Science & Earth
→ NewsRight whale death prompts federal whale-safe gear strategy
Canada released a five-year whale-safe fishing gear strategy days after an entangled North Atlantic right whale known as Division died. The plan sets timelines that include an entanglement risk assessment by 2027 and phased gear requirements through 2030.
Structural racism became dominant in medical research.
The article reports a rapid rise in use of the term "structural racism" in medical literature and a sharp increase in NIH-funded projects mentioning it from 2020–2025; it also states NIH director Jay Bhattacharya is refocusing the agency toward evidence-based biomedical research.
SpaceX Crew-12 will study microgravity's effects on the human body
SpaceX Crew-12, scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 11, will carry four crew to the ISS where select members will take part in human research including a Venous Flow study of clot risk and tests of piloting, vision, and landing-related injuries.
Hidden Dimensions to the Universe: Kaluza and Klein introduced the idea.
The article reviews early proposals by Theodor Kaluza (1919) and Oskar Klein (1926) that added a compact extra spatial dimension to link gravity and electromagnetism and explains the idea of dimensions curled up at about the Planck scale; it also sets up a series that will ask whether larger extra dimensions might be possible.
B.C. climate news: Global temperature and emissions update
Global average temperature was about 1.48 C above pre-industrial in 2023 and exceeded 1.5 C in 2024, while carbon dioxide concentrations topped 430 ppm in June 2025.
Northern England shows how nature and industry blend
A traveler found that northern England's landscape mixes pastoral moors, historic towns and industrial traces across places such as the Pennines, Manchester and the Peak District.
Letters: Concerns about water, transit and education
Readers respond to a water-shortage editorial and report that a new local transit system cost about $20.4 million and has produced service problems.
Cowichan decision prompts new Indigenous land claim in B.C.
The Dzawada'enuxw First Nation filed a civil claim on Jan. 26 seeking a declaration that about 650 hectares around Kingcome Inlet are Indian settlement lands, citing last summer's Cowichan decision. Officials for the landowners say they are engaging with the nation and a related Cowichan hearing is scheduled before Justice Barbara Young on Feb. 13.
Bats in Newfoundland and Labrador face a serious disease threat
A deadly disease is seriously affecting bat populations in Newfoundland and Labrador, and scientists are studying the animals, including monitoring and tagging at Salmonier Nature Park.
South's rice and crawfish farms face invasive snails and delphacid insects
Apple snails and rice-delphacid insects have spread through parts of the U.S. South, notably Louisiana, leading to crop damage and higher labor and costs for rice and crawfish producers.
U.K. zoo says greater Bermuda land snail is back from brink of extinction
Chester Zoo and partners report that reintroduced greater Bermuda land snails have established six colonies in Bermuda after captive breeding and releases following their 2014 rediscovery.
Comox Valley fossil discovery reshaped paleontology in B.C.
An elasmosaur found on the Puntledge River in 1988 by amateur collector Mike Trask helped spark sustained community-led paleontology in British Columbia and contributed to new societies and provincial fossil management policies.
Rocket fuel for Artemis II is hard to handle.
NASA delayed Artemis II by at least a month after a hydrogen leak was found during fueling; the leak came from a quick-disconnect connector and officials plan another wet dress rehearsal before agreeing to a launch date.
Lake of the Woods daily satellite algal bloom indices published
A dataset provides daily lake-wide algal bloom indices (extent, intensity, severity) for Lake of the Woods during the June–October monitoring season, derived from ESA MERIS (2002–2012) and ESA OLCI (2016–present) satellite sensors.
Randal Reef clean up delayed to 2027 over structural issue
The federal government says Randal Reef's clean-up is delayed to 2027 to repair a structural issue; officials report the contaminated sediment inside the containment structure is held in place.
AI scientists' error-reasoning will be assessed by researchers
A University of Exeter researcher has secured Leverhulme funding for a four-year project to build a theory of scientific error, assemble a database of error types and strategies, and create benchmarks to test how AI systems reason about experimental error.
Forest regrowth efforts find nitrogen speeds tropical recovery
A University of Leeds-led study tracked 76 regrowing tropical-forest sites for up to 20 years and found nitrogen additions roughly doubled recovery rates during the first decade, while phosphorus alone did not produce the same response.
Sperm donations raise ethical questions about family outcomes
Reports say Russian billionaire Pavel Durov has offered frozen sperm through his clinic and claims to have fathered about 100 children, while Chinese billionaire Xu Bo is reported to have arranged more than 100 U.S.-born children via surrogacy; the article raises ethical concerns about responsibility for mothers and children.
N.B. fish research facility closure draws scientists and Indigenous concern
The federal government is closing the Mactaquac Biodiversity Facility and discontinuing the Atlantic salmon live gene bank and related stocking work; scientists, conservationists and the Wolastoqey Nation say they were not consulted and warn of harm to salmon and treaty rights.
Grassy Narrows supporters heckle Doug Ford at Mississauga event
Two people were escorted out after interrupting Premier Doug Ford at a Mississauga Board of Trade event to protest mercury contamination at Grassy Narrows; Peel Police said no arrests were made.
Judicial review begins over Summerland gravel pit mine in Penticton court
A judicial review started in Penticton over the provincially approved Summerland gravel pit mine, with petitioners citing environmental and procedural concerns; hearings are continuing this week.
DFO strategy promotes whalesafe gear to prevent entanglements.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans released a five-year Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy to expand whalesafe equipment and identify high-risk entanglement areas in Atlantic provinces.
Canada rolls out whalesafe strategy to curb right whale entanglements.
The federal government announced a five-year 'whalesafe fishing gear strategy' to promote on‑demand gear and lower‑breaking links intended to reduce North Atlantic right whale entanglements.
Canada releases Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy to protect endangered whales
Fisheries and Oceans Canada has published the Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy to reduce whale entanglements by promoting on‑demand ropeless systems and low breaking‑strength rope in high‑risk areas, with pilots planned for 2027, management areas by 2028 and wider rollout to high‑risk fisheries by 2030.
Artemis II launch is delayed after a hydrogen leak and now targets March.
NASA discovered a liquid hydrogen leak during a wet dress rehearsal and now says March is the earliest possible launch window; the four-person Artemis II crew has been released from quarantine and will return about two weeks before the next launch opportunity.
Thunder Bay woman named community champion for wetland protection
Susan Bryan, a volunteer nature reserve liaison with the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, was named a community champion by Ontario Nature on World Wetlands Day for her long-standing work protecting local wetlands; the group protects more than 11,000 acres in the district.
Traditional knowledge may limit mercury exposure in northern Indigenous communities
A study of more than 600 residents in the Dehcho and Sahtu regions and Old Crow, Yukon found that traditional foods such as lake trout, ducks and geese are linked to higher hair mercury measurements, but overall mercury exposure remained relatively low and within health guidelines.
Colossal BioVault in Dubai is being built as a backup plan for life on Earth
Colossal Biosciences and the UAE unveiled the Colossal BioVault and World Preservation Lab at Dubai’s Museum of the Future, a public-facing facility intended to preserve endangered species and genetic material. The UAE led an initial $60 million investment to support the project, which aims to store millions of samples and create a distributed global network.
South Ottawa wetlands donated to Nature Conservancy for long-term protection.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada will protect 91 hectares of the Marlborough Wetland in south Ottawa after the family of the late Doug Smith donated the land through the federal ecological gifts program; the conservancy plans an inventory and restoration work, and Ontario Nature has noted recent reductions in provincial wetland protections.
Groundwater–surface water model for Carcajou Watershed in permafrost region.
A fully integrated numerical groundwater–surface water climate model using HydroGeoSphere was developed for a gauged basin in the discontinuous permafrost zone, and the resulting dataset is provided to verify numerical methods and test conceptualizations for regional-scale modelling.
