/oss/taxonomy/term/2315/all en /oss/article/videos-technology-history/right-chemistry-history-decaffeinated-coffee <p></p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"></div> Fri, 14 Sep 2018 16:29:36 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7356 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/science-says-scotch-rocks-tastes-better-straight <p><span>Everyone knows that oil floats on water. That’s because oil is nonpolar, and water is polar. These terms describe the arrangement of charges in their structure: nonpolar means a molecule has no net charge, polar means it does. The polarity of a molecule influences the way it interacts with other molecules.  We tend to think of two ‘like’ substances, be they nonpolar like two different oils, or polar like water and vinegar, as mixing completely, but that’s not entirely true in all cases.</span></p> Thu, 05 Jul 2018 18:08:22 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7162 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-food-health-news-toxicity/eliminate-beverages-contain-brominated-vegetable-oil-yes-not-because-they-contain-additive <p>Beverage producers are removing “brominated vegetable oil” from their product. I have no problem with that, it has no nutritional value. But it is interesting to see how this came about. Basically it started with high school student Sarah Kavanaugh who organized a petition asking Gatorade to eliminate a “flame retardant” from some of its beverages. I suppose one can excuse Sarah, since like most high school students her scientific knowledge is very meagre, but meagre science still tends to spread through the Internet like a flame unless it is doused with proper science.</p> Tue, 06 May 2014 01:58:13 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2140 at /oss