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In a modest laboratory tucked away in Ottawa’s forested suburbs, a team of researchers from Natural Resources Canada is testing new technology that could have a big environmental impact more than 3,000 kilometres away in the Alberta oil sands — direct contact steam generation.

Scientists have long wondered, Why exactly does hydraulic fracturing cause earthquakes in some places but not in others? Now our scientists are a step closer to the answer: new research has found a link between these induced earthquakes and the deformation rate of the tectonic plates.

On this episode of “Ask NRCan,” research scientist Alexandre Normandeau talks about his work on underwater landslides and their impacts on coastal communities.

Research scientist Joost Van der Sanden explains how his team is developing a method to map the thickness of lake ice cover from space by analyzing a combination of radar satellite imagery and fieldwork data. Information on lake ice thickness supports the operation of seasonal roads that facilitate valuable land transport to isolated Canadian sites (e.g., communities, mines) and can be used as an indicator of climate change.

A bridge was recently built in Chalk River, Ontario using the latest methods of wood construction. Chalk River is home to Canada’s oldest operating research forest — the Petawawa Research Forest. The recent failure of three culverts left part of the forest inaccessible, which created the need for a bridge. The following is a time-lapse video of the bridge being constructed.