General Science /oss/taxonomy/term/2209/all en Say Cheese! /oss/article/technology-did-you-know-general-science/say-cheese <p>It was the 1960’s and cheese producers were cheesed off. People were just not eating enough veal. Slaughterhouses were running short of calf stomachs and the cheese industry was feeling the pinch. There was not enough rennet to meet the demands of turophiles (that's "cheese lovers" from the Greek “turo” for cheese) around the world.</p> Wed, 23 Jul 2025 17:27:26 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 11351 at /oss What Wild Animals Can Teach Us About Cancer /oss/article/medical-technology-general-science/what-wild-animals-can-teach-us-about-cancer <p>In a lab in Rochester, New York, a group of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12234#change-history">scientists</a> were trying to grow cells taken from a naked mole rat. Instead, they ended up with a petri dish full of goo. The cells had secreted a thick, viscous substance, unlike anything typically seen in standard lab cultures. The scientists discovered that the goo contained hyaluronan, a molecule that helps keep the mole rat’s skin elastic as it navigates its cramped underground tunnels. But it may also do something far more remarkable: prevent tumours from forming.</p> Fri, 18 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 Lysanne Desharnais PhD 11346 at /oss See the Rainbow - How Skittles Led me to Chromatography /oss/article/student-contributors-general-science/see-rainbow-how-skittles-led-me-chromatography <p>As a kid, I always played with my food. After a trip to the grocery store, where my mom allowed me to select one candy to bring home, playing turned into experimentation. The candy I chose? Skittles! I had seen several YouTube videos of people taking these colourful candies and placing them in water, causing the vibrant colours to bleed out. Prompted by these videos, I grabbed a shallow dish, filled it with a bit of water and began placing my Skittles around the perimeter.</p> Fri, 04 Jul 2025 14:04:30 +0000 Angelina Lapalme 11308 at /oss For the Love of Carbs /oss/article/general-science/love-carbs <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article965903.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 06 Jun 2025 18:58:50 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 11122 at /oss What Is a Molecule? /oss/article/critical-thinking-general-science/what-molecule <p>Surveys reveal that only 50 percent of people questioned know that the Earth goes around the sun once a year, and only 40 percent realize that electrons are smaller than atoms. That’s sad enough, but it is frightening that a mere 10 percent of the population understands what a molecule is. This is distressing, because everything in the physical world depends upon molecular action.</p> Wed, 21 May 2025 17:15:41 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 11100 at /oss Gutta Percha-From Golf Balls to Root Canals /oss/article/history-did-you-know-general-science/gutta-percha-golf-balls-root-canals <p>Gutta percha is the hardened latex of the Palaquium gutta tree, originally native to Malaysia. This is a natural “thermoplastic” substance, meaning it can be softened with heat and shaped into a form that is retained on cooling. Gutta percha was introduced to Europe in 1842 by Dr. William Montgomerie, a surgeon serving with the British army in the East Indies who had originally come across the substance in Singapore where it was being used to make handles for machetes. He thought the substance would be useful to produce handles for medical devices as well as splints for fractures. </p> Wed, 14 May 2025 13:57:24 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 11051 at /oss Confronting Nefarious Nitrosamines /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-technology-general-science/confronting-nefarious-nitrosamines <p>“Boil the nipples!” was the advice given in 1984 by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. to parents who were bottle feeding their infants or calming them with pacifiers. The presence of nitrosamines, compounds that had been found to cause cancer in animals, had been recently detected in rubber products and the concern was that they could be transferred to babies.</p> Fri, 09 May 2025 20:44:53 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 11010 at /oss Butyric Acid is an Enemy in the Fridge but a Friend in the Gut /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-general-science/butyric-acid-enemy-fridge-friend-gut <p>Smells are caused by volatile compounds that stimulate receptors in our nose. There is a large variety of such compounds with a great diversity of molecular structures. But many of the smells encountered in the fridge are due to volatile fatty acids. For example, when butter goes rancid, it releases butyric acid, a particularly foul smelling compound that is also a component of foot odour, vomit, and curiously, parmesan cheese. It is also the notorious ingredient in stink bombs.</p> Wed, 07 May 2025 15:22:14 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 11007 at /oss Conned by Logarithms - How Our Minds Misread Risk /oss/article/contributors-did-you-know-general-science/conned-logarithms-how-our-minds-misread-risk <b>History</b> <p>John Napier is credited with discovering/inventing logarithms but nature had already beaten him to it.  Our bodies had already figured it out. Our senses—sight, hearing, taste and touch— use a logarithmic transform to cope with the enormous range of the signals our senses need to handle.</p> Fri, 02 May 2025 17:14:26 +0000 Ben Selinger FRACI, CChem 10995 at /oss Sabine Hossenfelder Asks If Science Is Dying. It’s Not. /oss/article/critical-thinking-general-science/sabine-hossenfelder-asks-if-science-dying-its-not <p>Physics is dying. It’s mathematical fiction. Science is failing. Most of academic research that your taxes pay for is almost certainly bullshit. I don’t trust scientists.</p> <p>Would you believe me if I told you these statements came from a popular science communicator?</p> Fri, 18 Apr 2025 15:30:19 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10890 at /oss It’s a Gas! /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-history-general-science/its-gas <p>There were no Guinness Records back in 1772, but if there were, Joseph Priestley would certainly have been awarded one for discovering eight new gases in a single year. That is a record that will never be broken! Priestley, though, didn’t call them gases. To him they were different “airs,” with the most famous one being “dephlogisticated air” which we know today as oxygen.</p> Thu, 17 Apr 2025 05:35:42 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10889 at /oss The Powder of Sympathy /oss/article/history-did-you-know-general-science/powder-sympathy <p>Four hundred years ago, Belgian physician Johann Baptist Van Helmont was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church for promoting the use of the “Powder of Sympathy.” The idea had been originally introduced by “natural philosopher” Sir Kenelm Digby who claimed that a powder produced with the help of astrological guidance could heal injuries by being applied not to the injured part of the body but on whatever had caused the injury. Digby’s book on this mythical salve went through 29 editions!</p> Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:41:49 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10833 at /oss RECCO Reflectors Echo Safety Signals /oss/article/technology-did-you-know-general-science/recco-reflectors-echo-safety-signals <p>A goal of mine in 2025 was to tackle a new outdoor sport: backcountry skiing. With the promise of untracked snow and uncrowded runs, venturing off-piste was enticing. But with that also came the need to ensure safety — I geared up with an avalanche kit, most of which was intuitive: Shovel? Check. GPS? Check. But one thing that kept coming up was the RECCO tag on all sorts of gear. As I read the logo time and time again, I wondered — what was this technology?</p> Fri, 14 Mar 2025 20:56:48 +0000 Cat Wang, B.Sc. 10528 at /oss I’ve Been Wearing Sunscreen Wrong /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-general-science/ive-been-wearing-sunscreen-wrong <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/ive-been-wearing-sunscreen-wrong/">The Skeptical Inquirer.</a></em></p> Fri, 07 Mar 2025 03:54:38 +0000 Ada McVean M.Sc. 10440 at /oss A Little Hairy Chemistry /oss/article/did-you-know-general-science/little-hairy-chemistry <p>Hair is composed of a type of protein called keratin that is formed within the hair follicle, a cavity in the skin surrounded by cells that provide the amino acids and other components needed for protein formation. Genetics dictates the specific fashion in which the follicle assembles these components into the three-dimensional structure proteins, and it is this structure that then determines if an individual’s hair will be curly or straight.</p> Wed, 05 Mar 2025 04:56:10 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10429 at /oss