media

media /oss/taxonomy/term/158/all en Mozart’s Music Doesn’t Make Baby Geniuses /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/mozarts-music-doesnt-make-baby-geniuses There is an alchemy to science. Sometimes, when the conditions are just right, the results of tiny, preliminary studies are transformed into truisms that spread the world over. For example, everyone knows that you’re either left-brained or right-brained… except that <a href="/oss/article/health/learning-stop-teaching-learning-myths">that is false</a>. What is true is that some brain functions tend to involve one half of the brain more than the other, but the idea that scientists are left-brained while artists are right-brained is nonsense. Yet, the belief endures. Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:53:21 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9857 at /oss Granola and Guns: The Rise of Conspirituality /oss/article/granola-and-guns-rise-conspirituality I was interviewed by many journalists in 2020 about the pandemic, and the question they kept asking me was some version of, “What exactly is going on here?” They were not clueless about COVID-19. Rather, they were trying to make sense of a strange fraternization they were witnessing in the middle of this public health crisis. Listening to these journalists, beards were being scratched over the phone, voices were hesitant, connections were painfully being enunciated in a sort of disbelief. They were witnessing a phenomenon for which they didn’t have a word. Fri, 07 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9253 at /oss Would the Lone Ranger’s silver bullets have tarnished? /oss/article/history-you-asked-general-science/would-lone-rangers-silver-bullets-have-tarnished 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 American Tonto, fought outlaws in the Old West. His trademarks were a black mask and silver bullets! Fri, 26 Nov 2021 21:34:39 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8934 at /oss There ain’t no cure for the summertime buzz! /oss/article/biology-environment/there-aint-no-cure-summertime-buzz There’s a buzz in the air these days, a loud one. I’m sure you’ve heard it but it could have easily been mistaken for a malfunctioning drone plane stuck in the trees. The sounds of summer are slowly becoming dominated by the mating songs of male Cicadas, as their relatively long lives culminate in a grand finale. And it sure is noisy. Sun, 14 Aug 2016 06:55:45 +0000 Adam Oliver Brown PhD 2351 at /oss Bee Buzz /oss/article/controversial-science-environment-health-news/bee-buzz Bees are critical to agriculture, there is no doubt about that. They fertilize various crops by spreading the pollen that they collect to meet their protein and fat needs. Recently there has been much concern about declining bee populations in some areas and speculation has focused on insecticides known as “neonicotinoids.” Many media reports have tried and convicted the “neonics” and urged that they be banned. But as is so often the case, media reports only scratch the scientific surface and deeper digging produces a different buzz. Neonics at a certain level of exposure can disorient or even kill bees, which comes as no surprise since they are insecticides, and bees are insects. The question is whether these chemicals can be used in a way that protects plants without harming bees. Neonicotinoids, first introduced in 2004, are modeled on nicotine, the natural insecticide produced by the tobacco plant. One advantage is that instead of spraying, these chemicals can be applied to the seeds of crops such as corn, soybeans and canola. They then end up distributed throughout the plant as it grows and are ready to dispatch any insect that dares to dine on the foliage. Bees don’t do that, they go for the nectar in the flowers which has only traces of neonics. Yet bee deaths have been linked with neonic-coated corn and soy seeds, mostly in Ontario. But curiously, not with canola seeds in western Canada which are also treated with the same pesticides. So what is going on? Mechanical planters use a jet of air to blow seeds into the soil. Commonly talc or graphite are added as lubricants to reduce friction between the seeds but these can rub off and can carry insecticide contaminated dust into the air, exposing flying insects such as bees to the neonics. The concern is that the tainted bees return to the hive where they can expose fellow bees to the neonics and wreak havoc. A novel polyethylene wax lubricant that can replace talc and graphite has shown a significant reduction in airborne insecticide during planting. There are also polymers being developed to help the insecticide stick to the seeds. The planting of canola uses different technology and doesn’t produce comparable amounts of dust. Some 20 million acres of canola are planted in Canada with neonicotinoid treated seed and there has been no impact on bee health at all. So it seems the problem may not be the neonics as much as the seeding methodology. Neonics are also commonly used on cut flowers and on plants purchased from nurseries but whether these affect pollinators is an open question. In any case, the neonics are only part of the picture when it comes to bee health. There are mites, parasites and viruses that can infect bees, and transporting hives, which is commonly done, also stresses them, as do harsh winters and long springs. Specifically, the Varroa mite can affect bee health significantly, and it is interesting to note that in Australia, which is free of these mites, no problems have been seen with bee populations in spite of extensive use of neonicotinoid coated seeds. So while the neonicotinoids may be a factor in the decline of bee populations in some areas, they are not the only factor. Furthermore, loss of bee colonies has been observed in places where neonicotinoids are not used at all, and history records many cases of unusual deaths of honey bee colonies long before neonics were introduced. Still, there are some troubling developments. A recent British study showed that bees are more attracted to a sugar solution laced with neonics than to one without, implying the bees may be getting some sort of a buzz from the chemicals and may be more likely to visit plants containing them and end up contaminating hives. And a study in Sweden showed a reduced density of wild bees, but not honey bees, in a field planted with neonic-coated seeds. Because of the cloud hanging over neonics, Europe and Ontario have decided to greatly restrict their use. It will take a while to see the effect, not only on the bees, but also on crop yields which have steadily increased since the introduction of the neonicotinoids. If yields are to be maintained, it may be back to the insecticidal sprays which come with problems of their own, not only for pollinators, but for people as well. Of course in the western world we can forego insecticides and just pay more for our locally-grown food. <a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2015/06/30/bee-buzz">Read more</a> Tue, 30 Jun 2015 14:24:27 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2271 at /oss