"Genetic engineers develop bovine growth hormone!" Now there's an issue the cartoonists can really milk. Giant cows bursting through the roof of their barns, animals sporting udders from head to...
How’s this for a coincidence? A few years ago on an organic chemistry exam I asked the following question: A compound used to clean coal is often referred to as 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. What...
Some people are concerned about radiation from cell phones possibly causing brain tumours. Others worry about exposure to wi-fi causing cancer. And now I’m getting questions about whether cell...
We’ve seen it before. A medical crisis emerges and the scam artists crawl out of the woodwork. Fearful citizens pop open their wallets and fork out hard-earned money for nonsensical “cures.” When...
Most chemistry conferences these days feature a session on the “public understanding of chemistry.” Usually speakers express frustration about equating the term “chemical” with “toxin” or “poison,”...
I thought this was a joke, but it turns out that it is very real. Officials in Portland, Oregon drained a reservoir, at considerable expense, because a teenager urinated into the water. This is...
A story is blazing around the blogosphere about a ten year old girl having an anaphylactic reaction to a blueberry pie. Physicians supposedly traced the reaction to streptomycin used as a pesticide...
Burn any animal or vegetable matter with a limited supply of air, as is the case inside a wood pile, and you are left with charcoal, essentially carbon mixed with some mineral ash. The fact that...
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