Science and Technology for Canadians

Advanced House

Discover how your choices and actions as an individual, can save energy and help fight global warming (text and video).

Alien Bugs

Learn about efforts to erradicate the Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle, an alien species that has caused the deaths of red spruce trees in Halifax, Nova Scotia (text and video).

Alternative Fuels

Discover how alternative fuel vehicles produce up to 30% less C02 than their gasoline counterparts (text and video).

Bioremediation

Find out how a bioremediation strategy based on nutrient enrichment was used to clean up over 100 kilometres of oil-contaminated shoreline (text and video).

Bird Migration

Discover how changing patterns of wind and severe weather resulting from climate change threaten the migratory patterns of birds (text and video).

Bottled Water

Find out about efforts to ensure that bottled water does not contain harmful contaminants, such as bacteria (text and video).

Bottlenose Whales

Venture to Sable Gully in Nova Scotia to learn about the northern bottlenose whale (text and video).

Campod and Videograb

Discover how scientists are using state-of-the-art sampling equipment to add to our knowledge and understanding of the resources and natural wonders of our oceans (text and video).

Cherries

Learn about the Stella variety of cherry, which transformed the sweet cherry industry by becoming the world's first self-fertile variety with high-quality fruit (text and video).

Chlamydia

Meet Dr. Rosanna Peeling, a scientist at Health Canada who developed a test for chlamydia that can help make some of its long-term complications, such as infertility, a thing of the past (text and video).

Chlorinated Solvents - B12

See a demonstration of an innovative approach to cleaning up chlorinated solvents using vitamin B12 (text and video).

Cyclospora

Learn about research done to reduce illness in consumers resulting from the increasing availability of exotic foods (text and video).

DDT (Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)

Find out why DDT was banned in 1972, and why this decision was one of the most important steps in protecting wildlife and people from the effects of pesticides (text and video).

De-Ice Bugs

Learn about Pseudomonis putida, bacteria that degrades ethylene glycol efficiently to protect bodies of water from the deicing fluid used on the wings of planes (text and video).

Designer Pigs

Discover how the diet of pigs can be adjusted to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus, two of the pollutants contained in pig manure (text and video).

Dr. John Amyot

Explore the accomplishments of Dr. John Amyot, whose many contributions to the science of public health include the filtration and chlorination of water, production of vaccines and the pasteurization of milk (text and video).

Experimental Lakes

Visit the experimental lakes area, where scientists are trying to replicate potential environmental risks, such as acidification and flooding that usually occur on a much larger scale (text and video).

Experimental Mines

Visit a former working mine that is now dedicated to research for developing and testing safe, cost-effective mining equipment and systems (text and video).

Fall Out

Learn about fall-out radiation in Canada’s North and how it can travel through the food chain to humans (text and video).

Fraser River Valley

Find out what impact ground-level pollution, or smog, has on crop production in B.C.’s Fraser Valley (text and video).

Grass Grows Green on the Range

Discover how deep-rooted perennial grasses, such as Rough Fescue, help protect prairie landscapes from drought and wind and water erosion (text and video).

Green Golfing

Picture a golf course as a microcosm of the urban environment to find out how waste can keep a fairway green. (Text and video)

Hibernia Drill Wastes

Discover how researchers are determining the potential environmental damage caused by offshore oil drilling (text and video).

Ice Cores

See how studies of ice cores are helping to decipher past environmental change (text and video).

Insects

Learn about the threat that alien insect species can pose when they make their way into Canada (text and video).

Integrated Pest Management / Peaches

Learn about Integrated Pest Management to find out how scientists are able to reduce both the numbers of fruit tree pests as well as the use of pesticides (text and video).

Level 4 Laboratory

Find out why researchers have built a Level Four containment lab to bing to Canada some of the deadliest diseases known to humanity (text and video).

Lior Typing

Meet Dr. Hermy Lior, who was instrumental in developing research tests and methods to distinguish different types of the bacteria E. coli and Campylobacter (text and video).

Loons and Mercury

Find out what factors may have led to the high levels of mercury found in Nova Scotia loons in 1995 (text and video).

Marquis Wheat

Learn how Charles Saunders developed Marquis wheat, a crop that flourishes under Canadian weather conditions (text and video).

Massasauga Rattler

Meet Ontario’s only poisonous snake, the Massasauga Rattler, and find out about efforts to understand and protect this threatened species (text and video).

Meteorological Pioneers (weather)

Find out how Dr. André Robert revolutionized meteorology by creating the first Canadian computerized simulations of weather patterns (text and video).

Methane Emissions

Find out how changes in a cow’s diet could reduce its methane emissions, making these animals more environmentally friendly (text and video).

Mold Vaccine

Meet Dr. Hari Vijay, a research scientist at Health Canada who has developed internationally recognized research on the standardization of mold allergens (text and video).

Muriel's Marsh

Visit one marsh that provides an example of the value of wetlands, the diverse life they contain and consequences of their loss (text and video).

Peregrine Falcon Recovery

Find out how Canadian biologists used a captive breeding program to bring back Anatum Peregrine Falcons after DDT caused their disappearance from North America (text and video).

Pythium and Tomatoes

Learn about pythium, a fungus that threatens indoor farming of tomatoes (text and video).

Seabed Mapping

Learn about Canadian technology for mapping the seafloor, and find out how it was used in recovery efforts following the crash of Swiss Air flight 111 (text and video).

Shepody Potato

Learn about the Shepody potato, which has been adapted for Canada’s short growing season and is becoming one of the most popular potato varieties for French Fries (text and video).

Spartan Apples

Learn about the mysterious parentage of the Spartan apple and the science behind breeding better apple species (text and video).

Storm Surges

Learn about the impact of storm surges and rising sea-levels, both of which are likely to increase as a result of climate change (text and video).

Tree DNA

Discover how DNA analysis may soon be used to catch tree thieves (text and video).

Vehicle Emissions

Find out how looking at the smallest particles of vehicle exhaust helps scientists to understand the effects of pollution on human respiration (text and video).

Volunteer Climate Observers

Meet the volunteers who assist atmospheric scientists by taking time every day to monitor and report on the weather (text and video).

Whale Fin ID

Find out how the field study of killer whales was revolutionized through the innovative technique of photographic identification of natural markings on individual whales (text and video).

Wheat Breeding

Find out how wheat, the single most important source of plant protein in our diet, has been crossbred to adapt to Canadian climate and disease conditions (text and video).

Worm Watch

Learn about the Worm Watch program and discover more about the important contribution of earthworms to soil ecology (text and video).