NOSM to study cosmic radiation for the Canadian Space Agency
A partnership between Sudbury’s NOSM University and SNOLAB has researchers looking into the effects of space cosmic radiation.
A $150,000 grant from the Canadian Space Agency will fund research into how living cells can respond and adapt to the harsh radiation environment in outer space over two years.
They are also collaborating with the NASA’s Ames Research Center which is conducting an experiment in which bakers yeast samples will travel 40 million kilometres into deep space onboard the Artemis Mission while researchers in Sudbury are utilizing the same yeast in the SNOLAB which is shielded from cosmic radiation.
“We got interested in running an experiment down there to look at what are the biological effects of well; the removal of natural background radiation so ionizing radiation is something that we’re exposed to on a daily basis from a combination of different sources from cosmic radiation to different isotopes in the ground and in the rock and so by going down to SNOLAB we can answer the question of what happens to different living systems when we remove this natural source of radiation,” Christopher Thome of NOSM University explained to CTV News.
Thome said his team hopes to have publications coming out in the next few months and that this is just the beginning. Depending on the findings, he anticipates there will be more experiments conducted in Sudbury in the years to come.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | U.S. President Joe Biden touches down in Ottawa
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.

Trudeau, Biden could agree to end 'loophole' in Safe Third Country Agreement: CP source
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Eastern Ont. mayor wants more help from feds to manage influx of asylum seekers, supports STCA renegotiation
As the federal government looks to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., an eastern Ontario mayor says his city needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers arriving through irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
Opposition parties affirm call for interference inquiry, amid questions over MP Han Dong
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
'Scream as loud as you can': 5 boys rescued from NYC tunnel
Five mischievous boys had to be rescued after they crawled through a storm drain tunnel in New York City and got lost, authorities said.
Make sure to check your grocery bill otherwise you may pay more: Survey
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
Asteroid to hurtle past Earth closer than the moon this weekend
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
Number of Canadians receiving EI at record lows, down 44 per cent from last year: StatCan
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Indigenous sisters developing video games to revitalize Mohawk language
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.