Notables - September 19, 2018

By Craig Bamford

Science Literacy Week this week focuses on space

Welcome to Notables for September 19, 2018! First up: Science literacy week.

That's right, this week (September 17-21) is Science Literacy Week, a week-long celebration of science and space in Canada, presented by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). It's intended to "showcase the excellence and diversity of Canadian science, and to show how exciting science is". 2017's week featured over 800 events across Canada, put on by over 200 partners coast-to-coast.

This year's collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency puts the highlight on "exploration of the cosmos". Part of the celebration is happening online, on the #scilit hashtag on Twitter, where people are doing everything from demonstrating how craters form to trying out spacesuit helmets with Science Minister Kirsty Duncan.  They're also celebrating books about science and space as part of National Science Reading Day (September 20, 2018), which is encouraging both teachers and students 3-17 to devote part of the day to science reading.

A number of offline events are happening this week; for more on the events and to see if there's one in your area, click here.

PwC reports on growing Alberta tech scene

Semi-finalists announced for MaRS

Women in Fintech Challenge

Finally this week: women creating Cleantech solutions.

The semi-finalists for MaRS' Women in Cleantech Challenge have just been announced.  MaRS said that "we need diversity of thought and real technological answers to some of our biggest global problems", and recognized that the perspective of women is central to resolving so many of the environmental problems (even crises) facing the world today. MaRS established the Challenge to look for five women with world-class solutions, which they'll support with "an intensive program" that will "connect them to some of the top government laboratories, investors and corporations in the world".

Yesterday, September 18th, they published the semi-finalists. They are Evelyn Allen, Julie Angus, Bethany Deshpande, Amanda Hall, Sidney Omelon, Gem Shoute, Alexandra Tavasoli, and Luna Yu. They've developed a wide variety of fascinating technologies and solutions: everything from autonomous energy-harvesting boats, to nanofilm manufacturing solutions, to syngas, bioplastics and phosphorous capture.

For the details, click here to see the semi-finalists' creations and contributions.

Notables is a weekly collection of interesting science, technology, investment and innovation reports, press releases and other news bytes from around the web. Notables are curated and written by Craig Bamford.

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The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of RE$EARCH MONEY.