/oss/taxonomy/term/6857/all en /oss/article/medical-technology/springtime-montreal-means-scent-asphalt-air <p>So, what is asphalt and where does it come from? The source is petroleum, that dark viscous liquid found deep within the Earth, the product of once living organisms subjected to millennia of intense pressure and heat. It is not an understatement to say that petroleum is vital to modern life. It is of course used to produce the fuel that our cars, trucks, buses, ships and airplanes run on, but petroleum also furnishes the raw materials used to make our plastics, synthetic fibres, medications, agrochemicals and personal care products.</p> Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9923 at /oss /oss/article/environment-did-you-know/dark-side-black-plastics <p>I’m sitting here looking around my office for anything made of black plastic. The casing of my computer is in that category, so is my coffee machine, my printer, my cell phone stand, my stapler, a bunch of pens that clutter my desk, my electronic car key, an electric heater, a flower pot, the carbon atoms in my molecular models, the armrest on my chair and a garbage can as well as the garbage bag inside it. Even some of the ducks that adorn my shelves are made of black plastic! No, I am not bored or mentally disturbed.</p> Thu, 17 Aug 2023 20:17:21 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9603 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/toxic-earphones-washing-machines-sex-toys-and-wolves-door <p>Over the years I have answered, or at least tried to have answered, a staggering variety of questions. “Is it true that KFC is made from mutant laboratory chickens and not real chickens?” No. “Can you get cancer by riding your bike on a street where there are power lines?” No evidence for that. “Instead of buying a water alkalizer for $3000, can I make alkaline water using baking soda?” Yes, but it is irrelevant because the claims made for alkaline water hold no water. How do you open a cremation urn with a stuck lid? With great difficulty.</p> Wed, 03 May 2023 18:38:31 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9500 at /oss