Three scientists at US universities win Nobel Prize in physics for advancing quantum technology

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for research on the strange behavior of subatomic particles called quantum tunneling that enabled the ultra-sensitive measurements achieved by MRI machines and laid the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers.

The work by John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis, who work at American universities, took the seeming contradictions of the subatomic world — where light can be both a wave and a particle and parts of atoms can tunnel through seemingly impenetrable barriers — and applied them in the more traditional physics of digital devices. The results of their findings are just starting to appear in advanced technology and could pave the way for the development of supercharged computing.

The prizewinning research in the mid-1980s took the subatomic “weirdness of quantum mechanics” and found how those tiny interactions can have real-world applications, said Jonathan Bagger, CEO of the American Physical Society. The experiments were a crucial building block in the fast-developing world of quantum mechanics.

Speaking from his cellphone, Clarke, who spearheaded the research team, said: “One of the underlying reasons that cellphones work is because of all this work."

On second anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks and start of Gaza war, officers say rushing to cover painful vandalism reduces odds of arrests

A swastika on a monument to French Canadian author Gabrielle Roy across the Red River from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The words “F—k Jews” on the wall of a toilet stall at a north Winnipeg middle school.

A spray-painted swastika on a garage door along with the initials M.K.Y., an international neo-Nazi violent extremist group. The initials come from the Russian words for “Maniac Murder Cult.”

But as fast as they appeared, they were being covered up just as quickly — until recently.

Roasters and cafés grapple with rising coffee bean prices

Your daily cup of java is getting a little more expensive as roasters and cafés grapple with rising coffee bean prices.

Climate change has been the biggest contributor to the ongoing surge in bean prices, as coffee crops are very sensitive to temperature changes, said Michael von Massow, food economist at the University of Guelph.

"We've seen some increases in disease and some decreases in yield that have lowered supply, and basic economics 101 — when supply goes down, prices go up," he said in an interview on Monday.

Coffee prices have remained high amid concerns of dry weather in Brazil, a major coffee-producing country.

A petition you should consider signing

Let’s just keep track of e-6679 and ask ourselves whether it’s not about time for plenty of us to sign it.

What is e-6679? Well, it’s an electronic petition to the House of Commons, suggesting that federal politicians and candidates who knowingly mislead the public should face penalties, including, potentially, being disqualified from sitting in the House of Commons.

Here’s the prayer — the details — of the petition.

“Whereas: Members of Parliament (MPs) have been accused of making important public statements that are false and without evidence; Misinformation is a growing threat to the proper functioning of, as well as faith in, our democratic process; A mechanism is needed to verify MPs’ public statements to maintain trust in our governing body; Artificial Intelligence is amplifying misinformation; Current events in the United States demonstrate the dangers of not addressing this problem; and The Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR) of Wales, UK, proposed a white paper entitled ‘A Model for Political Honesty,’ created because ‘the Welsh Government will bring forward legislation before 2026 for the disqualification of Members and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception through an independent judicial process and will invite the committee to make proposals to that effect.’

Legault urges stronger U.S.-Canada ties amid trade tensions at summit

QUÉBEC - Quebec Premier François Legault urged the need for strong collaboration between the states and provinces that despite current trade uncertainties between Canada and the United States.

"The big elephant in the room is the uncertainty about the relationship between Canada and the United States, so, we really need to know where we'll be in one year, in two years, in four years, in 10 years," Legault told the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers Leadership Summit being held in Quebec City on Sunday.

The biennial meeting, being held this year in Quebec City, brings together leaders and representatives from eight states and Ontario. It's the group's first meeting since the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House.

Legault could not sidestep the issue of tariffs — something he said hasn't been good for either country.

In the cool of a Portugal night, it’s time to pick the grapes

VIMIEIRO, Portugal (AP) — Under a moonlit sky and the glow of headlamps, workers gingerly pluck grape clusters while much of Portugal sleeps.

They harvest in the Alentejo region, sometimes called the “Tuscany of Portugal” for its rolling vineyards, olive groves and forests that supply cork for the wines. In this vineyard about a 90-minute drive east of Lisbon, the cool autumn night carries the smell of ripe fruit. The workers' laughter blends with the sound of rustling leaves.

The night harvest is a time-honored practice in viticulture, meant to preserve the freshness of grapes and shield them from the adverse effects of daytime heat, sunlight and oxidation. As summers in Portugal grow longer, hotter and more unpredictable — in part due to climate change — the practice has become more common here.

Bárbara Monteiro, co-owner and manager of the Herdade Da Fonte Santa vineyard said she struggled at first to convince her harvesters to work at night — midnight to 8 a.m. They began doing so in 2019.

US takes a stake in another company, this one is operating a massive lithium mine in Nevada

The U.S. government is taking a minority stake in Lithium Americas, a company that is developing one of the world’s largest lithium mines in northern Nevada.

The Department of Energy will take a 5% equity stake in the miner, which is based in Vancouver. It will also take a 5% stake in the Thacker Pass lithium mining project, a joint venture with General Motors.

Thacker Pass is considered crucial in reducing U.S. reliance on China for lithium, a critical material used to produce the high tech batteries used in cell phones, electric vehicles and renewable energy. Both Republicans and Democrats support the project and narrowing the production gap. China is the world’s largest lithium processor.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement that the deal with Lithium Americas “helps reduce our dependence on foreign adversaries for critical minerals by strengthening domestic supply chains and ensures better stewardship of American taxpayer dollars.”

U of M political scientist predicts scrappy fall legislative session

The gloves will be off when members of the legislative assembly return to the chamber today for the fall sitting.

Manitoba faces economic threats from U.S. President Donald Trump and climate impacts from deadly wildfires, but don’t expect any display of unity in the face of adversity, one political expert advised.

“I think we’ll see the two leaders really going at it and I don’t think it’ll be very pleasant,” University of Manitoba political studies professor Christopher Adams said.

Premier Wab Kinew and Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan have verbally attacked each other repeatedly during question period. Outside the chamber in 2023, there was an alleged physical altercation when the pair shook hands at a Turban Day event in the rotunda.

WNDX Festival celebrates 20 years of avant-garde, cutting-edge cinema

When it happened for the first time in 2006, the WNDX Festival of Moving Image was an open-ended hypothesis, and even those most dedicated to its success had their doubts.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen, and only in doing it did we really understand how many times it could have catastrophically failed,” says artistic director Cecilia Araneda, who co-founded the festival with Solomon Nagler.

But it was in that grey zone of possibility and limit-testing, that both the festival and its filmmakers soon thrived —establishing WNDX as a cornerstone event with an international reputation for showcasing a dizzying variety of off-centre, outre and avant-garde work by both emerging and established creators.

As the festival’s porcelain anniversary edition begins tonight, the results are conclusive: WNDX offers replicable proof of its own staying power in the experimental film sphere.

New study adds to the possibility of favorable conditions for life at Saturn’s moon Enceladus

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have uncovered new types of organics in icy geysers spouting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, bolstering the likelihood that the ocean world may harbor conditions suitable for life.

Their findings, reported Wednesday, are based on observations made by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft in 2008 during a close and fast flyby of Enceladus. The small moon, one of 274 orbiting Saturn, has long been considered a prime candidate in the search for life beyond Earth because of its hidden ocean and plumes of water erupting from cracks near its south pole.

While Enceladus may be habitable, no one is suggesting that life exists.

“Being habitable and being inhabited are two very different things. We believe that Enceladus is habitable, but we do not know if life is indeed present," said the University of Washington's Fabian Klenner, who took part in the study.

TikTok as a tool — but for whom?

Canada already considers TikTok a threat to national security and the lives of many Canadian youth who, a recent investigation showed, collect huge amounts of personal data on every one of its users.

A friend is a friend is a friend

My mother has a friend she does not know. For privacy’s sake I’ll call her Peggy, but that is not her name.

Schools work to fulfil promise afforded by new law supporting Indigenous language

‘Minawaanigoziwin” is the Ojibwa concept that comes to mind for Sherri Denysuik when the Winnipeg teacher is asked about her thoughts on a new law that raises the status of Indigenous languages in schools.

That term is roughly translated to “one who is happy and joyous.”

Denysuik, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation, is trying to learn words many of her ancestors were banned from speaking and, in many cases, punished for uttering inside a residential school.

Recent changes to Manitoba’s Public Schools Act are expected to make it easier for future generations to become fluent in Indigenous languages.

Thousands mark Truth and Reconcilation Day

As a sea of thousands clad in orange waited, Helen George braids her son’s long, straight hair.

They’re at the RBC Convention Centre, preparing for the grand entry ceremonies hosted by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization to mark the fifth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Tuesday afternoon.

Originally from Ochapowace Cree Nation in Saskatchewan but living in Winnipeg, George is helping her son, Houston, get dressed for the upcoming powwow. For her, seeing so many families coming together to recognize the impact of the residential school system and celebrate Indigenous resilience is touching.

“It’s meaningful,” she said.

Croft Music plays finale after century-plus in business

A 110-year-old music instrument business has concluded its coda.

On Saturday, Ian Crowson closed the doors for good on Croft Music and began his retirement. The company specialized in selling and renting string instruments — particularly violins — and sold accessories and sheet music.

For the last 23 years, Croft Music worked in tandem with Violins by Anton, a one-man business operated by luthier Anton Domozhyrov. Crowson rented instruments and Domozhyrov repaired them out of the same location at 833 Henderson Hwy. Domozhyrov will continue running Violins by Anton in the building.

Crowson announced his retirement on Facebook at the end of May, writing that he would finish his career shortly after his 72nd birthday in September.

Ski jumper Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes takes to the air again for Canada

CALGARY - Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes has returned to ski jumping after a hiatus of two and a half years.

Boyd-Clowes laid down Canada's final jump of the mixed team event at the 2022 Winter Games for bronze and the country's first ever Olympic medal in the sport.

The four-time Olympian is back in the air again. Boyd-Clowes competed in a pair of September competitions and provisionally qualified for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

"It's new and fresh and exciting. I took a long break and wasn't sure whether I would jump again and now I'm doing it," Boyd-Clowes said.

Silenced no more: Indigenous languages celebrated at site of former residential school

Languages once suppressed at the Assiniboia Residential School are now prominently displayed at the site.

More than 100 people gathered Tuesday at 621 Academy Rd., on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, for a ceremony unveiling three plaques near the former school.

The plaques are written in Anishinaabemowin, Anishininimowin, Cree, Dakota, Dene, English and French — the languages spoken by children who attended the school.

“It’s very important, and it can also be quite emotional,” said Darian McKinney, a board member for the Assiniboia Residential School Legacy Group, whose grandparents were residential school survivors.

Prolonged drought stunts the renowned wild blueberry crop in the Maritimes

HALIFAX - This summer’s prolonged drought across Atlantic Canada has had a costly impact on wild blueberry growers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Donald Arseneault, general manager of the NB Blueberries industry group, says that as this year’s harvest was wrapping up, the total yield was believed to be 70 per cent less than the previous three-year average.

“This year has been tremendously dry and we haven't really seen this in a long time,” Arseneault said, adding that this year’s crop amounted to about 20 million pounds, down from the annual average of 68 million pounds.

The industry, which ships its product around the world, was also hurt by delays caused by the provincial government’s decision to temporarily shut down the harvest as it tried to deal with a growing number of wildfires that flared up amid tinder-dry conditions.