/oss/taxonomy/term/2869/all en /oss/article/covid-19-health-and-nutrition/masked-kids-are-alright <p>It is easy to raise the spectre of science to scare people. Talk about a new vaccine technology messing with your DNA and you’ve conjured up instant anxiety. It is an especially potent technique when the target of the sciency boogeyman is a child. Children are frequently at the center of moral panics, from video games to heavy metal music, from alleged Satanic ritual abuse to reactionary views on gender expression.</p> Fri, 25 Feb 2022 18:56:31 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9039 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-history/sweet-and-sticky-science-sugar <p>Sugar is sweet and sticky.  That’s a fact.  In fact, during the reign of Edward the Confessor in the early eleventh century, "ale tasters" were employed to check on the work of brewers.  They would test the ale by spilling some on a wooden seat and sitting on the spill in their leather breeches.  If they had difficulty getting up after a short time because their breeches stuck to the seat, they knew that the ale had been sugared.  Today we don't have to worry about such adulteration of our ale, and I think in any case we would have a hard time finding leather breeches.  But the stickiness o</p> Fri, 03 Dec 2021 23:31:20 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8944 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/why-its-important-vaccinate-children-against-covid <hr /> <p>This article was originally published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-why-its-important-to-vaccinate-children-against-covid">the Montreal Gazette</a></p> <hr /> <p>Now that Health Canada has approved the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five to 11 years and appointments can be booked <a href="https://portal3.clicsante.ca/">on Clic-Santé,</a> with any luck most should be able to get at least one dose before the holidays.</p> <p>But some parents are still hesitant about vaccinating their children.</p> Fri, 26 Nov 2021 21:50:25 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 8935 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/what-we-know-about-kids-and-masks <hr /> <p>This article was originally published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/christopher-labos-what-we-know-about-kids-and-masks">the Montreal Gazette</a></p> Fri, 23 Jul 2021 20:06:13 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 8791 at /oss /oss/article/nutrition-health-and-nutrition/cracked-science-05-sloppy-food-science <p><div class="media-youtube-video media-element file-default media-youtube-1"> <iframe class="media-youtube-player" id="media-youtube-u1i6p851rli" width="640" height="390" title="Sloppy Food Science (CS09)" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/u1I6p851rLI?wmode=opaque&controls=&enablejsapi=1&modestbranding=1&playerapiid=media-youtube-u1i6p851rli&origin=https%3A//www.mcgill.ca&rel=0" name="Sloppy Food Science (CS09)" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Video of Sloppy Food Science (CS09)</iframe> </div> </p> Thu, 10 May 2018 18:13:07 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 7074 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-health-and-nutrition/what-you-need-know-about-poinsettias-and-poison <p><span>If you have avoided having poinsettias in your home because of small children or animals, you’re not alone. But despite the commonly held belief that poinsettias are toxic, they aren’t. This myth seems to </span><a href="https://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/poinsettia.asp">have originated in 1919 </a><span>with a misattributed poisoning of a child and perhaps persisted because </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbiaceae">several members of the same family</a><span> as the flower are quite toxic. </span></p> Tue, 05 Dec 2017 15:48:18 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 6840 at /oss