Information is the key to life. We want to know what to eat, how to protect our environment, what risks to avoid and what to do if illness strikes. But when it comes to acquiring information, it is the best of times and the worst of times. It is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness. Newspapers, television, radio and of course the Internet bombard us with information at an unprecedented rate, but when it comes to scientific issues the quality of the information is variable.

Classified as: Faculty of Science, Office for Science and Society, Michael Specter
Published on: 17 Oct 2013

The Redpath Museum now offers videoconferences to school groups of any grade or age level. Visit the Museum without having to take a field trip!

Choose from three presentations: Meet the Triceratops, Egyptian Life, or Quebec Biodiversity.

The sessions are streamed live, last one hour, and feature a museum educator in the Redpath Museum galleries.

Published on: 20 Aug 2013

Almost 40,000 people in the United States developed West Nile virus last year and 1,549 died because of it. Compare that to 1999, the first year the disease was seen in North America, when only 62 people were reported infected.

Classified as: Joe Schwarcz, OSS, mosquitos, natural products
Published on: 19 Jul 2013

Selected lectures from Mini-Science 2013: Science, Sex, and Gender are now available as webcasts and podcasts. Listen or watch, when you want, where you want, at no charge!

Published on: 18 Jul 2013

Edmonton—Graduate students in the Faculty of Engineering will have the opportunity to get the inside track on communicating with non-technical audiences and tech commercialization during the Faculty of Engineering Graduate Research Symposium.

Keynote speakers Joe Schwarcz and Peter Hackett will share their experiences and expertise with symposium attendees and volunteers.

Classified as: Joe Schwarcz, OSS
Published on: 20 Jun 2013

How safe is your shampoo, sofa or shirt? Campaign will soon launch efforts to get ten major U.S. retailers to phase out potentially "toxic" products. Dr. Joe Schwarcz comments on when "toxic" really "toxic." 

Classified as: Joe Schwarcz, OSS
Published on: 10 Apr 2013

Dr. Harriet Hall, also known as the SkepDoc, reviews Dr. Joe Schwarcz' latest book, "The Right Chemistry," and concludes that both him and his book do it just right.

To read the review, please click here.

Classified as: Joe Schwarcz, OSS, book review, chemistry
Published on: 27 Feb 2013

By Jane Brody, The New York Times

Let’s start the new year on scientifically sound footing by addressing some nutritional falsehoods that circulate widely in cyberspace, locker rooms, supermarkets and health food stores. As a result, millions of people are squandering hard-earned dollars on questionable, even hazardous foods and supplements. 

Published on: 7 Feb 2013

Click here to see some follow-up on the second debate on Alternative Medicine, Homeopathy: Mere Placebo or Great Medicine?

Classified as: Joe Schwarcz, OSS
Published on: 20 Dec 2012

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