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Macleans

Green Driving Machines

From the outside there was little to distinguish the sleek Toyota Prius from any other car on the streets of Timmins, Ont. But when the driver turned the key, it was clear this was no ordinary sedan. The only sound as the Prius pulled away was the gentle hum of an electric motor.

Macleans

Cloning Sheep

For more than a decade, scientists have been using genetic technology to produce biologically identical copies, or clones, of animals. In theory, cloning can be used to improve sheep and cattle breeds by ensuring that the animals' most desirable genetic characteristics are passed on.

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German Furniture

Furniture of Germanic derivation has come to Canada as a result of emigration from Germany and from Pennsylvania (see GERMANS). Traditional German furniture in Europe evolved over several centuries to serve the needs of ordinary, primarily rural, people.

Article

Mukluk

Mukluks are soft hide boots designed by Inuit peoples for manoeuvrability and warmth in northern environments.

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Accommodation

Accommodation, first successful steamboat built entirely in North America. It was launched 19 August 1809 at Montréal, its engines having been constructed at the Forges Saint-Maurice, Trois-Rivières.

Article

BIONESS

BIONESS (Bedford Institute of Oceanography Net and Environmental Sampling System) is a multiple-net sampler for ZOOPLANKTON and micronekton (pelagic animals 1-10 cm in length). It uses a new design concept, with nets arranged horizontally rather than vertically, as in earlier multiple-net samplers.

Article

Dating in Archaeology

 For those researchers working in the field of human history, the chronology of events remains a major element of reflection. Archaeologists have access to various techniques for dating archaeological sites or the objects found on those sites.

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Peavey

The peavey is a lever for handling logs It was designed in 1858 and named after its inventor Joseph Peavey, who was a Maine blacksmith. The peavey, which is a refinement of the earlier cant hook, greatly facilitated the down

Article

Babiche

Babiche is a type of string traditionally made by Indigenous peoples from rawhide and had multiple uses, such as to lace snowshoes, fishing nets, drumheads and the like. Though typically considered a French Canadian term, babiche is an Algonquian word, loosely translating to “cord” (in Mi’kmaq, ababich) or “thread” (in Ojibwa, assabâbish).

Macleans

High-Tech Artificial Limbs

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on March 13, 1995. Partner content is not updated.

Adele Fifield was just 13 years old when a doctor told her that she had cancer in her knee - and that surgeons would have to amputate her left leg. "My initial reaction was disbelief," recalls Fifield. "For days, my ears seemed to ring from the shock.

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Calendar

In Canada the Gregorian calendar is in use under the terms of the 1750 British Act for Regulating the Commencement of the Year, and for Correcting the Calendar Now in Use, which switched the official English calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian form in 1752.

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Theory and analysis

Theory and analysis. Music theory is concerned principally with the structure of music. Music theorists are engaged in such diverse tasks as the study of analytical and pedagogical technique, 'pure' theory, psychoacoustics, music perception, and the history of theory.

Article

Woodward and Evans Light Bulb

In 1874, Canadians Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans patented a design for an incandescent light bulb. Their invention preceded that of American Thomas Edison by several years. In fact, the second patent (issued in 1876 in the United States) was among those that Edison bought as he refined the technology to create a longer-lasting bulb. Woodward and Evans’s early work on the light bulb in Toronto has gone largely unrecognized. It was nevertheless an important development in the invention of electric lighting.

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