Canadian Institute

Dirty stars make good solar system hosts

Some stars are lonely behemoths, with no surrounding planets or asteroids, while others sport a skirt of attendant planetary bodies. New research published this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters explains why the composition of the stars often indicates whether their light shines into deep space, or whether a small fraction shines onto orbiting planets.

Hip fracture rates decline in Canada

Standardized rates of hip fracture have steadily declined in Canada since 1985, with a more rapid decline between 1996 and 2005 and a more marked decrease among individuals age 55 to 64 years, according to a report in the August 26 issue of JAMA.

Risk factors of cardiovascular disease rising in poor, young

Cardiovascular disease is increasing in adults under 50 and those of lower socioeconomic status, despite recent trends which show that cardiovascular disease is declining in Canada overall, say researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

Underweight and extremely obese die earlier than people of normal weight, study finds

Underweight people and those who are extremely obese die earlier than people of normal weight -- but those who are overweight actually live longer than people of normal weight.

Evolution Through Eating

The notion that large-scale evolutionary change occurs through gradual adaptations is part of biology's bread and butter. Animals and plants don't suddenly alter fundamental characteristics from one generation to the next. There aren't big genetic jumps. Certainly not burps. Or are there?

Scientists watch realtime 'movie' of neutron star explosion

Scientists in Canada and at NASA have captured unprecedented details of the swirling flow of gas hovering just a few miles from the surface of a neutron star, itself a sphere only about ten miles across. The researchers present this result in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters. The observation provides new insight into the flow of a neutron star's (and perhaps a black hole's) "accretion disk," usually far too minute to resolve with even the most powerful telescopes.