/oss/taxonomy/term/2619/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking/duck-st-tea-i-want-some <div> <p>Given my interest in collecting anything that is “ducky,” you’ll understand why I was drawn to ads for “Ya Shi Xiang Dan Cong” tea. That translates to, and I kid you not, “Duck Shit Aroma” tea. Of course, I would normally not use that rather uncouth expression in my writings, but that is the name by which the tea actually goes, as can be seen on its label, so I think I can be forgiven.</p></div> Thu, 21 Sep 2023 22:00:13 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9648 at /oss /oss/article/general-science/unbearable-poopness-bookstores <p>Imagine you have been walking the aisles of your favourite bookstore for an hour, letting your gaze gaily hop from one spine to the next. You smell the ink and the paper. You hear the dulcet tones of a piano over the PA system.</p> <p>And then it hits you, like a cannonball dropping in your lower abdomen.</p> <p>The acute, undeniable urge to evacuate your bowels.</p> <p>As you make a run for the nearest public washroom, you think to yourself, “Not again!”</p> Sat, 22 Jan 2022 09:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9000 at /oss /oss/article/health/how-did-salmonella-bacteria-get-their-name <p>It was from these animals that back in the late 1800s American veterinarian Daniel Salmon isolated the bacteria that were eventually named after him. “Salmonella” actually refers to a species of bacteria that inhabit the intestines of people and animals, along with a large variety of other bacteria. Since all these bacteria compete for the same food supply, they keep each other’s growth in check. Only when the number of Salmonella bacteria increases dramatically do they cause an infection, then referred to as salmonellosis.</p> Fri, 01 Feb 2019 17:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7564 at /oss /oss/article/health/youre-full-crap-literally <p>I’m told I’m full of ….ummm “crap.”  And so are most of you. Literally. So say the promoters of various colon cleansers. Actually, they’re not quite so crass, they prefer to use gentler terms like, fecal matter, impacted waste, or “spackle.” But the message is clear. Our colons are loaded with a repulsive noxious sludge, the result of an improper diet and a “toxic” environment.</p> Thu, 06 Sep 2018 18:11:08 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7336 at /oss /oss/article/videos/right-chemistry-science-managing-sewage <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-x7gnqv8yolc" width="640" height="390" title="Dr. Joe Schwarcz: The science of managing sewage" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/X7gNqv8yOLc?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-x7gnqv8yolc&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="Dr. Joe Schwarcz: The science of managing sewage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of Dr. Joe Schwarcz: The science of managing sewage</iframe> </div> </p> Mon, 18 Jun 2018 15:10:45 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 7140 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/rabbits-eat-their-own-poop <p><span>Rabbits are foraging herbivores, eating mostly grass and weeds. But this fibrous, cellulose rich diet isn’t the easiest to digest, and by the time their dinner has make it through their intestines it still contains many of the nutrients the bunnies need. </span></p> Fri, 30 Mar 2018 21:49:27 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 6982 at /oss /oss/article/nutrition-quackery/tilapia-and-poop-connection <p>Fishermen tend to embellish the size of their catch, hence the expression “fish tale” for exaggerated stories like the ones making the rounds about tilapia, a fish that is increasingly showing up on dinner plates. Indeed, it is now the most widely consumed fish after salmon and tuna. Typically, headlines scream about tilapia being “Poop Fish,” “Worse Than Bacon,” “No Better for You Than A Doughnut” and that it is “ Like eating a rat!!” Relax. Tilapia will not poison you. You are better off eating it than bacon or doughnuts.</p> Thu, 13 Jul 2017 15:34:14 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2572 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-quackery/what-colon-cleansing <p>John Wayne did not die with forty pounds of fecal matter impacted in his colon. Where does such a preposterous notion come from? Generally one of two sources. The nonsense stems either from people who promote the notion that eating animal foods leads to the buildup of toxic sludge in the colon, or from promoters of various colon cleansing regimens. Promoting a vegetarian diet is fine, even if it is for the wrong reason, but colon cleansing is a different matter.</p> Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:57:02 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1797 at /oss