Intelligent Space

Shapeshifting spaces offer amazing new possibilities for individuals in public and private environments The School of Architecture, in collaboration with departments in Applied Science and Engineering Physics, is leading the way in investigating changeable architecture and making possible spaces which completely adapt and respond in real time to occupants and the environment. Using current technology [...]

By AnnaLisa Meyboom and Jerzy Wojtowicz

Municipal service robots

In the next 15 years, Canada will spend $12 billion to upgrade water main systems. A UBC professor is building a pipe inspection robot that will save money by entering subterranean waterways to find the weak spots.

By Jody Jacob

The medical “tricorder”

With recent advances in DNA sequencing, finding the DNA of a virus or bacteria is literally a day’s work. Doctors may soon have a device that can quickly analyze and identify the common bugs that ail us.

By David Broemeling

Low-cost personal genome analysis

There is an explosion in the use of techniques to find the gene variations that influence our lives. We are on the verge of a genetic revolution will be exciting, and scary.

By Drs. Peter Pare, Denise Daley and Andrew Sandford

Restorative Buildings

The old paradigm aimed to reduce environmental impact. The future is about buildings that actually improve our environment.

By John Robinson

Imaging Genetics – the ability to foresee brain disease?

“It’s not that you can’t find your keys, it’s that you don’t know what do to with them once you have them.”

By Judy Illes

Powerful “rare-earth” dental magnets

New magnets developed for the Japanese auto industry hold promise for struggling denture wearers.

By Drs. Ross Bryant and Michael MacEntee

Magic Biomarkers

News ways of using biomarkers open new horizons in defining risk, illness, and therapies for vital organ failure.

By Dr. Bruce McManus

Telling stories together, one tweet at a time

We can expect a raft of new tools to make sense of social media for a new age of collective journalism.

By Alfred Hermida

Updates from 2006

Prof. Jaymie Matthews provides an update on his 2006 prediction that, within 10 years, astronomers would find a planet capable of life. Prof. Stanley Coren reviews his 2006 look at the possibility of prescription pets.