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Searching for the Fountain of Youth

Lecture given by Dr. Joe Schwarcz

Would the Lone Ranger’s silver bullets have tarnished?

26 Nov 2021

We do get some interesting questions. The Lone Ranger was a television series that ran from 1949 to 1957 and recounted the adventures of a former Texas Ranger who with his companion, the Native...

From the Earth to the Moon

25 Nov 2021

No, this story is not about space travel. It is about the naming of elements, specifically, selenium, discovered by the Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius in 1817. He named it after Selene, the...

The Word “Cisgender” Has Scientific Roots

13 Nov 2021

In 2015, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word “cisgender” to its ever-evolving listing. It defines the adjective as “designating a person whose sense of personal identity and gender...

A Rotten Apple Really Does Spoil the Barrel

21 Oct 2021

A rotten apple spoils the whole barrel. That’s not just an old adage. It’s a scientific fact. And it all has to do with ethylene, a gas produced internally by the fruit to stimulate ripening....

Are You Left-Handed? Science Still Yearns to Know Why

17 Sep 2021

Being left-handed can be devilishly hard. In 1937, an educational psychologist whose work was later discredited wrote of many left-handers that “they squint, they stammer, they shuffle and shamble,...

How do sparklers work?

17 Sep 2021

You stick them into a birthday cake, stand back and revel in the brilliant shower of sparks. What you are witnessing are glowing metal particles, usually aluminum, but iron titanium, zinc or...

Plexiglass: Protection for “The Pieta” and Us

11 Sep 2021

Some companies have benefitted from COVID-19. Like those that manufacture plexiglass. Banks, stores, automobile dealers all feature plexiglass panels to reduce the chance of viral transmission. The...

The Science of Basil

11 Sep 2021

Sir Francis Bacon, an important figure in the development of the scientific method, claimed in his work on natural history that when a basil plant was exposed too much to the sun, it became wild...

How Come You Never See a Baby Housefly?

16 Jul 2021

Simple. Because baby houseflies don’t exist. A little backgrounder on the flies’ reproductive cycle can clear up this apparent conundrum. Within a week of mating, a doggie-style activity lasting...

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