science | The Walrus

A hand holding a yellow watering can is watering indoor plants on a windowsill.

Science

Are Plants Listening to Us? It Depends Who You Ask

April 9, 2020April 14, 2020 - by Michael Rancic

A controversial 1970s book claimed that plants can hear. It turns out its authors might not have been entirely wrong

Two mouths talking at each other with speech bubbles

Language

Don’t Blame the Internet for New Slang

September 10, 2019October 9, 2019 - by Gretchen McCulloch

Language is always changing. How has technology forced it to evolve?

A land rover searches through rocks in a lake.

Science

What Canada’s Rocks Can Tell Us About Extraterrestrial Life

August 21, 2019April 16, 2020 - by Nicole Schmidt

Scientists are studying Ontario limestone to learn about life on Mars

Photograph of camp in the Mackenzie mountain range

Science

Indigenous Knowledge and the Future of Science

August 12, 2019August 13, 2019 - by Jimmy Thomson

Research on First Nation land often exploits the people who live there. What discoveries could come out of true collaboration?

Environment

Whales Are People Too

July 25, 2019July 29, 2019 - by Lyndsie Bourgon

Could granting legal personhood save an endangered species?

April 2019 / Science

They’re Small. They’re Spore-y. They’re Yeast. And They Will Change Our World

March 14, 2019April 20, 2020 - by Sarah Musgrave

Only a fraction of the world’s yeast species have been discovered. The ones still out there could revolutionize health care, green energy, and beer

hands throwing and shuffling playing cards

Science

Want to Cure Math Anxiety? Start with a Magic Trick

August 8, 2018November 12, 2019 - by Siobhan Roberts

Manjul Bhargava is among a small group of mathematicians bringing math to the masses

Illustration of a Team of Researchers Walking Through a Maternity Ward

Health / May 2018

What the Placenta Can Tell Us About Human Health

April 30, 2018March 27, 2020 - by Sarah Giles

The long-overlooked organ might be the key to better understanding childhood development

June 2017 / Science

How Squirrels Took over Our Cities

May 23, 2017April 6, 2020 - by Colleen Kimmett

We imported these fluffy colonists to fill our urban parks. They’ve been getting stronger ever since

Politics

Should Scientists Be Marching for Science?

April 22, 2017August 22, 2019 - by Michelle Pucci

Some say science and politics don’t mix. But with their profession under threat, there may be too much at stake