Europa Lander Mission Shut Out Again in 2019 NASA Budget Request
A bold life-hunting mission to the surface of Jupiter’s ocean-harboring moon Europa was shut out yet again in the 2019 federal budget proposal, but NASA still aims to see it fly. The budget request, which was released Monday (Feb. 12), allocates $19.9 billion to NASA in 2019 and lays out some details about the agency’s […]
2019 BMW X4: The Fastback Compact SUV Returns
Given the first version’s sales success, a second-generation BMW X4 was sure to emerge soon after its recently redesigned platform-mate, the X3. Lower, longer, and marginally wider than both its predecessor and the boxier X3, the 2019 BMW X4 trades outright versatility for style courtesy of a fastback roofline. The new X4’s optical allure is […]
Charlottetown Smoke Free Places bylaw moves forward
A bylaw to ban smoking on city properties in Charlottetown passed first reading Monday night. The Smoke Free Places bylaw would ban smoking at both indoor and outdoor city properties, including parks, boardwalks, trails, park benches, and parking lots. The proposed fine for violation is $50 to $500 or up to 30 days imprisonment in […]
Calgary, Edmonton bumped from list of fastest growing cities
For the first time since 2009-2010, Calgary and Edmonton failed to crack the top five list for population growth in Canadian metropolitan areas. According to projections from Statistics Canada based on census numbers, both Alberta centres grew by 1.8 per cent in 2016-2017. That’s down from growth of 2.5 per cent in Calgary and 2.4 […]
Tax reform puts pressure on companies to share the wealth
A healthy and growing economy should be good news for us all. Yet, while economic optimism is strong — according to a recent Harvard-Harris poll — too many people also believe that economic growth and social inclusion are inherently at odds. Over the past year in particular, the political debate in the United States and […]
Amazon is reportedly designing its own A.I. chips to make Alexa respond faster
Do you love Alexa but think the voice assistant from Amazon responds too slowly sometimes? Amazon is working on a fix for that, according to an exclusive report from The Information. The online marketplace giant is designing its own artificial intelligence (A.I.) chips that would add speech recognition directly to Alexa-powered devices and allow the […]
Airbus’ delivery drone takes packages to ‘parcel stations’ run by robots
Keen to prevent the competition from racing away, Airbus is getting into the drone delivery game with its own autonomous flying machine. A slew of companies are developing and testing drone delivery platforms, among them Amazon, Google, Walmart, and Airbus rival Boeing. Airbus’s “Skyways” unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recently completed its first flight demonstration at […]
Should car inspections be mandatory in Quebec?
Quebec Coroner Jean Brochu hopes his latest report into a fatal crash in 2016 involving a ride-sharing service will raise awareness about the dangers of getting into a stranger’s car — but his report stops short of making any recommendations to the Quebec government. “I just wanted to make sure that people are aware that […]
Can gene therapy be harnessed to fight the AIDS virus?
For more than a decade, the strongest AIDS drugs could not fully control Matt Chappell’s HIV infection. Now his body controls it by itself, and researchers are trying to perfect the gene editing that made this possible. Scientists removed some of his blood cells, disabled a gene to help them resist HIV, and returned these […]
Why Shopify Inc. Was up 7% Yesterday
Getting exposure to the cannabis sector does not have to come from directly owning marijuana stocks. With marijuana stocks continuing to trade at bubble-like multiples, this is great news. Yesterday, Shopify announced that the Ontario government has chosen the company’s e-commerce platform for cannabis sales online and in stores, thereby ensuring a reliable, safe, and […]