Université de Montréal - News

Putting the brakes on FAST UdeM researchers argue that FAST – free ad-supported streaming television – poses a threat to francophone and Indigenous culture in Canada, and should be regulated.

#MEDIA Do you enjoy watching free online TV? Consider the downside: too many ads, no privacy, and almost nothing that's French or Indigenous. Critics say streamers like Tubi and Pluto show "flagrant disregard for Canada’s cultural diversity."
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How bacteria grow: evolutionary differences point to new ways to combat infection Discovering unsuspected flexibility in bacterial elongation, UdeM microbiologists rethink approach to fighting resistance to antibiotics.

#MICROBIOLOGY Scientists at @brunlabcaulo.bsky.social find "new points of fragility" in how bacteria cell walls expand, and this "could be exploited to develop new #antibiotics.” @mariedelaby.bsky.social ‪@natcomms.nature.com nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...

Discovery of ‘mini halo’ points to how the early universe was formed Astronomers co-led by UdeM's Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo detect a gigantic cloud of high-energy particles 10 billions light years away from Earth.

#ASTRONOMY ‪10 billion light years away, in a cluster of galaxies, a vast cloud of high-energy particles is revealed, thanks to @umontreal.ca's Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo and @rtimmerman.bsky.social‬. #LOFAR
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A blueprint for adapting to climate change By expanding an emerging field of study called archaeology of climate change, scientists at UdeM and other universities hope to make human-environment modeling more accurate and complete.

#CLIMATE "What we're proposing is a workflow ... to integrate human systems into Earth-systems models," says anthropologist @burkeam.bsky.social. #hominin #dispersals @natcomms.nature.com @ctrlalttim.com
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When political demonstrations are met by force A specialist on military responses to protest movements, UdeM political scientist Theodore McLauchlin answers three questions about current developments in the United States.

#US "Overt repression, whether through law-enforcement or the armed forces, is hard to sustain against non-violent protest." Theodore McLauchlin on #Trump, #NoKings & more.
@cerium-udem.bsky.social
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#RECRUITMENT "We are well-positioned to welcome top minds who are seeking to thrive in an open, dynamic environment where science can flourish freely," says @vpoitout.bsky.social. #U.S. #academia #funding #Canada @usherbrooke.bsky.social @ulaval.ca @mcgill.ca nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...

#HIV-AIDS What happened 35 years ago in the middle of Africa that so needed to be kept secret?
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Loneliness is spreading. What can sociology tell us about it? Long regarded as a purely private, individual experience, loneliness is now emerging as an important social issue, says UdeM expert Cécile Van de Velde.

"In Quebec and Canada, loneliness is most prevalent among teens and young adults, and in Europe, among adults in their late 20s and 30s,” says @cecile-vandevelde.bsky.social‬.
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'Deafblindness': more than meets the eye and ear Walter Wittich is the scientific director of an international initiative that has developed a comprehensive set of biopsychosocial criteria for people with little or no hearing and little or no sight.

As many as as 165 million people‪ are #deafblind, and "in some countries the condition isn’t recognized, leaving families to bear the full burden," says @walterwittich.bsky.social‬. #visualimpairment #hardofhearing
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Anxious cats prone to recurring cystitis UdeM’s veterinarians reveal that anxiety plays a key role in feline idiopathic cystitis, an inflammation of the bladder, highlighting the importance of reducing the stress that cats sometimes feel.

#VETERINARY "A similar condition with the same symptoms occurs in women and is often linked to high levels of stress or anxiety." #cats #cystitis
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Building climate resilience in the island nation of Dominica An interdisciplinary study draws on interviews with Dominicans displaced by Hurricane Maria and Tropical Storm Erika to explore the risks associated with climate change in the Caribbean.

#CLIMATE How do #hurricanes affect people's health? "The disasters impact all dimensions ... physical and mental," says our expert Patrick Cloos, working with doctoral candidate Sarah Cooper. @plosclimate.org‬ @msf.ca #Dominica #Caribbean
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The study involves our‪ microbiologist @fredoleroux.bsky.social, whom we profiled in late 2023 as a new hire and Canada Excellence in Research Chair: nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...

"Safe-by-design"AI: Yoshua Bengio launches LawZero Supported by a host of donors, the UdeM computer-science professor wants his new non-profit organization to design artificial-intelligence systems that prioritize safety over commercial interests.

#AI "We believe that at the heart of every AI frontier system, there should be one guiding principle: the protection of human joy and endeavour," says Yoshua Bengio. @mila-quebec.bsky.social @law-zero.bsky.social
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How does coffee affect a sleeping brain? Coffee can help you stay awake. But what does caffeine actually do to your brain once you're asleep? Using AI, a team of researchers has an answer: it affects the brain's "criticality".

#NEUROSCIENCE "During sleep the brain remains in a more activated, less restorative state under the influence of caffeine," says ‪@karimjerbi.bsky.social‬ @commsbio.nature.com‬ #AI #neuroimaging
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AI takes only minutes to tell how mature an infant's brain is A study led by UdeM’s Sarah Lippé demonstrates that artificial intelligence can quickly and accurately assess brain maturity in babies, enabling early detection of developmental disorders.

#PEDIATRICS Behold: "an objective indicator of how brain development is progressing” — thanks to #AI. #EEG #psychology #neurology
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Chronic renal failure: discovery of a crucial biomarker Millions of kidney patients stand to benefit from early diagnosis and prevention thanks to the breakthrough by scientists at the CRCHUM and UdeM.

#HEALTH "What’s really incredible is that by injecting this #microRNA ... we were able to preserve the small blood vessels and limit the damage done to the #kidneys.” ‪#nephrology #renal @crchum.bsky.social‬ @jci-insight.bsky.social‬
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'I'm a researcher. This is what I do.' As he takes over from Yoshua Bengio as scientific director IVADO, Aaron Courville reflects on what artificial intelligence needs: more optimism.

‪Your long read today: an exclusive interview with Canadian #AI luminary Aaron Courville. @ivado.bsky.social‬ @mila-quebec.bsky.social‬ @yoshuabengio.bsky.social‬ @cmu.edu‬ ‪@sarahooker.bsky.social‬
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HPV: babies free themselves of the virus naturally Almost all babies who contract the human papillomavirus perinatally eliminate it within the first six months of life – yet even so, women still benefit from protection, a study finds.

#EPIDEMIOLOGY Good news: "We now know that it’s quite unlikely for a mother to transmit #HPV to her baby during pregnancy or childbirth ... This will be reassuring to #pregnant women who have been diagnosed with the virus.”
@jidjournal.bsky.social
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When art meets science: the hidden risks of musical expression A study carried out at UdeM by Craig Turner and his doctoral supervisor Felipe Verdugo shows how pianists' "expressive intentions" may heighten their risk of long-term injury.

One in four pianists has a musculoskeletal disorder: tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and more. Better posture and smoother wrists movements can keep the pain at bay, say our kinesiologists. #music #piano
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Trying to predict how an autistic child will develop cognitively Although autism can be diagnosed very early, it remains difficult to plot a child's developmental trajectory. Now a team of UdeM-affiliated researchers is working to remedy this, via AI and genomics.

#AUTISM "We can be sure that ... with cheaper and more readily available genetic testing, our ability to make accurate predictions (of intellectual disability) will increase." @cra-chusj.bsky.social
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$1 million U.S. for a project co-founded by UdeM The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in fundamental physics partly honours the many scientists here who've been at the forefront of a decades-long experiment using the Large Hadron Collider, in Switzerland.

#PHYSICS "I've devoted my entire research to this project" at @cern.bsky.social, says our professor Jean-François Arguin, who shares in a big win for physicists. #BreakthroughPrize #LHCRun2
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How Sébastien Sauvé turned 'forever chemicals' into big news If Quebecers are now aware of the health risks of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), it’s largely thanks to the work of UdeM's muckraking environmental chemistry professor.

"If no-one speaks out, nothing changes." #PFAS #pollution
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Guinea pigs: a promising animal model to study the human embryo CRCHUM researchers reveal that the guinea pig pre-implantation embryo is very similar to the human embryo, spurring a better understanding of infertility and early human development.

#FERTILITY A discovery by scientists in Canada and Sweden opens new possibilities for therapeutics aimed at ensuring a healthy pregnancy. @crchum.bsky.social @ki.se @naturecellbiology.bsky.social nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...

You can heal more wounds with honey UdeM pharmacy professor Simon Matoori has reviewed studies on the therapeutic properties of honey in the treatment of both acute and chronic wounds.

#HEALTH Honey as medicine? Sweet! “In a highly inflamed wound, it acts as an anti-inflammatory, while in a chronic wound ... it can stimulate a beneficial inflammatory response."
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Hidden forces shape plants from the inside out UdeM scientists use a combination of experimental data and modelling to reveal how physical forces help plants to generate their complex 3D shapes.

#BIOPHYSICS For the first time, scientists have successfully reverse-engineered the physical properties of cells located deep within a plant organ – in this case, a flower's anther. @kierzkowskilab.bsky.social @routierlab.bsky.social @natureplants.bsky.social
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Investing in your work: a fine balance between dedication and burnout According to a study by Marie-Colombe Afota, how people see themselves plays an important role in their intense—and sometimes toxic—approach to work.

#WORK Do you like your job a bit too much? Are you a workaholic? A lot depends on your sense of personal identity, a Canada-France study suggests. #burnout nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...

Using LLMs to understand how autism gets diagnosed In a study that used large language models to analyze healthcare records of Quebec francophone children, scientists argue that current criteria for diagnosing autism are in need of revision.

#AUTISM “A data-driven revision of criteria ... grounded on clinical certainty, would complement what has historically been done by expert panels and ... humans, who can be wrong." @danilobzdok.bsky.social @mila-quebec.bsky.social @cellpress.bsky.social #AI
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Recruiting women as candidates: an electoral opportunity People who believe that female candidates are at a disadvantage in elections are mistaken, according to two studies conducted by political scientist André Blais.

"There is no bias against women in their likelihood of electoral success in Canada, except perhaps for the position of prime minister." #cdnpol #Elxn45
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Eating well and aging better In an international study led by an UdeM nutritionist, healthy eating in midlife is found to be linked to overall healthy aging.

Though "there is no one-size-fits-all diet," says our nutrition professor Anne-Julie Tessier, two — AHEI and PHDI — are particularly good at keeping you fit into old age. With colleagues @hsph.harvard.edu, she details her findings in @natmedicine.bsky.social.
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Roundtable: what future for the 49th Parallel? Three experts from UdeM analyze Canada-U.S.relations and the threats posed to our shared border in Donald Trump's second presidential term.

"Invade Canada? No way!" Our profs Stéphane Beaulac,
@dgrondin.bsky.social and Karine Côté-Boucher weigh in on what #Trump means for the border – and us. #CdnPol nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...