Watch Raccoon Nation documentary featuring two York researchers on CBC's website

CBC's The Nature of Things aired its Raccoon Nation documentary Feb. 24, featuring York psychology and biology Professor Suzanne MacDonald and PhD student Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux: The researchers tagged the raccoons with GPS collars to log their travels throughout the city, recording them at up to 1,500 points over six weeks. They found that the raccoons […]

VIDEO: Professor Laurence Packer comments on ROM bee death mystery

Professor Laurence Packer in the Faculty of Science & Engineering's Department of Biology spoke to Global News February 12 about the sudden death of the Royal Ontario Museum's bee colony. Over 20,000 bees died in a 48-hour period. You can watch the segment on the Global News website. Packer is a bee expert who has […]

President's video highlights best of 2010, including Sherman Centre opening

A new video from York University President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri offers a welcome back message to students returning for the winter term. Building on the success of his fall welcome message, the president offers a recap of the major milestones and news events of the past term. In the high-definition video filmed in the Learning Commons at […]

VIDEO: Professor Bridget Stutchbury speaks about how her Canada Research Chair changed her research

Bridget Stutchbury, author of Silence of the Songbirds and The Bird Detective, speaks about how her Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology has changed and broadened her research agenda: Stutchbury is one of York University's 28 Canada Research Chairs. The program celebrates its 10th anniversary November 24 and 25 at the Metro Toronto […]

VIDEO: Professor Stephen Gaetz's Ted talk on homelessness and research in Canada

Professor Stephen Gaetz in the Faculty of Education participated in York's inaugural TedxYorku event earlier this month. His talk is now available on youtube: Gaetz’s research agenda foregrounds social justice and attempts to make research relevant to policy and program development. He comes to this work at York University after several years of working in the […]

Why some smart people do dumb things: Professor Maggie Toplak on intelligence and rationality

Why is it that some smart people do really dumb things? That’s the question York psychology Professor Maggie Toplak is trying to answer through her research on rationality. What she’s found is that intelligence as measured by IQ tests is not the same as rationality or a rationality quotient (RQ). “There’s a folk idea that […]

Dream of exploring shipwrecks? Check out Professor Michael Jenkin's wireless controller and underwater robot

A waterproof controller designed and built by York University researchers is allowing an underwater robot to go “wireless” in a unique way. AQUA, an amphibious, otter-like robot, is small and nimble, with flippers rather than propellers, designed for intricate data collection from shipwrecks and reefs. The robot, a joint project of York, McGill and Dalhousie […]

VIDEO: Professor Michael Jenkin's AquaPad tablet computer allows divers to communicate at depth with underwater robots

You would balk at getting an iPad wet, but a tablet computer has now been designed to work deep under the sea – not to allow divers to check e-mail, but so that they can communicate with underwater robots working in hard-to-reach or dangerous locations, such as the inside of shipwrecks or caves in coral […]

Video: Professor Laurence Packer on why and how to make your garden bee-friendly

Without bees, we wouldn’t have coffee to drink at breakfast, tomatoes in your sandwich at lunch or fruit for a snack on the go. While bee populations all over the world are in trouble, there are lots of things individuals can do to create bee-friendly gardens — even if your personal green space is limited […]

Video: Professor Robert MacDermid on mayoral elections, votor cynicism and transparency

Toronto candidates for mayor George Smitherman, Rocco Rossi and Sarah Thomson intend to keep their donor lists a secret until the law requires them to disclose the names more than five months after election day, wrote The Globe and Mail Sept. 17: The holdouts aren’t breaking any rules, but they are deviating from a practice […]