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A Frankenstein Backgrounder

24 Jun 2025

Mention Frankenstein, and what springs to most people's minds is Boris Karloff’s portrayal of the “monster.” That's because they’ve skipped the book and seen the movie, which is a true Hollywood...

Gutta Percha-From Golf Balls to Root Canals

14 May 2025

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...

Chewing Gum Adds to Concerns About Microplastics

18 Apr 2025

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette....

You’ve Been Lied to About Rats and the Black Death 

18 Apr 2025

Rats have long been associated with and blamed for the spread of plague, a disease that has killed over 200 million people throughout the past two millennia. The Black Death, a bubonic plague...

It’s a Gas!

17 Apr 2025

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...

The Powder of Sympathy

9 Apr 2025

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...

Dipping Into the Science of Olive Oil

14 Mar 2025

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette

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