Latest news with #UofT
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Micromem Provides Update on Collaboration to Advance Nanowire Sensor Technology in Commercial Applications
Toronto, Ontario and New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - June 2, 2025) - Micromem Technologies Inc. (CSE: MRM) (OTCQB: MMTIF) ("Micromem" or the "Company") is pleased to provide further details on its collaboration with the University of Toronto ("UofT") to further advance the development of nanowire sensor technology. Our partnership with UofT will leverage decades of research and expertise with a team of leading scientists and engineers holding unparalleled knowledge of nanowire behavior and surface interaction in sensor applications. Through years of peer-reviewed research, UofT has established a global leadership position in the field of nanowire sensor technology. This includes publications in leading scientific journals such as Science, Nature and Physical Review and ACS Nano, which document the extraordinary ability of one-dimensional nanowire structures to create sensors with unprecedented charge response. This collaboration with UofT represents a major step forward in advancing these innovations toward varied commercial applications. The team's work spans diverse fields, including sensors, integrated photonics, water quality monitoring, optical devices, memory devices and quantum information technology. These publications, as listed below, will be available on the Company's website next week for the scientific community and other interested parties to review: 1999: Science Journal – A pivotal paper discussing the principles of surface reactions, laying the foundation for understanding the underlying factors in sensor technology. 2010: Nature Journal – A groundbreaking study that demonstrated the unique ability of one-dimensional nanowire structures to detect charge micro-electron response with unprecedented precision. 2012: Physical Review Journal – A key paper detailing the role of weak carrier screening in the extraordinary sensor responses achieved with nanowires. 2020: ACS Nano Journal – This paper highlighted how state-of-the-art nanowires could transduce chemical interactions into electrical responses, capitalizing on the unique charge behavior of the nanowires. These pivotal studies have not only demonstrated the extraordinary potential of nanowires in sensing applications but have also set the stage for commercializing high-performance sensors capable of detecting single molecules. The development team at UofT, led by Dr. Harry Ruda, brings a wealth of expertise in nanowire technology and surface interaction, making them unique as one of the very few teams worldwide that have the capability to prepare and understand the behavior of these advanced structures. UofT's deep understanding of both charge transport and surface interactions in nanowires enables Micromem to develop sensors with unmatched sensitivity and performance capabilities. The research that has been published and the results achieved to date represent a unique and invaluable asset for Micromem in the rapidly evolving field of nanotechnology. About Technologies Inc. and its subsidiaries, a publicly traded (OTCQB: MMTIF) (CSE: MRM), company analyzes specific industry sectors to create intelligent game-changing applications that address unmet market needs. By leveraging its expertise and experience with sophisticated sensor applications, the Company successfully powers the development and implementation of innovative solutions for oil & gas, utilities, automotive, healthcare, government, information technology, manufacturing and other industries. Visit Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. In particular, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include: our inability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms; risk that our products and services will not gain widespread market acceptance; continued consumer adoption of digital technology; inability to compete with others who provide comparable products; the failure of our technology; the infringement of our technology with proprietary rights of third parties; inability to respond to consumer and technological demands; inability to replace significant customers; seasonal nature of our business; and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. When used in this document, the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential," and similar expressions may be used to identify forward-looking statements. The CSE or any other securities regulatory authority has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release that has been prepared by management. ### Listing: OTCQB - Symbol: MMTIFCSE - Symbol: MRMShares issued: 597,910,431SEC File No: 0-26005Investor Contact: info@ Tel. 416-364-2023 Subscribe to receive News Releases by Email on our website's home page. To view the source version of this press release, please visit Sign in to access your portfolio
Toronto Star
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Donald Trump's oddities mask a real threat that lurks in plain sight
One thing about U.S. President Donald Trump is that the sheer weirdness of his reign can distract from its more sinister aspects. This week, for example, it emerged that as Trump visited Saudi Arabia his hosts arranged for what was described as a 'fully operational mobile McDonald's unit' to accompany the president. This turned out to be a burger van on wheels, tricked out with wooden siding and golden arches, presumably to make sure Trump and his entourage didn't have to go Big Mac-less while they were in the Kingdom. Or were the Saudis just pandering to a president known to have tasty McDonald's treats served on Air Force One? As they say, you can't make this stuff up. It all feeds (so to speak) a narrative about Trump as a bizarre anomaly among American leaders, an exception to all the rules and therefore, perhaps, less of a threat than his actions might suggest. As an antidote to that way of thinking I watched a new video produced by the New York Times featuring three high-profile professors who left Yale University this year and came to the University of Toronto. The Times headline over the video sums it up: 'We Study Fascism, and We're Leaving the U.S.' The three – Timothy Snyder, Marci Shore and Jason Stanley – got a lot of publicity a few weeks ago about their move to Canada. It was widely reported that they were 'fleeing' the United States because of Trump, a story line that for one thing flattered Canadians who like to think of our country as a bastion of never-Trumpism. It's not quite that simple. Snyder, a rock-star historian if such a thing exists, has subsequently made clear that he came to U of T for largely personal reasons (he and Shore are married and have young teenagers). 'I was not and am not fleeing anything,' he wrote in an essay for the Yale Daily News. Nonetheless, all three academics have studied fascism in theory and practice, Snyder notably as the author of 'Bloodlands' and 'On Tyranny,' Shore as an authority on European intellectual history, and Stanley as the author of 'How Fascism Works.' And all three warn in the video that Trump is bringing a form of fascism to the United States. Stanley says he went to U of T because he wants to work 'without the fear that I will be punished for my words.' Shore says the lesson of 1933 (when Hitler came to power in Germany) is 'you get out sooner rather than later.' Snyder argues that the notion of American exceptionalism leads to a kind of thinking where the very concept of freedom narrows 'until what you're talking about is authoritarianism.' There's no room here to rehearse all the things Trump has done to feed those fears. You've read about them: riding roughshod over the courts; deporting people without even the pretense of due process; using federal power to intimidate critics and reward friends; threatening universities that don't fall into line with his policies; cowing much of the media. And something Canadians are all too familiar with: declaring fake emergencies to impose tariffs and bypass the power of Congress in that area. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW It's debatable whether that amounts to 'fascism' or something else. In the Times, three other political scientists who have studied the end of democracy argue the U.S. is headed to something they call 'competitive authoritarianism.' By that they mean a system where parties still compete but the incumbent party uses state power to intimidate opponents across so-called civil society: corporations, universities, the media, organizations of all kinds. The result is a system akin to that in authoritarian countries like Hungary, Turkey and Venezuela. The label isn't nearly as important as the result. To conclude, some words from an important essay this week by A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times: 'A free people need a free press. Across the world, we've seen democracy in retreat. And for aspiring strongmen seeking to undermine the laws and norms and institutions that underpin a healthy democracy, the free press is usually one of the first targets. It's no secret why. Once you've constrained the ability of journalists to provide independent information to the public about those in power, it becomes far easier to act with impunity.'
National Post
06-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Opinion: Canadian universities have an Islamist problem
Article content The keynote speaker was Basema Al-Alami, a PhD candidate at U of T's law school. According to her university bio, Al-Alami's research focuses on 'the intersection of counterterrorism, entrapment law and anti-Muslim bias in Canada's legal system.' Her PhD research alleges 'systemic issues in national security practices, particularly the litigation and over-policing of Muslims in post-9/11 Canada.' Article content In another example from earlier this year, the University of Ottawa's Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies invited Nada Elia, a Palestinian-American professor at Western Washington University, to give a talk on 'Weaponizing Feminism in the Service of Genocide.' In an article titled ' Weaponzing Rape,' Prof. Elia argued that, 'Israel is weaponizing claims of sexual violence for propaganda purposes,' and that there is 'no reliable evidence to document any of the alleged crimes.' According to the watchdog group Canary Mission, she has previously 'defended terrorists and called for the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Israel.' Article content It is clear that Islamists, empowered by the cover of progressive activism on campuses, are waging a calculated campaign to erode the core values of western democracy. Their campaign goes far beyond dissent or protest — it is ideological jihad aimed at infiltrating educational institutions, weakening our legal foundations, distorting our security interests and disrupting our cultural, social and political stability from within. Article content The fallout from normalizing violence on university campuses is already visible, but a deeper danger lies ahead: when universities allow extremist ideologies to take root, they risk shaping a generation of graduates who no longer see terrorism as a crime, but as a justifiable form of resistance. This radical shift in young minds carries grave consequences — not only for the Jewish community, but for the security, unity and the democratic fabric of Canada itself. Article content With the Israel-Hamas war reviving the spectre of jihadist terrorism and ramping up youth recruitment in Canada, universities should not be platforming voices and ideologies that undermine our security and unity, priorities that Prime Minister Mark Carney alluded to in his post-election victory speech. Governments must seek accountability from university bosses to protect the integrity of our education system and restore trust in our institutions. Article content The unconscionable attempt by young, indoctrinated barristers to get Hamas removed from the U.K. terror list is a consequence of the years-long infiltration of Islamist ideology into the British education system. With the Trump administration demanding that Ottawa do more on the continental-security file, Canada can ill-afford to end up in a similar situation. Article content Article content Article content
Toronto Star
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
After spending my teen years feeling like an outcast, I vowed to fit in at all costs. Then, a Toronto improv class pushed me out of my comfort zone — and into a new community
Better Friends Better Friends — part of our Toronto the Better project — is a yearlong series of risk-taking and new adventures. Every month, a Star staffer tries an activity that pushes them out of their comfort zone and into a group of new people: a swordplay class, a ballet lesson, improv. The goal: Make friends and feel more connected to Toronto. What do an engineer, an accountant, and a drag queen all have in common? Like me, a multimedia journalist at the Star, they signed up for a beginner improv class at Bad Dog comedy studio, a small theatre academy in the heart of Chinatown. As we waited for our first class to start that Tuesday night, eight of us — representing a variety of ages, gender expressions and backgrounds — sat wordlessly in a circle of folded chairs in the bright, white room. The silence was broken when our instructor Jenn burst into the room with a smile, and asked us all to introduce ourselves and share what inspired us to try improv. There was a U of T professor from Brazil who wanted to be a better teacher, an artist hoping to curb her perimenopause-induced brain fog, a 23-year-old computer scientist looking for a new hobby. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW As my turn approached, I noticed I was nervously wringing my hands as my heart pounded in my chest. It was a feeling I knew all too well. In fact, it was the reason I was here. 'Just be yourself, they'll love you!' my mother yelled from the car window as she dropped me off at my new school. I believed her — after all, I'd switched schools before and always managed to make friends. But this was the seventh grade, the brutal limbo between childhood and adolescence, and I was the eccentric new girl from out-of-province, wearing a Transformers T-shirt and cargo shorts. I never stood a chance. It went badly. So badly that within six months I transferred schools again. This time, I decided that being accepted was more important than being myself. I also vowed to avoid any social situation that would put me at risk for mass rejection ever again. Well, until I signed up for improv. After we had finished our introductions, Jenn started the class off by sharing the most important 'gift' we could give ourselves: to suspend all judgment. This was a good place to start, since we very quickly proceeded to make fools of ourselves. We took turns doing rapid-fire word associations, improvising interpretive dances, and butchering tongue twisters until my face hurt from laughing. We ended with a scene in which two classmates and I were accused of straightening all the paper clips in our imaginary middle school. 'Do you really think I've made anything more straight in my life?' retorted Andre, our resident drag queen. The class erupted with laughter, and we successfully evaded the charges. Over the next few classes, Jenn emphasized the importance of connecting with your scene partner: 'If you feel lost, you can often find the answer in your partner's eyes.' This was tough for me: I had long struggled to make eye contact, even before becoming a social pariah in high school. So when Jen introduced a game called 'mind meld' where we stared into each other's eyes and attempted to say the same word at the same time, I was nervous. The task seemed as impossible as it did uncomfortable. But to my surprise, after only a few rounds my partner Shakir and I got it on the second try. Perhaps poetically, the word was 'mirror.' McKenna Hart, surrounded by members of her improv class at Bad Dog comedy studio in Chinatown. Hart, McKenna Throughout, we were reminded of improv's golden rule: 'yes and,' which challenges actors to accept their partners' 'offerings' — no matter how outlandish — and build on to them to keep the scene afloat. In order to get comfortable saying yes, we played a game called 'Yes, let's!' where one person would propose an activity and the group would enthusiastically agree to act it out. 'Let's rob a bank!' rose a voice from the back of the room. 'Yes, let's!' the rest of us cheered, as we donned imaginary balaclavas and shovelled invisible wads of cash into bags. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Still, the principle often proved harder to apply in a scene. After all, how could you use a VCR to stop a hurricane? Or what do you do when someone brings a cat to the Westminster dog show? It turns out that it's often easier to reject an idea than to figure out what to do with it, but also that the introduction of the unexpected creates the conditions for stories to emerge. Through these scenes, and Jenn's infectious appreciation of the art form, I started to understand that improv isn't just about being funny, it's about building a world with someone. After every class, I stopped for a solo drink at El Rey in Kensington Market to take notes on the day. After my third lesson (and second drink) I worked up the courage to strike up a conversation with the person next to me. What would have felt like an impossible feat only a few weeks before suddenly felt easy. In the Uber home, I had an epiphany. Ever since I was 12, I had been telling myself that people would always judge me for being myself. But what if I was the one judging them by assuming that? What if in my efforts to self-preserve, I had been closing myself off to a different story? And so, I decided to break my routine. After our last session, I invited all of my classmates to join me for a drink. To my delight, almost all of them said 'Yes, let's!' Toronto the Better I always wanted to be a medieval knight. When I took longsword classes with a group of wonderful weirdos, I followed my dream — and expanded my world Susan Kao As we sipped spicy margaritas, I looked around the crowded tables and smiled. A month ago all of us were strangers whose lives may have only ever intersected on an overcrowded streetcar car or in adjacent self-checkouts at a Shoppers Drug Mart. Yet here we were, sharing an evening where tales of terrible roommates and psychedelic frogs in South America flowed as freely as the tequila. In class, the collective agreement to remove judgment made that room feel like a sacred space, but we didn't need the classroom to connect; just permission to be ourselves. Trying something new is scary. Being vulnerable with strangers is even scarier. Taking an improv class forced me to do both, but it also showed me what magic can happen when we all agree — even for a few hours — to let go of judgment and be radically receptive. After all, isn't life just one extended improvisation? The least you can do is be a good scene partner.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Canada's UHN and U of T develop skin-based test for PSP diagnosis
Canada's University Health Network (UHN) and the University of Toronto (U of T) researchers have created a skin-based test that identifies progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) features. This rare neurodegenerative condition impacts movements in the body, including balance, swallowing, and walking. According to the universities, neurodegenerative diseases are characterised by the accumulation of misfolded proteins such as alpha synuclein or tau proteins, in the brain and nervous system cells. While these proteins can be detected in cerebrospinal fluid, procurement of samples via lumbar puncture is not always feasible. Consequently, PSP diagnosis has traditionally relied on symptom observation and clinical presentation, leading to potential misdiagnosis. UHN's Krembil Brain Institute and U of T's Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases Rossy PSP Centre scientific associate Ivan Martinez-Valbuena said: 'This assay is important for assigning patients to the correct clinical trials, but it will be even more important in the future as researchers develop targeted, precision treatments for PSP.' The PSP diagnostic research builds upon a previous study by Martinez-Valbuena and colleagues, who developed a test for detecting misfolded alpha synuclein protein in the skin of Parkinson's patients. Leveraging a similar technology to that of the alpha synuclein assay, the researchers developed a test for detecting a misfolded tau protein sequence associated with PSP. The collaborative effort involved Martinez-Valbuena; his supervisor, Gabor Kovacs; and a clinical team led by Anthony Lang, who serves as director of the Rossy Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Centre. They validated the test using samples from patients. In their study, the researchers tested skin biopsies from PSP subjects and also samples from individuals with other neurodegenerative diseases and healthy controls. They observed that misfolded tau was prevalent in PSP patients but not in those with Parkinson's disease or healthy individuals. The test demonstrated 90% sensitivity and specificity. Martinez-Valbuena noted that the test, as part of a diagnostic panel, including skin- and blood-based tests, will assist clinicians in making more diagnoses. The team is currently validating the assay in a broader clinical trial across five PSP centres in Europe and North America, aiming to make it practical for use beyond research institutions. "Canada's UHN and U of T develop skin-based test for PSP diagnosis" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
