Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 07 Jan, 2025 05:24 PM
Researchers have discovered sea sponges' ability to sneeze like people after a study off the B-C coast.
University of Alberta professor Sally Leys says a study into the behaviour of a sea sponge nicknamed Belinda over four years found the animal doing slow-motion sneeze-like contractions lasting about a day.
Leys says the motion was used to clear out debris accumulated while it was filter feeding.
Leys says hundreds of hours of video was collected during the study off Vancouver Island's coast between 2012 and 2015.
Gil Yaron barely contains his excitement when asked to describe his non-profit venture to convince construction companies, developers and renovation contractors to recycle tonnes of building material waste on Vancouver Island. "We're the Tinder of the construction sector," he said, chuckling at the reference to the online dating application. "We're the matchmaker."
Along with falling rates, TD economist Rishi Sondhi said the federal government's recent mortgage rule changes, which kicked in on Dec. 15, should help lift home sales and prices. While pent-up demand should translate to more homes changing hands in the coming months, he cautions that the rush will likely be exhausted in the first half of next year.
Vancouver's Joe Average was an artist, advocate and activist whose bright, multicoloured images were as multi-faceted as his existence. But his sister Karin Carson says she used to giggle about his fame and always called him by Brock, his given name.
Mounties say major crime investigators are looking for witnesses or people who were in the area of the Finlay Community Connector Forest Service Road on Friday evening or Saturday morning.
On Friday Calgary Police laid nearly a dozen charges on 30-year-old Duane Arlen John Nepoose, including dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and fleeing from police.
British Columbia's emergency call service has released its annual list of the most unusual and inappropriate 911 calls, including complaints about overripe fruit and an overly fragrant neighbour. E-Comm says it handles about 2 million calls a year but not all of them qualify as emergencies.