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The Prince of Quackery

16 Jul 2025

The luxurious bulletproof limo was 22 feet long, weighed four tons, had soft, green leather upholstery and interior fittings of silver and ivory. Sounds like “The Beast” used to transport the U.S....

Dr. John Mervin Nooth and His Scientific Connections to Quebec

2 Jul 2025

John Mervin NOOTH (1737-1828) was an obscure British-born medical man and inventor with a Quebec connection.  A distinguished physician, Nooth entered the Royal Society via Benjamin Franklin and...

There Are Skeletons in the Nobel Prize Closet

27 Jun 2025

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette....

A Frankenstein Backgrounder

24 Jun 2025

Mention Frankenstein, and what springs to most people's minds is Boris Karloff’s portrayal of the “monster.” That's because they’ve skipped the book and seen the movie, which is a true Hollywood...

Gutta Percha-From Golf Balls to Root Canals

14 May 2025

Gutta percha is the hardened latex of the Palaquium gutta tree, originally native to Malaysia. This is a natural “thermoplastic” substance, meaning it can be softened with heat and shaped into a...

Chewing Gum Adds to Concerns About Microplastics

18 Apr 2025

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette....

You’ve Been Lied to About Rats and the Black Death 

18 Apr 2025

Rats have long been associated with and blamed for the spread of plague, a disease that has killed over 200 million people throughout the past two millennia. The Black Death, a bubonic plague...

It’s a Gas!

17 Apr 2025

There were no Guinness Records back in 1772, but if there were, Joseph Priestley would certainly have been awarded one for discovering eight new gases in a single year. That is a record that will...

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