Category: Study

BC, feds to release new flood plain map for Skeena River

BC and the federal Natural Resources announced they have completed new flood plain mapping of parts of the province including the Skeena River from Houston to west of Terrace and into the Lakelse Lake area. A news release this morning said the maps are part of a two phase plan to remap all flood hazards […]

Mosquitos learn to like a little DEET, so it’s better to use it regularly

  Mosquitos can learn to be attracted to a person wearing the repellent DEET, that is if the DEET is lightly applied or fades over time, according to a study published today in the Journal of Experimental Biology.  The study emphasized the findings do not mean people should stop using DEET, it’s still one of […]

Ravens smart enough to anticipate wolf kills, new study indicates

  Ravens are among the smartest birds on the planet. The intelligence of ravens as tricksters, messengers and observers has been described since time immemorial with myths and legends around the world. On the northwest coast ravens are prominent in the crests and stories of the indigenous peoples. A new study published in the journal […]

Did Neanderthals honour the raven?

A new discovery by archaeologists in Crimea is providing evidence that ancient Neanderthals had a high cognitive and artistic ability. That evidence is the carved leg bone of a raven also raising the question (not actually included in the archaeologist’s paper) does the relationship between human and raven go back to a period between 38,000 […]

Genes that protected coastal First Nations from ancient pathogens brought "catastrophic" vulnerability to European diseases

The immune system genes that protected north coast First Nations from possibly dangerous local pathogens thousands of years ago likely increased their vulnerability to European diseases in the nineteenth century, resulting in the disastrous population crash, a new genetic study has discovered. The study which included members of the Lax Kw'alaams and Metlakatla First Nations […]

Fishing and camping on the Kitimat River

BC launching major study of Kitimat River, Kitimat Arm water quality

The Environmental Protection Division of BC's Ministry of Environment is launching a major study of the water quality in the Kitimat valley, first on the Kitimat River and some of its tributaries and later on the Kitimat Arm of Douglas Channel. There has been no regular sampling by the province in Kitimat since 1995 (while […]