/oss/taxonomy/term/2686/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-technology/will-right-boots-stop-you-slipping-ice <p>Have you ever slipped on ice and fallen on your derrière? At best, it is unpleasant; at worst, it can send you to the hospital with a broken bone (or even kill you). Icy sidewalks and parking lots are a hazard with which those of us living far from the equator must deal, and one would hope that winter boots would offer protection. Shopping for a new pair, you will see convincing names for outsole technology. You would be forgiven for thinking that science has delivered a modern winter boot that digs into the ice and never lets you down.</p> <p>You would be mistaken.</p> Fri, 15 Dec 2023 13:23:27 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9759 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience-technology/gadget-scam <p>Anyone who owns a car and who lives in snowy climes will be tempted by this. What if you could buy a small device that you left in your car and that magically melted the snow off of it and prevented your car from freezing? You may think this is the sort of thing you would see on <i>Star Trek</i>, yet I can point you to <a href="https://fivfivgo.com/products/pro-electromagnetic-molecular-interference-antifreeze-snow-removal-instrument">a website</a> where you can acquire this incredible device today for only USD 26.97.</p> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9739 at /oss /oss/article/medical-did-you-know/professor-popsicles-physiological-proof <p>Growing up with cold Canadian winters means that we get to enjoy tobogganing, skiing, and other snowy activities. It also means that from a young age, we’re warned of the dangers of getting <i>too</i> cold.</p> Fri, 17 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000 Cat Wang, B.Sc. 9396 at /oss /oss/article/environment-you-asked/it-true-no-two-snowflakes-are-identical <p>Snow crystals—better known as snowflakes—are intricate, delicate, tiny miracles of beauty. Their very existence seems unlikely, yet <a href="http://www.snowcrystals.com/facts/facts.html">incomprehensible numbers</a> of them fall every year to iteratively construct wintery wonderlands.</p> Fri, 09 Dec 2022 16:00:00 +0000 Ada McVean M.Sc. 9319 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/there-difference-between-real-snow-and-artificial-snow <p>Snow-making machines actually make tiny beads of ice, each one about one ten-thousandth of an inch in diameter. Water is sprayed from a hose together with compressed air. The air is needed because as it quickly expands, its temperature drops since it has to do work by pushing away air molecules. This cooling helps freeze the water. As the water freezes, it releases heat. This should be obvious when we realize that in order to melt ice, we have to add heat. The heat released is then taken up by the expanding compressed air. This is why the "snow-making" pipes are always high in the air. If t</p> Thu, 17 Feb 2022 15:29:52 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9027 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/do-holidays-cause-heart-attacks <hr /> <p>This article was first published in <a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/artificial-trees-secular-greetings-and-holiday-heart-attacks-some-answers-to-your-christmas-queries/">The Skeptical Inquirer</a></p> Fri, 24 Dec 2021 00:00:07 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 8966 at /oss /oss/article/environment-general-science/how-can-i-stop-getting-static-shocks <p>If you live in Canada, you know what a nightmare winter can be for your hair. No, not because of hat hair, (or at least not entirely because of hat hair), but because of static electricity! All those big scarves and wool hats really do a number on the frizziness of our hair. But even if you’re bald you’ve probably noticed that the number of times you get shocked when reaching for everyday items, like keys, doorknobs and shopping carts, increases in the winter too. There’s some interesting science behind these seasonal shocking scenes, and how you can stop them.</p> Thu, 20 Feb 2020 18:51:02 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 8132 at /oss /oss/article/pseudoscience/can-darth-vader-improve-your-winter-mood <p>If you saw Darth Vader endorse a product, would you feel the desire to buy it?</p> Fri, 27 Sep 2019 16:22:08 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7944 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/did-you-know-you-should-apply-lip-balm-your-lips-get-chapped <p>Lip balms are not designed to repair your skin. Instead, their emollient properties create a barrier between your thin, vulnerable lips and the surrounding air. Skin becomes dry when water in its upper epidermal layers evaporates; this is enhanced when the air is particularly dry as on a cold day. Since the skin on our lips is four times thinner than elsewhere and lacks protective sweat and oil glands, it is more vulnerable to moisture loss than anywhere else.</p> Wed, 17 Jan 2018 04:10:43 +0000 Cassandra Lee, OSS Intern 6890 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/bears-dont-hibernate <p>Bears <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear#Hibernation">do crawl into a cave and essentially sleep away the winter months</a>, but what they’re doing is not hibernating, at least not in the true sense.</p> Tue, 16 Jan 2018 22:06:16 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 6889 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know/hot-cocoas-black-sludge <p>If you've made hot cocoa with powder, you've probably experienced the dark sludge at the bottom of the cup. This chocolate goop seems unavoidable, despite being absolutely certain that you dissolved all the powder when you first stirred your drink. For years I thought I was just a bad stirrer, but it turns out that the sludge actually forms as the drink cools down. As the hot cocoa cools, the solubility of the hot chocolate powder is reduced. This means that the amount of powder you can dissolve in a mug full of water or milk is lessened.</p> Tue, 10 Oct 2017 18:01:10 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 4255 at /oss /oss/article/environment-technology/tires-and-ice-dont-make-good-mix <p>Ice is great in a beverage or on a skating rink but we don’t want it on our streets. How do we melt it? Potassium acetate, sodium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride or  urea will do the job. They all interfere with the formation of ice crystals and can be used to melt ice.  They do, however, differ in effectiveness, potential harm to the environment and cost.</p> Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:39:16 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2065 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/salt-used-melt-ice-it-also-used-make-ice-cream-why <p><a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/05/23/why-is-it-that-in-hot-countries-we-put-salt-on-ice-in-the-ice-cream-makers-to-keep-the-ice-from-melting-while-in-cold-countries-we-put-salt-on-ice-to-melt-the-ice/ice-cream/" rel="attachment wp-att-5293"><img alt="ice cream" height="150" src="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/files/2013/05/ice-cream-150x150.jpg" width="150" /></a> <em><strong>Why is it that in hot countries we put salt on ice in the ice cream makers to keep the ice from melting, while in cold countries we put salt on ice to melt it?</strong></em> In both cases, the answer is based on the fact that adding salt to an ice water mixture in equilibrium, lowers the freezing point (or melting point)  of the equilibrium. <a href="http://blogs.mcgill.ca/oss/2013/05/15/why-is-it-that-in-hot-countries-we-put-salt-on-ice-in-the-ice-cream-makers-to-keep-the-ice-from-melting-while-in-cold-countries-we-put-salt-on-ice-to-melt-the-ice/">Read more</a></p> Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:08 +0000 Ariel Fenster PhD 1941 at /oss