I must admit I’m not sure if the woman is just an intellectual simpleton or a clever charlatan preying on the gullible. I suspect the former. In any case, here is the story. Upon invitation, and...
That is the question a student asked me after I had just finished a lecture on toxicology in which I had described the problem of cyanide poisoning by cassava, a tuber similar to the potato. With...
The tentacles of COVID-19 reach into every area of life. I’ve been getting a flurry of calls about vacuum cleaners, air filters, and cordless hair clippers. Sales of these items have increased...
“Greenwashing” is the term used to describe the promotion of a product based on misleading claims of superiority to other products in terms of environmental impact or safety. For example, many...
Can a Moscow Mule reduce the chance of becoming infected by the coronavirus? That’s just one of the many unusual questions that has come my way as a panicked population clutches at every possible...
Just about every textbook of toxicology pays homage to Paracelsus, the sixteenth century alchemist. Why? Because he introduced the idea that “only the dose makes the poison.” It makes no sense to...
If you have avoided having poinsettias in your home because of small children or animals, you’re not alone. But despite the commonly held belief that poinsettias are toxic, they aren’t. This myth...
Amidst the cacophony of jingoist, vacuous blather at the Republican Convention there were some noteworthy phrases that probably slipped by most viewers. A number of speakers talked about the need...
Both Beethoven and Mozart were spectacular talents whose music will live forever. That’s a fact. But when it comes to the composers’ deaths, facts give way to theories, some reasonable, some...
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