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An End to “Gilder’s Palsy”

24 Feb 2023

Physicians today are unlikely to encounter “Gilder’s palsy.” But prior to the 19th century this ailment had to be considered when a patient presented with tremors, irritability, increased...

Shivers, Goosebumps, and a Good Dose of Lizzo

6 Jan 2023

I looked out the airplane window and then at my 20-month-old, who had no idea that after enjoying the warmth of Florida for two weeks, we were about to enter the frozen tundra of Montreal. “Get...

Bubbling In the New Year

28 Dec 2022

A fascinating story is told by the guide on a tour of perhaps the most famous champagne house in the world. Moet et Chandon in Reims is the producer of Dom Perignon, the king of bubblies. The...

Ice Science is Slippery

21 Dec 2022

Let’s start at the very beginning. As pure water is cooled to 0oC, it begins to form ice. This simply means that the H2O molecules which were randomly scurrying about in the liquid state now assume...

The Potential for Caffeine-Free Coffee via Crispr/CAS9 or Crossbreeding

2 Dec 2022

Our current methods for decaffeinating coffee are far from ideal. There are a few different methods, all with their own nuanced details, but they all shake out to using some kind of solvent to...

The Two Types of Erasable Ink and Why One Is Much Cooler Than the Other

4 Nov 2022

Introduced in 1979, the Papermate Erasermate offered something that, up until then, had been science fiction: an erasable pen. While correction fluids and tape were a well-established solution to...

There Is More to Acetone Than Removing Nail Polish

2 Nov 2022

Say acetone, and what comes to a chemist’s mind? Washing laboratory glassware is a good bet. Actually, the prime use of acetone is to produce polymethyl methacrylate, better known as Plexiglas....

Birds Seem To Be Scared of Googly Eyes, and That’s a Good Thing

21 Oct 2022

Every year upwards of 25 million birds are killed in Canada due to collisions with buildings, communication towers, wind turbines, and as a result of being tangled into marine gillnets. From window...

Let’s Celebrate National Chemistry Week!

19 Oct 2022

It is an annual tradition. The third week in October is designated as “National Chemistry Week” by the American Chemical Society with a goal of raising the public’s awareness of the value of...

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