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New Year's News!!!
We are pleased to announce that we now have an “App” both for Apple and Android devices so that the McGill Office for Science and Society’s nifty and sometimes quirky science can always be at your fingertips. The Apps are free and can be downloaded here:
For Apple devices, you can download the app here.
For Android devices, you can download the app here.
The year was 1982. "Food for Thought", a new and innovative course conceived by Drs. David Harpp, Joe Schwarcz & Ariel Fenster. Designed to provoke some thought, separate fact from fiction and of course, digest everything there is to know about food. And now, 15,000 students later, you too can take this course. FOR FREE. That's right. McGill presents its very-first MOOC (massive open online course), & the McGill Office for Science and Society (OSS) is up at bat. Are you ready for some Food for Thought? Click here to register. 
For updates: Click here!
Latest OSS Blog Articles:
Gin...without the tonic
While there is no scientific evidence that gin has any medicinal benefit, one piece of folklore has persisted. That’s the use of gin-soaked raisins to treat arthritis. The common recipe is to take a box of golden raisins, soak them in gin for a few weeks until the gin evaporates and then eat nine a day. Read More.
A bitter life may be longer
Who would have guessed that a song by the Guess Who would become a health anthem? “Lonely feeling Deep inside, Find a corner where I can hide, Silent footsteps crowding me, Sudden darkness but I can see, No sugar tonight in my coffee, No sugar tonight in my tea, No sugar to stand beside me, No sugar to run with me.” Not exactly the most brilliant lyrics I ever heard, but not a bad message. Read More.
Oil your problems away!
Oh my! Yet another sure-fire detox! This time it’s “oil pulling.” I’m not pulling your leg with this one. The claim is that you swish oil, usually sunflower, sesame or coconut, around your mouth for 15-20 without swallowing. Read More.
Walk gingerly before declaring ginger a cancer cure
It is not at all unusual to find plant extracts that will kill cancer cells in vitro. There are hundreds of phytochemicals that will do this. Neither is it unusual to find an effect in mice that have implanted tumours. Read More.
Did You Know?
Sperm whales produce a black, smelly substance called ambergris which changes to a pleasant smell when exposed to air. It is rare and expensive but is used as a base in some perfumes. Ambergris also has a folk reputation as a soothing odor for nervous complaints and inhaling ambergis based products is believed by some to increase brain function. Judging by how much these people shell out for ambergris based products, if anything, it seems to impair brain function.
For more interesting facts, please make sure to check out our "Did You Know?" section.
Most Recent Science Links:
Beautiful Relationships: Local Biz Sees the Upside of Dung
Dickson is the founder and manager of Cowpower, a renewable energy supplier that sells energy produced by local farmers to B.C. businesses, homes and events -- an operation made possible largely through the use of a single magic ingredient: manure. Read More.
Plastic waste ingested by worms threatens marine food chains
Small fragments of plastic waste are damaging the health of lugworms, putting a key cog in marine ecosystems at risk. Published in Current Biology, a new study by scientists at the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth shows the impact of microplastics on the marine worms' health and behavior. Read More.
The Chemicals That Stick Around in the Body
Most Americans do carry traces of dozens—possibly hundreds—of potentially toxic chemicals in their bodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tests blood and urine samples in thousands of citizens as part of its continuing public-health surveys. Read More.
Woman Believed To Be Last Of Waterbury's Radium Girls Dies
Mae Keane did not care much for the job she had during the summer of 1924, painting radioactive radium onto watch dials to make them glow in the dark. The pay was 8 cents a dial and Keane, then 18, was not as fast as her supervisor wanted her to be. Read More.
