the first to show on a global scale that conserving plant diversity boosts a nutrient crucial for healthy land, including productive croplands. An analysis of 180 studies done worldwide on farm fields, grasslands, forests and pot-grown experiments showed that overall, mixtures of diverse plant species increased the availability of phosphorus in…
With few couples seeking traditional therapy, lower-key approaches could help
A survey of 745 troubled couples who were thinking about divorce showed that 80 per cent of them weren’t seeking professional help but turning instead to friends, books and websites for advice, according to a recent University of Alberta study. That combination of ambiguity and lack of professional guidance can prevent people from effectively sorting through…
Improving charge capacity could offer big advantages for manufacturers and consumers
Cruising down the highway in an electric car, who wouldn’t want to squeeze a few hundred extra kilometres out of a single battery charge? University of Alberta researcher Jasper Woodard is hoping to achieve just that. He’s working to improve a particular component in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs) – and everyday…
Digging into decades’ worth of data to gauge soil health across the province
A new project is, for the first time, harnessing information from thousands of soil samples into one big database to get an idea of how healthy the province’s agricultural soils are. The two-year initiative brings together decades of data collection on soil samples from 44 benchmark sites across the province so that they can be…
Native studies, environmental science grad Lauren Comba now better able to respect Indigenous stories
Watching the Inuit film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner several years ago, Lauren Comba found herself riveted by its ancient story. Written, directed and acted entirely in the Inuktitut language, the 2001 landmark award-winning film retells an Inuit legend passed down through centuries of oral tradition. The film’s narrative was a part of history Comba had never heard…
Findings could help beef producers manage grasslands for economic and environmental benefits
A sweeping project co-led by University of Alberta researchers will provide the most comprehensive mapping ever of how much carbon is being stored in perennial grasslands across Saskatchewan. The resulting data from the $3.2-million initiative will help cattle farmers there – and eventually all across Canada’s prairies – manage their land to keep as much…
Researchers and agriculture company battle the crop-damaging disease and train new scientists
A $1.25-million research project is tackling clubroot resistance in canola to help battle new strains of the crop-damaging pathogen. Funded by agriculture company BASF, University of Alberta plant scientists Stephen Strelkov and Sheau-Fang Hwang will work to identify new sources of pathogen resistance that can be bred into canola seeds. New strains of clubroot, a soil-borne disease that attacks the…
Fergus McSween is applying his new knowledge of forests, plants and animals to help protect them
Fergus McSween loves the outdoors. Growing up in Calgary, he spent much of his youth outside the city, roaming Alberta’s forests as a Scout, on school outdoor education trips, or camping with friends and family. “Nature is so peaceful and tranquil. It’s a place where I can be myself, turn my brain off and just…