https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from University of Waterloo Researchers have created the first map of a network of subglacial lakes in the Canadian Arctic showing 33 bodies of water under glaciers. Using a decade of ArcticDEM satellite data of Earth's surface height, a team of researchers including the University of Waterloo has developed a method that allowed them to track the draining and filling of active subglacial lakes in unprecedented detail. The team's paper is published in The Cryosphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-satellite-reveals-subglacial-lakes-beneath.html Earth Sciences Thu, 02 Apr 2026 17:10:01 EDT news694367641 New modeling shows almost one in three Americans will routinely breathe air considered unhealthy for sensitive people by the year 2100 due to climate change, a seven-fold increase compared to the turn of the century. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-climate-unhealthy-air-routine-million.html Environment Tue, 31 Mar 2026 11:20:03 EDT news694168362 Waterloo scientists have developed a new way to understand how the universe began, and it could change what we know about the Big Bang and the earliest moments of cosmic history. Their work suggests that the universe's rapid early expansion could have arisen naturally from a deeper, more complete theory of quantum gravity. The paper, "Ultraviolet completion of the Big Bang in quadratic gravity," appears in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-quadratic-gravity-theory-reshapes-quantum.html General Physics Sun, 29 Mar 2026 09:00:12 EDT news693745058 Doctors often struggle to distinguish early dementia with Lewy bodies from early Parkinson's disease. The two neurological conditions share many symptoms, including changes in movement, and are frequently misdiagnosed in their early stages. New research from the University of Waterloo suggests that quantifying walking behavior might be a useful way to tell these diseases apart. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-doctors-similar-brain-diseases.html Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:10:01 EDT news693564502 New research from the University of Waterloo shows that artificial intelligence (AI) still struggles with some basic software development tasks, raising questions about how reliably AI systems can assist developers. As Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly incorporated into software development, developers have struggled to ensure that AI-generated responses are accurate, consistent, and easy to integrate into larger development workflows. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-ai-coding-tools.html Software Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:20:03 EDT news692963821 A retinal image could help doctors quickly distinguish between similar neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS and Alzheimer's disease, and with remarkable accuracy, according to new research published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia. There is currently no objective diagnostic test for ALS or Frontotemporal Lobular Dementia (FTLD-TDP), in which the protein TDP-43 forms deposits in the spinal cord and brain, respectively. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-retinal-images-accurately-differentiate-als.html Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:50:03 EDT news692440150 To address persistent concerns about harassment, boundary violation and user safety in digital dating spaces, a research team led by the University of Waterloo has launched an interactive Safety Map to coincide with International Women's Day. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-swiperight-safer-newsafetymap-aims-peoplenavigate.html Social Sciences Thu, 05 Mar 2026 05:50:01 EST news691911065 High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects more than one billion people worldwide and is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke. For decades, researchers have observed that premenopausal women are less likely to develop high blood pressure than men or postmenopausal women. Researchers have known for years that estrogen is the deciding factor, but exactly how it offers this protection has remained unclear. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-estrogen-women-high-blood-pressure.html Cardiology Wed, 04 Mar 2026 07:00:03 EST news691824541 The first survey of Canadian consumers regarding their purchase and disposal of electronics reveals that 64% of people replace their items for reasons other than the device breaking down or being obsolete. This behavior points to the unrealized potential to reduce e-waste in Canada. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-canadians-toss-electronics.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:30:01 EST news691766881 A new study is the first to suggest realistic ways to integrate wisdom into artificial intelligence, to create AI systems that will be more robust, transparent, cooperative, and safe. Researchers from the University of Waterloo led the team, which includes experts in psychology, computer science, and engineering. Their paper proposes ways to train large language models to be wiser, explore new architectures that could support wise reasoning, and suggest benchmarks to measure AI wisdom. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-ai-smarter-wiser-roadmap-aims.html Machine learning & AI Sun, 01 Mar 2026 13:00:08 EST news691381464 A research team led by the University of Waterloo is developing a novel tool to treat cancer by engineering hungry bacteria to literally eat tumors from the inside out. "Bacteria spores enter the tumor, finding an environment where there are lots of nutrients and no oxygen, which this organism prefers, and so it starts eating those nutrients and growing in size," said Dr. Marc Aucoin, a chemical engineering professor at Waterloo. "So, we are now colonizing that central space, and the bacterium is essentially ridding the body of the tumor." https://phys.org/news/2026-02-bacteria-consume-tumors.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:20:02 EST news691154582 Researchers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a way to turn plastic waste into acetic acid, the main ingredient of vinegar, using sunlight. The breakthrough offers a promising new approach to reducing plastic pollution through photocatalysis, while simultaneously creating a useful, value-added chemical product through a process inspired by nature. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-sunlight-powered-plastic-acetic-acid.html Polymers Mon, 23 Feb 2026 18:40:03 EST news691078427 Why do some melodies feel instantly right, balanced, memorable and satisfying, even if you have never heard them before? New research from the University of Waterloo suggests that more than creativity is at play. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-secret-math-catchy-melodies.html Mathematics Thu, 19 Feb 2026 05:36:20 EST news690701761 A novel method to manipulate the inner structure of cells connects several scientific fields and could represent a significant step in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Dr. Travis Craddock, a professor of biology at the University of Waterloo and Canada Research Chair in Quantum Neurobiology, led the research team that is the first to use weak magnetic fields and isotopes to change the structure of cells. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-quantum-effects-biology-weak-magnetic.html Biotechnology Wed, 18 Feb 2026 15:43:36 EST news690651781 Astrophysicists from the University of Waterloo have observed a new jellyfish galaxy, the most distant one of its kind ever captured. Jellyfish galaxies are named for the long, tentacle-like streams that trail behind them. They move quickly through their hot, dense galaxy cluster, and the gas within the cluster acts like a strong wind pushing the jellyfish galaxy's own gas out the back, forming trails. The technical term for this process is ram-pressure stripping. The Waterloo scientists found this galaxy in deep space data captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It is at z = 1.156, meaning we're seeing it as it was 8.5 billion years ago, when the universe was much younger. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-jwst-distant-jellyfish-galaxy-date.html Astronomy Tue, 17 Feb 2026 11:24:44 EST news690549842 As Canada experiences record snowfall, new research from the University of Waterloo suggests that tiny amounts of industrial pollution trapped in snow can change how sunlight reaches the ground below and significantly alter fragile environments. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-hidden-impact-polluted.html Ecology Thu, 12 Feb 2026 18:50:01 EST news690116702 Millions of bats in North America have died from white-nose syndrome, and a new study from the University of Waterloo explores why and how the fungal disease has devastated bat populations on this continent, while it has had little effect on bats in Europe. The paper, "Strategies and limitations of the bat immune response to Pseudogymnoascus destructans: the causative agent of white-nose syndrome," appears in Frontiers in Immunology. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-white-nose-syndrome-puzzle-biological.html Plants & Animals Thu, 12 Feb 2026 11:00:48 EST news690116401 A system developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo lets people collaborate with groups of robots to create works of art inspired by music. The new technology features multiple wheeled robots about the size of soccer balls that trail colored light as they move within a fixed area on the floor in response to key features of music including tempo and chord progression. A camera records the coordinated light trails as they snake within that area, which serves as the canvas for the creation of a "painting," or visual representation of the emotional content of a particular piece of music. https://techxplore.com/news/2026-02-robot-swarms-music.html Robotics Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:40:04 EST news689851132 A new study finds that Canada could remove at least five times its annual carbon emissions with strategic planting of more than six million trees along the northern edge of the boreal forest. The paper, "Substantial carbon removal capacity of Taiga reforestation and afforestation at Canada's boreal edge," appears in Communications Earth & Environment. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-strategic-tree-canada-carbon-neutral.html Environment Sun, 01 Feb 2026 10:50:03 EST news688923741 Large-scale melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet is irreversible and happening at a rapid rate, and now a new international study is the first to understand why. A University of Waterloo scientist and a team of international collaborators found that airborne mineral dust and other aerosols are directly connected to how much algae grows on the ice. The algae interfere with albedo, or the reflection of the sun's rays, exacerbating melting. The work is published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-mineral-greenland-ice-sheet-algae.html Earth Sciences Wed, 28 Jan 2026 12:45:05 EST news688826667 New research into the impact of climate change on snow sports provides recommendations to increase the climate-resilience of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-safeguarding-winter-olympics-paralympics-climate.html Environment Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:54:44 EST news688218841 Researchers from the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Science and the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) are prioritizing collaboration over competition to advance quantum computer development and the field of quantum information. They are doing this through Open Quantum Design (OQD), a non-profit organization that boasts the world's first open-source, full stack quantum computer. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-world-source-quantum.html Quantum Physics Mon, 19 Jan 2026 22:30:01 EST news688040647 As commercial interest in quantum technologies accelerates, entrepreneurial minds at the University of Waterloo are not waiting for opportunities—they are creating them. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-stealth-quantum-sensors-possibilities-gps.html Quantum Physics Mon, 19 Jan 2026 19:00:03 EST news688040582 Imagine a simple saliva test that makes concussion screening faster and more objective than ever before. Thanks to neurotechnology being developed and piloted by Andrew Cordssen-David (BSc '22, MBET '23), co-founder and CEO of HeadFirst, a small, game-changing device aims to remove the uncertainty surrounding head injuries in contact sports and beyond. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-rapid-concussion-saliva.html Sports medicine & Kinesiology Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:00:04 EST news688040631 A new study led by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that members of many Indigenous communities who eat certain types of locally harvested waterfowl, especially ducks with mixed or fish-based diets, may have higher levels of both mercury and healthy omega-3 fatty acids in their blood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-mercury-exposure-northern-communities-linked.html Health Tue, 13 Jan 2026 05:24:29 EST news687504242 A natural, superabsorbent material developed at the University of Waterloo could dramatically reduce the environmental impact of personal hygiene products like diapers, menstrual pads and tampons. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-natural-hydrogel-personal-hygiene-products.html Polymers Thu, 08 Jan 2026 14:24:18 EST news687104641 A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo have made a breakthrough in quantum computing that elegantly bypasses the fundamental "no cloning" problem. The research, "Encrypted Qubits can be Cloned," appears in Physical Review Letters. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-quantum-longstanding-cloning-problem-encryption.html Quantum Physics Tue, 06 Jan 2026 10:13:32 EST news686916782 Did you know that social isolation and loneliness can be more harmful to your health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day? As we step into a new year, Dr. Troy Glover (Ph.D. '00), professor and director of the Healthy Communities Research Network at the University of Waterloo, emphasizes why "social fitness" deserves a spot on your list of resolutions. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-year-resolutions-social.html Social Sciences Mon, 05 Jan 2026 09:40:57 EST news686828341 A much faster, more efficient training method developed at the University of Waterloo could help put powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the hands of many more people by reducing the cost and environmental impact of building them. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-12-ai-method-slashes-pre-boosting.html Computer Sciences Tue, 09 Dec 2025 13:20:15 EST news684508797 Canada has a marine coastline twice as long as any other country and shares four Great Lakes with the United States. A new report warns that without coordinated planning, coastal communities face increasing flooding and erosion as climate change accelerates. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-framework-unveiled-climate-resilient-shores.html Earth Sciences Tue, 25 Nov 2025 20:20:01 EST news683297120