Mistletoe has had a certain mystique about it since ancient times, probably on account of the curious way it grows. The plant is a “hemiparasite,” meaning that it can either grow in soil, or, more...
“My moma [sic] said the chimney was blocked.” Thus reads the letter from a 10-year-old girl in Wisconsin who was told by her mother that Santa Claus would not be dropping off gifts that year. The...
This article was first published in The Skeptical Inquirer.
It comes down to the high sugar content of fruitcake and the not insignificant amount of booze included in many recipes.
I have a longstanding fascination with Victorian arts and sciences. It was the era when Darwin published the “Origin of the Species,” Perkin synthesized dyes, Lister introduced antiseptic surgery,...
Our collective vision of Christmas landscapes is so immersed in snow that the very phrase “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” conjures up imagery that is nearly all frosted, sparkling and...
The Royal Institution was founded in 1800 by leading British scientists under the guidance of Benjamin Thompson “for diffusing the knowledge and facilitating the general introduction of useful...
A new study in the British Medical Journal might be enough to ruin your Christmas mood because it suggests that the risk of having a heart attack is higher during the holidays and on Christmas Eve...
There's been a mystique around mistletoe since ancient times, probably on account of the curious way it grows. The plant is a “hemiparasite,” meaning that it can either grow in soil, or, more...
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