Latest news with #UniversityOfOttawa
CBC
19-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Heat and your heart: Researchers warn of hidden risks
As Ottawa and the surrounding region emerges from an extended summer heat wave, heart researchers say all that sultry weather can cause cardiovascular damage you might not be aware of. The latest heat wave lasted nearly a week with temperatures in the low 30s. With the humidity factored in, some days felt above 40. "Heat makes your heart work really hard. It puts stress on it," said Katey Rayner, vice-president of research and chief scientific officer at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. "If you already have a heart condition, that just means it's an added layer of stress." She said exposure to high temperatures can make it difficult to maintain blood flow to certain organs, and can cause a person's blood pressure and heart rate to rise. "It may put [your heart rate] into a dangerous level," Rayner warned. "But instead of being in a hospital where we're monitoring, people are at home and they're trying to stay healthy and trying to sort of stay active, but they might be inadvertently causing strain and stress on the heart." Hot, sticky summers Because of Ottawa's location in a major river valley, summers in and around the capital tend to be hot and sticky. "And that just means humidity makes it really hard for your body to cool down," Rayner said. "Your body tries to sweat and get rid of its excess fluid and cool itself, and it does that through sweating — and it really can't do that effectively when there's basically a layer of fluid sitting on top of your body." Staying in the shade provides little relief because "that humidity is just sitting on top of you," she said. Researchers at the Heart Institute are working with climate scientists to better understand the link between hot weather and heart health. Rayner said it's a complex problem because not everyone has the resources to keep cool, putting them at higher risk. "It's really easy to tell people to just stay in air conditioning, [but] that's not actually feasible for a lot of people, particularly in disadvantaged communities," she explained. Effects can be cumulative Researchers have also found that the health effects of extreme heat can be cumulative. "When we are exposed to heat, there's a lot that's changing in terms of our body's physiology because we're always under stress," said Glen Kenny, director of the human environmental physiology research unit at the University of Ottawa. "That strain on the body can be the result of gradual loss of body water, so dehydration that essentially is just going to strain the heart even more." Kenny warned people who use fans instead of air conditioning to keep cool could be endangering their health, especially when the temperature tops 33 C. "[A fan] makes you feel cool, but it does not reduce the temperature that you experience or the strain on the heart, and for that reason you may not recognize the danger you're experiencing when using an a fan in an overheated home," he said. Along with such pre-existing health conditions as Type 2 diabetes, kidney or cardiovascular disease, one of the biggest risk factors is age. Kenny said our ability to sweat diminishes by about five per cent per decade, raising our core body temperature and increasing our risk of heat-related injury. Kenny and Rayner both recommend avoiding exercise in extreme heat because it forces our core temperature up faster.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
University of Sudbury to restart French-language programming in the fall, with free 1st year tuition
Millions in provincial funding means the University of Sudbury is relaunching French language courses, in partnership with the University of Ottawa. The Ontario government is investing $10.8 million to re-launch French-language courses at the University of Sudbury in partnership with the University of Ottawa, expanding access to postsecondary education for Francophone students in northern Ontario. University of Sudbury A sign for Université de Sudbury (University of Sudbury). May 15, 2025. (File photo/CTV News Northern Ontario) Beginning in September 2025, the university will offer programs in health sciences, management and commerce, social sciences, and arts. The funding will also support free tuition for the first year and a $1 million scholarship program to promote accessibility. 'Our province's Francophone communities play a critical role in strengthening our highly skilled workforce, and we're ensuring students have access to the education and training they need for rewarding careers,' said Nolan Quinn, the Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security, in a news release Monday. 'Through this investment, our government is building a robust bilingual workforce to support a stronger, more competitive and self-reliant northern Ontario.' The University of Sudbury will provide 33 programs and study pathways developed with the University of Ottawa. Serge Miville, the university's president and vice-chancellor, called the funding a 'century-old dream' realized. Serge Miville An undated profile photo of Serge Miville, the president and vice-chancellor of Université de Sudbury. (File photo/LinkedIn) 'Today marks the realization of a century-old dream and stands as a testament to the determination of our entire community,' he said. 'Together, we are shaping the future of a new generation of Francophone and Francophile leaders in the North.' Caroline Mulroney, Ontario's Minister of Francophone Affairs, described the investment as historic. 'This reflects our government's commitment to strengthening access to French-language postsecondary education, especially in northern Ontario,' she said. 'Because of this partnership, we are delivering on our promise to bolster Ontario's Francophonie as a social, cultural and economic engine for years to come.' Marie-Eve Sylvestre, the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa, praised the collaboration. Marie-Eve Sylvestre An undated promotional photo of Marie-Eve Sylvestre, the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa. (University of Ottawa) 'Francophone communities in northeastern Ontario will now have access to a greater number of high-quality university programs in French that are aligned with the needs of the labour market,' she said. The province said this investment is part of Ontario's broader strategy to support small, northern, and rural postsecondary institutions in meeting workforce demands.
CTV News
08-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Free tuition at University of Sudbury
Northern Ontario Watch Millions in provincial funding means the University of Sudbury is relaunching French language courses, in partnership with the University of Ottawa.
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Obscure rock formation in Canada may contain the world's oldest minerals
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An obscure rock formation on the eastern shore of Canada's Hudson Bay may contain the oldest known rocks on Earth, a new study claims. The analysis dated the site's streaky gray rocks, part of an outcrop called the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, to 4.16 billion years ago — meaning they're remnants from our 4.57 billion-year-old planet's earliest crust. The dating, performed by two methods that used the decay of radioactive isotopes (versions of elements) to measure the age of ancient magma trapped inside the rocks, significantly bolsters a controversial past study by the same scientists. If their findings, published June 26 in the journal Science, stand up, they could offer a unique window into our planet's ancient history and the geochemical stage where life emerged. "The volcanic rocks have to be at least 4.16 billion years old or older; I would argue that the best age for them is 4.3 billion years old," study co-author Jonathan O'Neil, a professor of environmental science at the University of Ottawa, told Live Science. "No known rocks are older." Earth began as a ball of red-hot lava. It slowly cooled over its first 600 million years, known as the Hadean eon, when pockets of solid rock started to form. This was a tumultuous time for our young planet, which was repeatedly pummeled by asteroids and even sustained a cataclysmic blow from the protoplanet Theia, which tore off a chunk of Earth to form our moon. Related: Did plate tectonics give rise to life? Groundbreaking new research could crack Earth's deepest mystery Then, as early as 3.8 billion years ago, Earth's surface splintered into tectonic plates, which dived beneath each other to be recycled into Earth's interior or to build up vast mountain ranges or trenches. This subduction means that many of the rocks on our planet's surface have long been chemically altered by intense heat and pressure. Yet some regions are far enough from tectonic plate boundaries to contain rocks that have remained unchanged for billions of years. One of these is in northeastern Canada, and its most ancient part is the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt (NGB). Scientists agree that this outcrop is at least 3.8 billion years old. Then, in 2008, O'Neil and his colleagues published a study suggesting that the NGB was 4.3 billion years old — which would mean it contained the oldest rocks in the world. But other geologists objected, suggesting there were flaws in the researchers' methods. Old rocks are typically dated using a mineral called zircon, which is chemically stable over billions of years. The volcanic rocks in the NGB, however, don't contain zircon, which forced the scientists to measure the rocks' age by the decay of the element samarium into neodymium. Yet trouble lurked within this new method. Samarium can decay into neodymium through two pathways (samarium-146 into neodymium-142, or samarium-147 into neodymium-143), creating two isotopic clocks with different decay speeds. The first decay path leads to a half-life — the period of time required for half the original element to remain — of about 96 million years, while the second pathway has a half-life spanning trillions of years. This means that the two decay pathways produced wildly different estimates for the ages of the rocks. This is because with the longer-lived clock ticking to the present day, it is especially susceptible to tectonic events muddling its isotopes part way through the decay process. "Any 'cooking' of the rocks or metamorphism after 4 billion years ago won't really affect that short-lived clock but can reset the long-lived clock and cause the age difference between these two systems," O'Neil said. RELATED STORIES —Hidden 36 million-year-long cycles may fuel biodiversity on Earth, ancient rocks reveal —Zealandia, Earth's hidden continent, was torn from supercontinent Gondwana in flood of fire 100 million years ago —Is Africa splitting in two? To sidestep this issue, the team went back to the formations to search for sections where magma from Earth's mantle, or middle layer, intruded into the planet's primordial crust. Because these intrusions had to be younger than the rock they seeped into, they could be used as a minimum age. The new analysis revealed that within these sections of the NGB, both samarium to neodymium decays offered the same age: 4.16 billion years. If further research does confirm that the rocks are as old as O'Neil's team believes, they could offer vital insight into how life emerged on our planet and potentially beyond it. "Some rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt were formed by precipitation from seawater, and these can help understand the composition of our first oceans, their temperature, perhaps the atmosphere and also could host the oldest traces of life on Earth," O'Neil said. "Understanding the environment where life could have started on our planet also helps in our quest to find traces of life elsewhere, such as Mars.'
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Science
- CBS News
These may be the oldest rocks on Earth
Scientists have identified what could be the oldest rocks on Earth from a rock formation in Canada. The Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt has long been known for its ancient rocks - plains of streaked gray stone on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay in Quebec. But researchers disagree on exactly how old they are. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows the landscape at the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northeastern Canada. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Dispute apparently settled Work from two decades ago suggested the rocks could be 4.3 billion years old, placing them in the earliest period of Earth's history. But other scientists using a different dating method contested the finding, arguing that long-ago contaminants were skewing the rocks' age and that they were actually slightly younger — at 3.8 billion years old. In the new study, researchers sampled a different section of rock from the belt and estimated its age using the previous two dating techniques - measuring how one radioactive element decays into another over time. The result: The rocks were about 4.16 billion years old. The different methods "gave exactly the same age," said study author Jonathan O'Neil with the University of Ottawa. The new research was published Thursday in the journal Science. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows an outcropping of about 4.16 billion year old rocks at the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in northeastern Canada, with a knife to indicate scale. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Ancient rocks could shed light on Earth's earliest days Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a collapsing cloud of dust and gas soon after the solar system existed. Primordial rocks often get melted and recycled by Earth's moving tectonic plates, making them extremely rare on the surface today. Scientists have uncovered 4 billion-year-old rocks from another formation in Canada called the Acasta Gneiss Complex, but the Nuvvuagittuq rocks could be even older. Studying rocks from Earth's earliest history could give a glimpse into how the planet may have looked - how its roiling magma oceans gave way to tectonic plates - and even how life got started. "To have a sample of what was going on on Earth way back then is really valuable," said Mark Reagan with the University of Iowa, who studies volcanic rocks and lava and was not involved with the new study. This photo provided by researcher Jonathan O'Neil shows a closeup of a rock from Canada's Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt dated to about 4.16 billion years old. Jonathan O'Neil / AP Inuit community wants steps to avoid rocks being exploited The rock formation is on tribal Inukjuak lands and the local Inuit community has temporarily restricted scientists from taking samples from the site due to damage from previous visits. After some geologists visited the site, large chunks of rock were missing and the community noticed pieces for sale online, said Tommy Palliser, who manages the land with the Pituvik Landholding Corp. The Inuit community wants to work with scientists to set up a provincial park that would protect the land while allowing researchers to study it. "There's a lot of interest for these rocks, which we understand," said Palliser, a member of the community. "We just don't want any more damage."
