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U of A science students take issue with new ‘plagiarism checker’

Student union raises concerns over presumption of guilt damaging relationship between instructors, pupils

by on March 26, 2012 in Technology

Text-matching technology is currently under scrutiny at the University of Alberta, with the department of biological sciences’ plagiarism checker the latest subject in a long discussion about academic integrity on campus.

The aptly branded “Plagiarism Checker” — a mandatory text-matching tool used by the biological sciences department since September — is inciting controversy after the department’s decision to go ahead with the technology last year left students unhappy with the lack of communication about the service.

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What does Google’s new mandatory privacy policy mean for you?

by on February 21, 2012 in Technology

Late last month, Google announced its plans to amalgamate their many privacy policies into one unified document starting March 1. The new policy changes are presented as a take-it-or-leave-it option from Google.

The new policy will replace 60 existing product-specifying privacy documents for Google services such as Gmail, YouTube and Docs. According to Google, the terms of the new policy will provide better search results and ads that are more likely to be of interest to users.

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It shoots, it scores: U of M home to what may be world’s first hockey-playing robot

by on February 19, 2012 in Technology

Programmers working at the Autonomous Agents Laboratory at the University of Manitoba may have developed the world’s first humanoid-robot ice-hockey player.

Thus far the robot is capable of taking a shot, stick handling and taking rudimentary strides on some makeshift skates. She makes her moves with a miniature Bison hockey stick.

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Space ‘burps’ offer clues on new galaxies: research focuses on how matter is ejected from black holes

by on February 13, 2012 in Technology

By pinpointing the exact moment when a black hole launched fast- moving material from the region surrounding it, a University of Alberta astronomer has uncovered an important clue for discovering how new galaxies are formed.

The interaction of material ejected, or “burped,” from black holes with other gasses in space is fundamental to the creation of new galaxies, but Gregory Sivakoff’s research on how and when matter is ejected from the black hole gives insight to the origins of these processes.

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Tablets vs. textbooks: e-textbooks are not necessarily as cost-effective as expected

by on February 6, 2012 in Technology

While tablets and e-readers undoubtedly offer an advantage for avoiding the lines on campus to buy new and second-hand books — typically ranging from $200-$500 — are they worth the investment?

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Top virology scientists temporarily halt research on highly transmissible avian flu

Top virology scientists temporarily halt research on highly transmissible avian flu

by on February 6, 2012 in Technology

The leaders of several top virology labs have agreed to a 60-day halt on research involving new strains of avian influenza that are more transmissible in mammals. The agreement was spearheaded by Ron Fouchier, a Dutch virologist and the lead author of a controversial study on bird flu, currently in press at Science.

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DegreeWorks: university to launch new online degree mapping tool in PAWS

by on January 26, 2012 in Technology

Understatement of the century: mapping out your degree progress can sometimes be confusing. Come on. Up until now, making sense of your academic achievements — total credits earned, actual program requirements, and how everything all fits together — has been like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle with Jenga blocks. Frustration levels have been known to shoot off the charts.

Believe it or not, the university is aware of this. And they’re finally doing something about it.

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Wikipedia will go dark tonight for 24 hours in protest of SOPA and PIPA

by on January 17, 2012 in Technology

Today the Wikimedia Foundation announced that Wikipedia will be shut down for 24 hours, worldwide, beginning at 11:00 PM Central time.

The black-out is in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), two pieces of proposed American legislation tabled in the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate respectively.

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Where nanotechnology and medicine meet: scientists shrink medical tests, makes them more affordable

by on January 4, 2012 in Technology

In a rural medical office, only the bare minimum of medical technology is either affordable or practical, and doctors rely on their own diagnostic skills rather than the expensive tests that doctors at urban centres can more easily access. In the absence of proper equipment from which many urban doctors benefit, rural patients can be misdiagnosed or mistreated due to the impracticality of running the gamut of tests on them.

Linda Pilarski, a University of Alberta oncology professor and Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Nanotechnology, has been working since 1998 to change this.

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Wikipedia increasingly used as a teaching tool in university classrooms

by on December 11, 2011 in Technology

A handful of University of Alberta classes have introduced Wikipedia to their classrooms as a teaching resource this past semester, despite criticisms about the website’s credibility in educational institutions.

The initiative to integrate Wikipedia into classes began in the United States with the Wikimedia Foundation’s Wikipedia Education Program, but has expanded globally to include classes in Canada and India. Professors use the website by replacing traditional writing or research assignments with students writing Wikipedia articles or improving pre-existing pages.

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