Geosciences

Like many organizations, the Government of Canada is exploring ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into our work to make us more efficient and effective. On this episode, we’ll learn what artificial intelligence is, and we’ll see how it can be used to solve problems that the natural resource sectors are facing.

The Arctic Ocean is a vast, cold, isolated and utterly fascinating part of the northern hemisphere. Beneath its surface, thousands of metres below, is an extension of our country known as the continental shelf. And now, based on massive amounts of geoscientific data measuring the seafloor, an additional 1.2 million square kilometres could be added to Canada’s land area of 9.98 million km².

During a geological mapping expedition to the western Canadian Arctic in 2014, research scientist Rob Rainbird collected samples that yielded microfossils of a species of fungus that is about one billion years old. Rob joins us to share his experience in the field, as well as discuss his discovery.

The world’s oceans in their great vastness support an incredible diversity of aquatic species. But how much do we really know about life beneath the surface? For instance, in the deep waters off the coasts of B.C. and Alaska, a truly unique community of organisms combines to form glass sponge reefs that were once thought to be extinct — a discovery so unexpected that scientists often compare it to finding a herd of dinosaurs still roaming the earth.