Latest news with #UniversityOfWaterloo
CTV News
17 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
New mural from Indigenous artist unveiled at University of Waterloo
A new mural by an Indigenous artist has been unveiled at the University of Waterloo. Here's why. An Indigenous artist hopes a new mural will inspire curiosity and a sense of belonging. The artwork by Tsista Kennedy was unveiled at the University of Waterloo on Friday. Kennedy is known for his digital Anishinaabe Onyota'a:ka woodland-style art, which is now proudly on display at the Dana Porter Library. 'On the other side [of the mural] you have an Indigenous family, you have a cradleboard with a little baby in there,' he explained. 'If you take a look at the lefthand side of the mural there's all these different lines going through the animals and the people and then going back to that family. All of that embodies us as Indigenous people and our connection to the land and how our culture is deeply rooted into that.' School officials said the artwork is part of the library's decolonization efforts. 'I think that Indigenous representation really matters,' Kennedy said. 'Whether that's non-Indigenous people coming through here and just wondering what its all about or Indigenous people who find it really meaningful to be represented in spaces like this. I think it's great to have it up.' This is not the first time Kennedy's artwork has been showcased in Waterloo Region. He also designed 'Every Child Matters' artwork that appeared on a Grand River Transit bus in 2023. Saturday is Indigenous Peoples Day.
CTV News
a day ago
- Science
- CTV News
Montreal teen tops global chemistry competition
Rama Jamal Alhashemi placed first in the world at the international Avogadro Chemistry Competition. Solutions and gases are no match for 17-year-old Rama Jamal Alhashemi, who placed first in the world in the international Avogadro Chemistry Competition. 'Today we're going to be doing a neutralization reaction with 0.1 molar of NaOH sodium hydroxide and one molar of hydrochloric acid, which is HCL.,' she explained. From the moment she set foot in the laboratory, the recent high school graduate was enamoured with periodic elements. She also took a liking to titration experiments - the process of determining the concentration of solutions. 'To know when our titration is over, we're going to put in some indicator phenolphthalein. So this indicator will make the solution turn pink,' Alhashemi said while demonstrating. Last month, her skills were put to the test in the international Avogadro Chemistry Competition. The exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions on the structure of matter and chemical reactions. 'It's put on by the University of Waterloo and in the past 37 years, there's been about 174,000 students across the world who have written the competition,' said Sarah Howard, a senior school science teacher at The Study. Only '0.2 per cent of those people have achieved what Rama achieved,' Howard added. Alhashemi placed first in Quebec, first in Canada, first in North America and first in the world. Her ranking earned her a certificate of distinction and an elemental tile for outstanding achievement. 'It's an amazing shock,' Alhashemi said. It's a reminder that 'females can be strong in STEM topics and it's something that we should be encouraging more,' Howard told CTV. According to Statistics Canada, women make up less than 30 per cent of those employed in a STEM field. However, as the soon-to-be CEGEP student gears up for Honours Health Science studies at Marianopolis College, she also plans to explore other interests. 'I've been playing the alto saxophone [...] ever since grade six. So I want to continue not only the sciences in the future but keep music on the side as well.'
CBC
5 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Your brain on hockey: Waterloo study aims to capture 'real-time experience' of spectators
Jacob Howard likes watching sports, but hockey is the one he gets most excited about. "It's fast-paced," he said in uptown Waterloo during an outdoor viewing of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals where the Edmonton Oilers are taking on the Florida Panthers. "It's physical, it's exciting. There are plays that make me go like, 'ooh' or cover my face. It's something I can get really passionate about, which I can't really feel about things like football or baseball." He says watching a game with other people, like the watch party in Waterloo Town Square on June 10, really adds to the enjoyment of the game. "I'd rather watch the game with a bunch of people than just alone in my living room," Howard said. Ethan Loginov, who plays hockey himself, says there's something special about watching a Stanley Cup finals game. "I'm just seeing the best in the world doing what they are the best at, seeing why they're the best, seeing things that you know as a hockey player that you could never do and being able to watch that every day is awesome," Loginov said. Hundreds attend Stanley Cup watch party in uptown Waterloo 7 days ago Duration 2:59 As the two hockey fans watched that game, new research from the University of Waterloo suggests their brains may have processed the game in a different way than people who had only recently jumped on the Edmonton Oilers (or Florida Panthers) bandwagon. Luke Potwarka, a lead researcher in the university's department of recreation and leisure studies and co-author of a new study, says they asked people to watch hockey as part of a proof-of-concept study to test a non-invasive brain imaging device called functional near infrared spectroscopy. "Sometimes it's really difficult for spectators to accurately describe their experiences or how they were judging or evaluating the game that they were watching. And oftentimes we don't get a sense of some of the real time experiences that spectators have as the game unfolds," Potwarka said. First, they asked students about their hockey fandom, then they put them into two groups: low and high involvement with hockey. Then they asked 20 of the students to go to the lab where they watched 20 minutes of a 2018 European Hockey League game, between the Cardiff Devils and the Nottingham Panthers, and they were asked to pick a team to cheer for as they watched. "We coded it and timed it for all key scoring chances and faceoff opportunities and we took and analyzed brain imaging slices 10 seconds before and after each scoring chance and offensive faceoffs during the period," Potwarka said. Adrian Safati, a PhD candidate in the school's department of psychology who contributed to the study, said they found there was greater activity in a part of the brain called the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex during moments like faceoffs. "We found that passionate fans had greater activation in their medial prefrontal cortex. This is part of the brain that's responsible for evaluating and judging social situations," Safati said. Safati said they chose a game that specifically wasn't high stakes, because they wanted to control for subjective feelings. That would count out a Stanley Cup game, like Tuesday's Game 6 with the Panthers leading the best-of-seven series 3-2. For example, the fans may have reacted differently if it was Oilers superstar Connor McDavid in the faceoff as opposed to centre Joey Martin, of Thorold, Ont., who played with the Cardiff Devils in 2018. Oilers fans eyeing a Game 7 comeback 2 days ago Duration 1:32 After suffering a tough 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, the Edmonton Oilers are headed back to the Sunshine State in hopes to tie the series and force a seventh and deciding game. The CBC's Sam Brooks spoke with Oilers fans after the game who haven't lost hope in their team. Other sports, social impacts Potwarka says this is the first time, to their knowledge, that a functional near infrared spectroscopy has been used to study a fan's reaction to sports, but there are other opportunities where it can be used, including in health prevention and other social science experiments. He says next, they want to see how the brain reacts to other sports. "We want to see, how does the brain function in soccer? How does it function when it's processing basketball games or even curling for that matter? I don't know. But we really want to try it," he said. There could also be a chance to look at how commentary during those games impacts a person's experience of the game and it could help broadcasters better understand what works for fans and casual viewers and what isn't connecting for them. "I think another key exciting area of research for us to think about is how brain activation might be different in social viewing situations with groups of people such as viewing parties versus this was just the individual viewership experience in our study. So there's lots of potential moving forward," Potwarka added. Safati said he is interested in the social aspect, whether there's a contagious effect where if one person is really invested in what they're watching, that could transfer to friends or others watching the game, too. "Maybe you could also use it on a baseball game to see if it actually is really as boring as people say it is," he said.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Your brain on hockey: Waterloo study aims to capture 'real-time experience' of spectators
Jacob Howard likes watching sports, but hockey is the one he gets most excited about. "It's fast-paced," he said in uptown Waterloo during an outdoor viewing of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals where the Edmonton Oilers are taking on the Florida Panthers. "It's physical, it's exciting. There are plays that make me go like, 'ooh' or cover my face. It's something I can get really passionate about, which I can't really feel about things like football or baseball." He says watching a game with other people, like the watch party in Waterloo Town Square on June 10, really adds to the enjoyment of the game. "I'd rather watch the game with a bunch of people than just alone in my living room," Howard said. Ethan Loginov, who plays hockey himself, says there's something special about watching a Stanley Cup finals game. "I'm just seeing the best in the world doing what they are the best at, seeing why they're the best, seeing things that you know as a hockey player that you could never do and being able to watch that every day is awesome," Loginov said. WATCH | : As the two hockey fans watched that game, new research from the University of Waterloo suggests their brains may have processed the game in a different way than people who had only recently jumped on the Edmonton Oilers (or Florida Panthers) bandwagon. Luke Potwarka, a lead researcher in the university's department of recreation and leisure studies and co-author of a new study, says they asked people to watch hockey as part of a proof-of-concept study to test a non-invasive brain imaging device called functional near infrared spectroscopy. "Sometimes it's really difficult for spectators to accurately describe their experiences or how they were judging or evaluating the game that they were watching. And oftentimes we don't get a sense of some of the real time experiences that spectators have as the game unfolds," Potwarka said. First, they asked students about their hockey fandom, then they put them into two groups: low and high involvement with hockey. Then they asked 20 of the students to go to the lab where they watched 20 minutes of a 2018 European Hockey League game, between the Cardiff Devils and the Nottingham Panthers, and they were asked to pick a team to cheer for as they watched. "We coded it and timed it for all key scoring chances and faceoff opportunities and we took and analyzed brain imaging slices 10 seconds before and after each scoring chance and offensive faceoffs during the period," Potwarka said. Adrian Safati, a PhD candidate in the school's department of psychology who contributed to the study, said they found there was greater activity in a part of the brain called the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex during moments like faceoffs. "We found that passionate fans had greater activation in their medial prefrontal cortex. This is part of the brain that's responsible for evaluating and judging social situations," Safati said. Safati said they chose a game that specifically wasn't high stakes, because they wanted to control for subjective feelings. That would count out a Stanley Cup game, like Tuesday's Game 6 with the Panthers leading the best-of-seven series 3-2. For example, the fans may have reacted differently if it was Oilers superstar Connor McDavid in the faceoff as opposed to centre Joey Martin, of Thorold, Ont., who played with the Cardiff Devils in 2018. WATCH | : Other sports, social impacts Potwarka says this is the first time, to their knowledge, that a functional near infrared spectroscopy has been used to study a fan's reaction to sports, but there are other opportunities where it can be used, including in health prevention and other social science experiments. He says next, they want to see how the brain reacts to other sports. "We want to see, how does the brain function in soccer? How does it function when it's processing basketball games or even curling for that matter? I don't know. But we really want to try it," he said. There could also be a chance to look at how commentary during those games impacts a person's experience of the game and it could help broadcasters better understand what works for fans and casual viewers and what isn't connecting for them. "I think another key exciting area of research for us to think about is how brain activation might be different in social viewing situations with groups of people such as viewing parties versus this was just the individual viewership experience in our study. So there's lots of potential moving forward," Potwarka added. Safati said he is interested in the social aspect, whether there's a contagious effect where if one person is really invested in what they're watching, that could transfer to friends or others watching the game, too. "Maybe you could also use it on a baseball game to see if it actually is really as boring as people say it is," he said. The study is titled Understanding the sport viewership experience using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and was published in April in the journal Scientific Reports.
Sustainability Times
6 days ago
- Sustainability Times
'This Coding Trick Cuts 30% of Power Use': Data Centers Worldwide Could Be Transformed by This Shockingly Simple Energy Hack
IN A NUTSHELL 🔋 Data centers are vital to digital services but are notorious for their high energy consumption . are vital to digital services but are notorious for their high . 💡 Researchers from the University of Waterloo discovered that modifying just 30 lines of code in the Linux kernel can cut energy use by 30 to 45%. can cut energy use by 30 to 45%. ⚙️ The modification improves network efficiency by reducing unnecessary processor interruptions, maintaining low latency during low-traffic periods. 🌍 This open-source solution, now included in Linux kernel version 6.13, could lead to widespread adoption and significant environmental benefits. Data centers serve as the backbone of our digital world, supporting everything from social media to online banking. However, these essential facilities are also notorious for their colossal energy consumption. Recent findings by researchers from the University of Waterloo suggest a surprisingly simple solution: adjusting a few lines of code could significantly cut energy use. This revelation could revolutionize the way data centers operate, offering both environmental and economic benefits. The Hidden Energy Cost of Data Centers Data centers are often described as the digital world's unseen workhorses. They power the internet and its myriad services, consuming vast amounts of energy in the process. As the demand for digital services climbs, so does the energy footprint of these centers. The massive energy consumption is mainly due to the constant operation of servers, cooling systems, and other infrastructure. This not only impacts the environment but also represents a significant operational cost for companies. One of the primary concerns is the heat generated by servers, which necessitates robust cooling systems. These systems, while essential, add to the overall energy demand. With energy prices rising and sustainability becoming a global priority, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions. The simple coding modification proposed by the University of Waterloo researchers could be a game-changer, offering a practical approach to reducing energy consumption without compromising performance. 'Nuclear First Just Happened': World's Largest Stellarator Produces Helium-3 in Unprecedented Breakthrough That Could Power Future Civilizations A Revolutionary Coding Tweak The research team from the University of Waterloo has identified a potential remedy for the energy woes of data centers. By modifying just 30 lines of code within the Linux kernel's protocol stack, energy consumption could be reduced by 30 to 45 percent. This is a significant breakthrough, considering that Linux is the operating system of choice for most global data centers. The Linux kernel acts as the core interface between a computer's hardware and its processes, and optimizing its efficiency can lead to substantial energy savings. The modification involves reorganizing operations within the Linux network protocol stack to enhance efficiency. This approach improves network performance by reducing unnecessary processor interruptions during high-traffic periods. As a result, it maintains low latency during quieter times, thereby reducing overall energy use. This innovative solution exemplifies how small changes in code can have a profound impact on energy efficiency. 'China Just Landed This in the Ocean': Reusable Rocket Test Sparks Panic Over America's Waning Space Supremacy Testing and Implementation The researchers didn't stop at theorization; they tested their solution in real-world scenarios. Following successful trials, the modified code was submitted to the Linux community and is now part of the latest kernel release, version 6.13. This development not only underscores the practical viability of the solution but also its potential for widespread adoption. As Linux is open-source, the new code is available for anyone to implement, fostering a collaborative effort toward energy efficiency. The adoption of this modification could lead to a ripple effect across industries, as companies seek to lower operational costs and meet sustainability targets. The open-source nature of Linux ensures that these improvements can be quickly disseminated, allowing for rapid implementation and adoption globally. This could be a pivotal moment for data centers worldwide, as they strive to balance performance with environmental responsibility. 'China Builds 40-Story Giants': These Gravity Batteries Could Crush Lithium's Dominance and Trigger a Global Energy Power Shift Looking Toward a Sustainable Future The implications of this research extend beyond immediate energy savings. By demonstrating the potential of software optimization to reduce energy use, the study opens the door for further innovations in data center management. As technology evolves, so too will the strategies for achieving sustainability in the digital realm. This approach could inspire other sectors to explore similar methods for reducing their environmental impact. The journey toward sustainable data centers is ongoing, and this breakthrough is a significant step in the right direction. As companies and consumers become more conscious of their environmental footprint, the demand for efficient and sustainable technological solutions will only increase. The question remains: how will other industries harness the power of coding to create a more sustainable future? Our author used artificial intelligence to enhance this article. Did you like it? 4.5/5 (28)
