Faculty of Science

Fastest and most furious ultraviolet wind near a black hole found by York University researchers

A team led by York University researchers has discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole ever found at ultraviolet wavelengths, driven by the disc of matter, or quasar, surrounding the black hole.  “This quasar has a black hole of 1.7 billion times the mass of the Sun. That’s typical. What’s not typical is that it has gas moving towards us at 30 per cent of the speed of light,” says York Professor Patrick Hall of the Faculty of Science.

Artificial Intelligence for Public Health Advancement launches at York University

Today, the University announced the launch of a new Centre of Excellence – Artificial Intelligence for Public Health Advancement (AIPHA) funded through an Ontario Research Fund – Research Excellence program.

Researchers model how to contain Avian flu H5N1 in case of human-to-human transmission

At this point, Avian flu H5N1 is thought incapable of transmitting between humans, but a recent case in British Columbia with an unknown source of transmission has piqued the curiosity and concern of scientists, including York University Professor Seyed Moghadas.

The Northern Lights and Spring Equinox this Friday: Observatory director available for comment

While it may not currently feel like it in parts of the country, this coming Friday marks the first day of spring, known astronomically as Spring Equinox, and this will also bring an increased chance of Aurora viewing in Canada.

Machine-learning immune-system analysis study may hold clues to personalized medicine

How people with compromised immune systems respond to vaccines is an important area of immunological research. A new study led by York University found that not only could machine-learning models accurately pinpoint differences in healthy controls and those living with HIV, but also found outliers in both groups that provide fascinating glimpses into the complex nature of the immune system and what personalized medicine could look like in the future, accounting for variables such as age, comorbidities and genetics.

York U study finds forever chemical plummets in Toronto atmosphere during pandemic

A new study out of York University has found that the amount of atmospheric trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), the tiniest forever chemical, significantly declined in Toronto during COVID in 2020, which researchers say is good news for the world’s ability to mitigate it in the future.

Prof. Elizabeth Clare's bat research featured on CBC's The Nature of Things

'Rival' neutrino experiments NOvA and T2K publish first joint analysis

The Tokai to Kamioka (T2K) experiment in Japan and the NuMI Off-axis νe Appearance (NOvA) experiment in the United States, previously considered rival experiments, conducted a joint analysis and published their first results today in the journal Nature.

Brightest fast radio burst seen so far allows researchers to zoom in on the location of origin

A team of international astronomers, including a researcher from York University, have pinpointed one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever detected to a location in a nearby galaxy. The finding and the location surprised the team and offered new insight into FRBs, which are one of astrophysics’ biggest mysteries.

International research led by York U prof sheds light on 'lava planets'

A new paper led by a York University professor and published today in Nature Astronomy introduces a simple theoretical framework to describe the evolution of the coupled interior–atmosphere system of hot rocky exoplanets known as “lava planets.”