/oss/taxonomy/term/2777/all en /oss/article/history-general-science-reviews/pick-card-any-card <p>The curtain went up in “Heller’s Wonder Theatre” on Broadway to reveal a blindfolded lady comfortably seated center stage. A volunteer from the audience was solicited to “pick a card, any card!” She did so, thinking of course that it was a free choice. It wasn’t. Robert Heller, the premier American magician of the mid 19th century, was highly skilled at “forcing” a card. There was nothing really novel about that, but his revelation of the selected card was truly innovative. Heller resorted to chemical magic!</p> Wed, 26 Jun 2024 22:59:16 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9988 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience-reviews/beware-insidious-nonsense-netflixs-zac-efron-travelogue-show <p>If I say I just watched a Netflix mini-series about alternative health approaches hosted by a major celebrity, you may think I’m referring to<a href="/oss/article/health-reviews/goop-lab-experiments-viewers-credulity"> Gwyneth Paltrow’s The goop lab</a>, but no. I’m speaking of its recently released “dude bro” counterpart: <i>Down to Earth with Zac Efron</i>.</p> Thu, 16 Jul 2020 23:26:38 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8341 at /oss /oss/article/health-reviews/goop-lab-experiments-viewers-credulity <p>There is a lot of <em>schadenfreude</em> at the sight of Gwyneth Paltrow, high priestess of aspirational brand Goop, sadly eating a reconstituted soup that looks like it was partly digested and regurgitated by a mama bird. After years of Gwyneth encouraging women to torture their bodies in the name of the ever elusive (and delusional) detox, seeing her get a taste of her own pseudomedicine is joyful.</p> Fri, 24 Jan 2020 20:33:33 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8090 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition/will-game-changers-change-your-game <p>The documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSpglxHTJVM">“The Game Changers”</a> has been picking up steam on Netflix. This is basically a two-hour promo for a vegan lifestyle focusing on a few athletes who attribute their high-level performance to a vegan diet. Before going further, let me say that I favour a diet that has lots of fruits, vegetables and nuts, but I think that some meat, mostly poultry and fish can be accommodated.</p> Wed, 11 Dec 2019 20:59:33 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8048 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience-reviews/genetic-astrology-naturopath-ben-lynch <p>Are you Hufflepuff or Gryffindor? Erudite or Dauntless? Or maybe you know your Myers-Briggs Type to be ESTP? Or how about plain old astrology? Are you a Capricorn?</p> <p>Belonging to a discreet category can be reassuring to many people. We’re told we have <i>these</i> traits but not <i>those</i> traits, and we get a cool label we can use to recognize other members of our in-group. It provides clarity and security. But while I have seen genes that cause cancer, I had never seen Cancer in genes… until I read Ben Lynch’s book, <i>Dirty Genes</i>.</p> Tue, 26 Nov 2019 21:38:09 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8008 at /oss /oss/article/health-technology-reviews/book-review-bad-blood-secrets-and-lies-silicon-valley-startup <hr /> <p class="note"><strong>Take-home message:</strong><br /> -Elizabeth Holmes’ company Theranos tried to create a machine that could do hundreds of medical tests on a single drop of blood<br /> -John Carreyrou’s book Bad Blood reports on the lies and secrecy that allowed so many people to believe the machine was real</p> Thu, 16 Aug 2018 16:09:38 +0000 Jonathan Jarry, MSc 7309 at /oss /oss/article/book-review-living-chemical-age <p><span>I once</span> <a href="http://www.bodyofevidence.ca/blog/when-skeptic-goes-spa">attended a presentation</a> on the wonders of raw food and sous-vide cooking at a spa resort. What was fascinating was seeing the gradual reaction of my fellow attendees as the presenter piled on fear over risk over danger. Gluten irritates our colon; milk is acidifying; cooked meat is brimming with carcinogens. Oh, and aluminum foil kills our brain.</p> Thu, 31 May 2018 17:20:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7116 at /oss /oss/article/reviews/book-review-pandoras-lab <p>An idiot is dumber than an imbecile, who is dumber than a moron. The word “moron” was first derived from the Greek in 1910 to identify individuals with an IQ score between 51 and 70. It may sound funny today, but it heralded the eugenics movement, which was anything but hilarious.</p> Thu, 05 Oct 2017 03:16:03 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 3200 at /oss /oss/article/health-reviews/review-users-guide-cheating-death <p>While Tim Caulfield is a fantastic author, you can’t read one of his books and see him perform “Sexy Cat with a Twist”. That’s where the television series <em><a href="http://www.visiontv.ca/cheating-death/">A User’s Guide to Cheating Death</a></em> comes to the rescue.</p> <p>The goal of the series is to explore the popular and controversial procedures which, we are told, will improve our health, reverse aging, and stave off death. Tim Caulfield serves as our guide, narrator, and guinea pig.</p> Thu, 14 Sep 2017 16:54:43 +0000 Jonathan Jarry, MSc 2627 at /oss