{"id":32400,"date":"2024-04-12T13:44:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T17:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/science\/?page_id=32400"},"modified":"2024-05-24T12:32:50","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T16:32:50","slug":"2023-research-spotlights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/science\/about\/annual-reviews\/2023-annual-review\/2023-research-spotlights\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Research Spotlights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Scientists solve longstanding antimatter mystery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

As Newton observed, an apple falls from the tree and hits the ground. But what would an antimatter apple do? That was the question an international collaboration with Professor Emeritus Scott Menary<\/strong>, Department of Physics & Astronomy, set out to answer. Ultimately, the team was testing Einstein\u2019s General Theory of Relativity to see if the theory also held true for antimatter or, in this specific case, antihydrogen. What they found is yes, antihydrogen, like hydrogen, falls down, not up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measurement was carried out by the Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus (ALPHA) collaboration using the new ALPHA-g apparatus now in operation at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Menary was co-project manager of construction for ALPHA-g\u2019s radial Time Projection Chamber (rTPC), which he also helped design. The rTPC was one of two new detectors used in the experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experiment worked by first creating a sample of antihydrogen atoms, trapping (holding) them in an extraordinarily cold magnetic bottle, then releasing them by varying magnetic fields to measure their gravitational behaviour. The research was published in the journal Nature<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The rTPC on the bench at CERN before being installed in ALPHA-g. Credit: CERN.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Researchers uncover history of oxygen deprivation in Lake Erie<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

A team led by Professor Roberto Quinlan<\/strong>, Department of Biology, and MSc graduate Dmitri Perlov<\/strong> used a novel method to find a history of deep-water oxygen deprivation in Lake Erie that continues today. They looked at how fossilized remains of small insect larvae called chironomids, which are highly sensitive to changing oxygen levels, were affected over the past 150 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack of deep-water oxygen is concerning because it can spur summer algal blooms, which can affect drinking water and harm or kill fish. The researchers found that Lake Erie has suffered declines and depletion of bottom oxygen in the past, prior to major Euro-American settlements; however, it wasn\u2019t as bad as it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur study\u2019s results emphasize the vulnerability of Lake Erie because it naturally had periods of low oxygen prior to large scale European settlement, urbanization, industrialization, agricultural fertilizers and all these additional stressors that make Lake Erie that much more vulnerable to low oxygen,\u201d said Quinlan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf all the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is the most stressed by human influence and has the poorest water quality so it is of great interest to both the United States and Canadian governments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research was published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Retrieval of the box corer containing Lake Erie sediments, from which the sediment cores were retrieved for this study. Photo courtesy of Euan Reavie and Dmitri Perlov.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

York atmospheric scientists analyze city's air pollution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Professors Cora Young<\/strong> and Trevor VandenBoer<\/strong>, Department of Chemistry, led a team to examine Toronto's air for six weeks in summer 2023 from their rooftop Air Quality Research Station at York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their project, named THE CIX (Toronto Halogens, Emissions, Contaminants, and Inorganics eXperiment), was part of a field campaign across North America organized by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. State-of-the-art instruments were deployed in multiple, coordinated research campaigns, including at York University, to investigate how air pollution sources have shifted over recent decades. Additionally, a NASA aircraft cruised over campus to take air quality readings from higher in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things THE CIX team hopes to understand is how a mix of trace chemicals will sometimes combine to create little understood, new and changing threats that can contribute to worse air quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is still so much we don\u2019t know about what\u2019s impacting the air we breathe, and until we do, it\u2019s difficult to effectively target contaminants that are affecting our air quality now and into the future,\u201d said Young.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"THE<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mathematician uses patented AI algorithm to advance healthcare<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Professor Steven Xiaogang Wang<\/strong>, Department of Mathematics & Statistics, had a US patent approved for an algorithm that reduces the training time of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning. Titled \u201cParallel Residual Neural Network Architecture and System and Method for Training a Residual Neural Network,\u201d the patent was based on a collaboration with former postdoctoral fellow Ricky Fok, Professor Aijun An (Lassonde), and former graduate research assistant Zana Rashidi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The algorithm\u2019s framework uses a mathematical formula to allow residual networks \u2013 responsible for the training of AI \u2013 to compute in parallel to each other, thereby enabling faster simultaneous learning. Wang is particularly interested in applying his work to health care. \u201cThis is my dream and mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has especially focused on using AI to improve care for seniors, and that work earned him a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award from the House of Commons in 2023 for initiatives to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang plans to use his patented algorithm in ongoing projects that aim to provide smart monitoring of biological signals for seniors, such as electrocardiogram signals at night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Steven
Steven Xiaogang Wang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Establishing a new definition of the human<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

A new program proposed by Professor H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Mialet<\/strong>, Department of Science, Technology & Society, was one of three winners of the international \u201cFuture of Being Human\u201d competition held by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Mialet (principal investigator) is co-director of CIFAR\u2019s new Future Flourishing program, which also includes Professor Kristin Andrews (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) as a new Fellow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mialet, along with co-directors Tarek Elhaik (University of California, Davis) and Christopher Kelty (University of California, Los Angeles), assembled a network of 16 exceptional scholars and practitioners, including philosophers, historians, curators, conservators, artists and anthropologists from around the world to participate in the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe fundamental question at the core of the Future Flourishing program,\u201d explained Mialet, \u201cis how can we live well without human exceptionalism. How can we live well and flourish with those upon whom we depend or with whom we share a common world? The establishment of a new definition of the human will have tremendous implications for how we think about and \u2018do\u2019 politics, ethics, knowledge and morality.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Graphic
Graphic representing the Future Flourishing program at CIFAR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

New York Research Chair in Global Change Biology<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Professor Sapna Sharma<\/strong>, Department of Biology, was named among the 15 newest York Research Chairs (YRC), an internal program that mirrors the national Canada Research Chairs program in recognizing world-leading researchers in a variety of fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharma was appointed as a Tier 2 YRC in Global Change Biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her research as YRC will seek to gain a deeper understanding of the ecological impacts of climate change on freshwater availability and quality. Sharma\u2019s research will capitalize on long-term climatic and ecological time series collected from thousands of lakes and apply cutting-edge statistical and machine learning analyses to forecast the impacts of global environmental change on freshwater security and help to explain macroecological patterns, drivers and impacts of worldwide lake responses to climate change. The research program will collaborate with researchers across disciplines to develop technological, natural, health and social solutions to water security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Sapna
Sapna Sharma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Undergraduate conference shines spotlight on student researchers<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

More than 60 students from the Faculties of Science, Health, and Environmental & Urban Change attended the Faculty of Science Summer 2023 Undergraduate Research Conference to present their projects, reflecting work ranging from bee conservation and biochemical innovations to quantum computing and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference was an opportunity for recipients of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Undergraduate Summer Research Awards, the Dean\u2019s Undergraduate Research Awards, the Earle Nestmann Undergraduate Research Awards and the York Science Scholars Awards to share projects they had worked on over the summer. Students\u2019 presentations were judged by faculty members, postdocs and graduate students, and the winners for best presentations were announced at the end of the event.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Students
Students presenting their posters at the undergraduate research conference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The following Science students received awards for their oral presentations: Hannah Le<\/strong> (first place), Chiara Di Scipio<\/strong> (second place), and Isaac Kogan<\/strong> (third place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following Science students received awards for their poster presentations: Jessica Latimer<\/strong> (first place), Sarah Powell<\/strong> (second place), and Yash Shrestha<\/strong> (third place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health students were announced in a separate category, with the following receiving awards: Patrick Hewan<\/strong> (best oral presentation), and Mira Bhattacharya<\/strong> (best poster presentation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"First
First place winners from the Faculty of Science, left to right: Hannah Le, Jessica Latimer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Share this article: LinkedIn<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | X<\/a> | Email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Back to 2023 Annual Review<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Connect with York Science<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n