A new study from SFU’s Beedie School of Business suggests using plus-sized models in advertising might have a detrimental effect on people’s health, particularly when it comes to obesity. The study says using plus-sized models as a way to encourage body positivity might actually promote consumption of unhealthy foods and discourage people from exercising on the premise that obesity is …

Idris Elba is in early talks to play gunslinger Roland Deschain, with Matthew McConaughey in negotiations to play the villainous Man in Black in a feature film adaptation of Stephen King‘s “The Dark Tower”. A fan-favorite due to roles such as BBC crime drama “Luther,” there has long been support for Elba as a potential candidate to take over from …

Researchers from MIT, New York University and the University of Toronto have created a computer model that passes a “visual Turing test,” a breakthrough in artificial intelligence research. The work, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Science, marks a significant advance in the field – one that dramatically shortens the time it takes computers to “learn” new …

The Alberta government is adding demerit points to the existing $287 fine for distracted driving. Beginning Jan. 1, drivers will be hit with three demerit points if they are found violating the provincial distracted driving law by texting, using a hand-held phone, personal grooming or fiddling with GPS controls.

Mystery solved? Bright spots seen by Dawn spacecraft on dwarf planet Ceres are likely salt deposits, say Scientists. Researchers have suggested that the mysterious, glowing areas are being caused by a kind of salt on the surface. The patches were left behind when the water-ice turned into vapour and left the planet at some point in the past, and then …

Doctor ‘depression epidemic’? In a recent study, researchers have found that doctors who are doing their internships and residencies may develop depression during the course of their study. Researchers reviewed 54 studies involving 17,500 medical residents conducted worldwide over 50 years. They found that 28.8% of the residents showed signs of depression, and that the rate of depression among medical …

Karen Montgomery, an actress, producer and film executive, died Friday at her home in Los Angeles after a decade-long struggle with breast cancer, her husband, director Christopher Monger, said. She was 66. She was best known for playing Princess Beata in a 1988 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

THE world’s first litter of IVF puppies has been born, prompting hope animal species can be saved from extinction. The breakthrough, described in a study published online Dec. 9 in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, opens the door for conserving endangered canid species, using gene-editing technologies to eradicate heritable diseases in dogs and for study of genetic diseases. …

German police have arrested five South Korean family members suspected of beating to death a 41-year-old woman in a religious exorcism ritual in a hotel room, prosecutors said. The body of the 41-year-old was discovered at the Hotel Intercontinental in Frankfurt on Saturday after the suspects called a priest.

A study found out that being happy or unhappy doesn’t have a significant impact on longevity. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford and published in the Lancet on Wednesday, stated that the popular belief of stress and unhappiness causing health problems originated from studies that provided unclear cause and effect relationship, as noted in a report …

Hyperloop Technologies announced Tuesday it will begin testing in the Nevada desert in 2016. The land that the company has secured is located in the Mountain View Industrial Park in Apex industrial Park and hardware for the testing to be done there will begin arriving this month.