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The Evil Eye

4 Feb 2022

I must admit I’m not sure if the woman is just an intellectual simpleton or a clever charlatan preying on the gullible.  I suspect the former.  In any case, here is the story.  Upon invitation, and...

Havana Syndrome or a Case for Eliminating the Implausible

9 Oct 2021

The story of Havana syndrome has acquired mythical qualities in its telling. In late 2016 and early 2017, members of the American embassy in Havana, Cuba, started to report debilitating symptoms...

Ricin Emerges From the Shadows Again

23 Sep 2020

Ricin is in the news because this potentially potent poison was supposedly detected in a letter addressed to President Trump. For me, this brings back memories of my last visit to London when I...

My Dog Ate Chocolate and He Was Fine, so What’s the Big Deal?

23 Aug 2019

If you ask a dog owner what dogs cannot eat, they’ll list some foods like onions, garlic, rhubarb, grapes and chocolate. (As an aside, if they say grains, don’t listen to them.) Dogs' inability to...

Lead Bullets Can Harm in More Ways Than One

10 May 2019

It’s probably not news to anyone reading this that lead exposure is dangerous, but when most of us think of routes to lead exposure we think of leaded gasoline, paints, drinking water or pencils ...

Mistletoe Can be Highly Toxic to Humans

20 Dec 2018

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...

Did You Know That Moon Dust Is Incredibly Toxic?

4 Oct 2018

There are no aliens on the moon, but that might not stop it from trying to kill us....

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