Yes, some animals can have babies without a mate. Here’s how

U of M researchers studying ‘digital legacy planning’ before death

A team of researchers at the University of Manitoba wants adults to take the cloud they leave behind into special consideration when they envision heaven and their afterlife.

Where is Mark Carney going with Senate changes?

A decade after Justin Trudeau dropped Liberal Senators from the party’s national parliamentary caucus and introduced a new appointment process based on non-partisan criteria, his successor, Prime Minister Mark Carney, has recently reintroduced partisanship as a possible basis for appointment to the 205-member Senate.

Commentators were quick to offer immediate, mostly negative assessments of the Carney move. My view is that before rushing to judgment, we need to know more about what Carney has planned for the future partisan makeup of the Senate and its independence from government control.

In law, the Governor General appoints senators, but in practise they are selected by the prime minister.

Historically, appointment was mostly based on past or anticipated future service to the governing party. Trudeau broke with this tradition by making non-partisanship a criteria for appointment. He also created independent advisory committees to identify potential nominees.

Bell sheds 19 more Manitoba employees

At least 19 Manitoba jobs were lost recently during Bell Canada’s ongoing restructuring.

Parent company BCE Inc. confirmed in June it’d axe nearly 700 jobs through organizational changes. Those changes began last year.

A dozen Manitoba staff were laid off on July 30, according to Team-IFPTE Local 161, the union representing the workers.

Another seven union members left voluntarily though a departure program, the union reported Tuesday.

Yes, some animals can have babies without a mate. Here’s how

A boa constrictor in the U.K. gave birth to 14 babies — without a mate.

Is it a miracle? The result of a secret rendezvous? Probably not. Females of species have the ability to reproduce asexually, without sperm from a male. The process is called parthenogenesis, from the Greek words for “virgin” and “birth.”

Some plants and insects can do it, as well as some amphibians, reptiles, birds and fish. A stingray named Charlotte that was thought to have become pregnant by this method died this week at an aquarium in North Carolina, though she never delivered and it is unclear if she was ever pregnant.

Some wasps, crustaceans and lizards reproduce only through parthenogenesis. But in other species it's rare and usually only observed in captivity. Scientists have a good idea how it happens, though they aren't clear why it happens, according to Kady Lyons, a research scientist at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

‘This is Mommy’s park’: city honours two-time Olympic champion curler Lawes

When Kaitlyn Lawes drives through her childhood neighbourhood, she’ll now be able to point to a park bearing her name — and tell her daughters that anything is possible.

Storm left $840M of insured losses across Manitoba, Saskatchewan

Severe weather spanning two days in June — hitting both Manitoba and Saskatchewan — has led to at least $840 million in insured losses.

The June 9 and 10 weather is the latest in an increasing number of “catastrophic” events with major insurance payouts, said Rob de Pruis, the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s national director of consumer and industry relations.

The Insurance Bureau didn’t share a breakdown of insured losses by province. Most of the claims cover hail and flood damage, including sewer backups, de Pruis said.

At the time of the storm, Manitoba saw grapefruit-sized hail, torrential downpours and at least one tornado.