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The symposium will feature panel discussions, with expert speakers including

, and

You don't want to miss this ‼️ #SciComm #sciencecommunication

On February 2nd, 2023,

@ScienceUpFirst

will be hosting #LaSciencedAbord, a one-day, in-person symposium for #researchers and #sciencecommunicators who want to learn and share about the tools to effectively fight misinformation. ✍️🧪🥼

Is anyone really right?

explores this question in her latest!

Should you add milk to tea, or tea to milk?

Everyone seems to have an opinion on making the best cup of tea. People who have weighed in on this topic range from royal butlers to George Orwell, but despite many claims of it being definitively

Everyone has their own tea-making rituals. 🫖 Do you add #milk to #tea, or tea to milk?

When you make a selection it cannot be changed

Milk to Tea

Tea to Milk

106 votes1 day left

Jonathan Jarry

"Detox regimens, already misguided, are now incomplete without the purchase of the latest novelty: a binder." I first heard about them on Conspirituality, thanks to

@this_is_mallory

. My latest for

You Don’t Need a Binder in Your Detox Kit, and You Don’t Need a Detox

“You don’t even know what a binder is when you’re doing a parasite cleanse. I came from Western medicine and I didn’t know what a binder was! We didn’t use those!” So says Kim Rogers, who proclaims

Jan 10

Did you know that #shivering actually warms the body up? 🥶 Shivering is the body’s way of raising its core temp if body temp dips below the normal range. 🌡️ When we shiver, the body's muscles contract + relax very rapidly, expending energy to warm us up!

Shivers, Goosebumps, and a Good Dose of Lizzo

I looked out the airplane window and then at my 20-month-old, who had no idea that after enjoying the warmth of Florida for two weeks, we were about to enter the frozen tundra of Montreal. “Get

Jan 9

“From kidney stones to vulvar pain, oxalate has had a storied journey on the path to being framed for all diseases by one would-be expert,” writes

for his latest

The Demonization of Dietary Oxalate Has Begun

You could call it The One True Cause of All Diseases Club. Admission is based on whether or not you have a mustache and are willing to twirl it a lot. A volcano lair and a love for petting white cats

Jan 8

Did you know that the stringy stuff found on the inner skin of #citrus fruits is called #albedo? Yes, the stuff that looks like white thread on your mandarin oranges has a name, and it has nutritional value too.

I've often watched people do battle with the albedo, trying meticulously to remove every last vestige before popping a segment of "naked" orange into their mouth. Probably the same people who choose

This Pulp Isn't Fiction

Ada McVean M.Sc.

You can read more on this topic, including references, in my

article “When It Comes to Avoiding Flies, Stripes Are In, Solids Are Out” here: mcgill.ca/oss/article/en (9/9)

When It Comes to Avoiding Flies, Stripes Are In, Solids Are Out

Fairy tales about the origin of zebra stripes are abundant. Some blame sunlight filtered through tree leaves for tanning the zebras hide, others claim the dark lines are scorch marks, acquired after

Ada McVean M.Sc.

Why do zebras have stripes? Scientists have had many theories, from communication to thermorégulation. But strong experimental evidence has been missing for any theory, until recently. It turns out that zebras stripes likely help them avoid getting bitten by flies! 🦓🪰 (🧵/9)

345

Survival and a good prognosis are dependent on shocking the heart back into a normal rhythm as quickly as possible because *every minute* the heart is fibrillating is another minute the brain and other vital organs are being deprived of oxygen.

Damar Hamlin and the Importance of Defibrillators

This article was originally posted in the Montreal Gazette. It is terrible to see a young, healthy man go into cardiac arrest on live TV. Damar Hamlin’s teammates and the opposing players were

When you suffer a severe arrhythmia, as one does in commotio cordis, the heart stops pumping blood to the rest of the body. The only way to re-set it is with a shock to the heart from an automatic electronic #defibrillator (AED); the device was used on Hamlin.

“The most important take-away from the story of Damar Hamlin in particular and sudden cardiac death in general is the role of defibrillators.” writes

@drlabos

for

@mgazette_works

While we cannot yet know for sure what happened to Damar Hamlin, most people who witnessed the tragic event believe he suffered from commotio cordis.

Jan 5

When even hypoallergenic pet foods are still triggering allergic reactions, anallergenic food may be the answer. But the protein source in Royal Canin’s Anallergenic diet is ruffling some feathers.

For a Pet with Allergies, Feathers May Be the Unexpected Solution

The difference between hypoallergenic and anallergenic pet foods is subtle but important. The Greek prefix hypo- means “lacking” or “less.” Hence, someone who is hypothermic is lacking in heat, and

Jan 2

There are a number of qualities we look for when choosing a #beer. #IBU reports the bitterness, but where does this value come from?

I tried over 50 new beers in 2022. From Les Grands Bois here in Quebec all the way to Ucluelet Brewing across the country, my friends and I embarked on our own sort of brewery tour. The most

How is IBU measured?

Jan 1

The Gospel of Wellness (

@RRRins

) and Why Wellness Sells (

@ColleenDerkatch

) shed much-needed light on the societal problems that make people seek out #wellness in the first place.

discusses them in his latest

Why the Gospel of Wellness Sells

Running on a treadmill is an appealing analogy for both the search for wellness and the investigation of its claims. A lot of effort goes into it, yet we never seem to get anywhere. At least with

Dec 31, 2022

Many people ring in the new year with a bottle of #champagne. 🥂 How does a glass of #bubbly stay bubbly? #HappyNewYear #HappyNewYear2023

A fascinating story is told by the guide on a tour of perhaps the most famous champagne house in the world. Moet et Chandon in Reims is the producer of Dom Perignon, the king of bubblies. The

Bubbling In the New Year

Jonathan Jarry

Just in time for New Year's resolutions, my review, commentary, and all-around thoughts on 2 #wellness books that came out this year: - The Gospel of Wellness (

@RRRins

) - Why Wellness Sells (

@ColleenDerkatch

) mcgill.ca/oss/article/cr Cc:

@CaulfieldTim

Why the Gospel of Wellness Sells

Running on a treadmill is an appealing analogy for both the search for wellness and the investigation of its claims. A lot of effort goes into it, yet we never seem to get anywhere. At least with

Thanks to you, our articles reached over 11 million views this year. We'll see you in #2023 as we continue to separate sense from nonsense! 🧪

And finally, a special mention to

's "Why is the Sky Blue? Or Better Yet, Why is the Ocean Blue?" 🌊 which is our top hit almost every week of the year! Although this article was published in 2020, it reached 1 million views this year 🤯

Why is the Sky Blue? Or Better Yet, Why is the Ocean Blue?

The sky is blue due to a phenomenon called Raleigh scattering. This scattering refers to the scattering of electromagnetic radiation (of which light is a form) by particles of a much smaller

And with over 650K views,

@joeschwarcz

's "Can you fool a #COVID rapid test by putting Vaseline in your nostrils?" 👃 Spoiler Alert - it will not keep the rapid test from identifying the virus. 🙅‍♂️

Can you fool a COVID rapid test by putting Vaseline in your nostrils?

This notion emerged after some partiers on a flight chartered by a private Quebec club allegedly planned to trick a COVID rapid antigen test to produce a negative result. Their idea was to prevent

In 2nd with 150K+ reads: #Netflix's Afterlife Show with Medium Tyler Henry Is Dead on Arrival 📺 Our readers seem to enjoy when

watches Netflix so that they don't have to!

Netflix's Afterlife Show with Medium Tyler Henry Is Dead on Arrival

It was the psychomanteum that broke me. In episode 5 of Netflix’s Life After Death with Tyler Henry, the self-professed California medium asks his dad to build him a “psychomanteum.” He explains it’s

In 3rd with 100K+ reads,

's "The Anti-Vaccine Documentary #DiedSuddendly Wants You to Feel, Not Think "💭 Clearly, the makers of #DiedSuddenlydocumentary don’t want you to do your own research.

The Anti-Vaccine Documentary Died Suddenly Wants You to Feel, Not

People want to feel like their concerns are heard. Being dismissed can lead to loss of trust, which can send people looking for empathy in the wrong places. Members of the anti-vaccination movement

4: Does passing #vodka through a #Brita filter really improve its taste? 🫗 The widespread #TikTok hack claims that pouring cheap vodka through a Brita filter will transform it into top-shelf liquor. Science claims otherwise.

Does passing vodka through a Brita filter really improve its taste?

For many people “cheap” and “tastes good” are the main requisites when choosing an alcoholic drink. So, it is not a surprise that the Brita filter hack caught the internet’s attention — including

5: With #COVID19, Air Is Both the Problem and the Solution 😷 SARS-CoV-2 can linger in the air. Dealing with it can be relatively easy, but first, we have to admit we have a problem

With COVID-19, Air Is Both the Problem and the Solution

On March 28, 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) tweeted out, “FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne.” For medical doctors and biomedical scientists (including me),

6: The #LiverKing Wants You to Dominate Your Health Like a Caveman 💪 A muscular influencer uses masculine, military stunts to convince his followers that our bodies were made for the Paleo lifestyle

The Liver King Wants You to Dominate Your Health Like a Caveman

Blowing up a bed using a tank is certainly a choice. The bed explodes in slow motion. First, we see the dirt raised from the ground behind the bed. Then, a ball of fire erupts, tossing pillows in the

7: #QAnon’s Adrenochrome Quackery ✖️ QAnon is a not-so-fringe, baseless theory that a government agent, “Q,” is a source of continuous information about “deep state” secrets

QAnon’s Adrenochrome Quackery

“There’s only one source for this stuff, the adrenalin glands from a living human body.” That bit of misinformation found in Hunter. S Thompson’s 1971 psychedelic classic, “Fear and Loathing in Las

mcgill.caMen’s Genitals, Meet the CoronavirusMaybe we should focus on the penis. I have seen this suggestion proposed by science communicators many times during the pandemic. That the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective doesn’t seem to

8: Men’s Genitals, Meet the #Coronavirus 🦠 The penis and testicles are not always spared from COVID, true, but a pro-vaccine public service announcement put too much stock in a limp study

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9: The Debilitating Puzzle Box of Long #COVID 🧩 The persistence of symptoms in many people who get COVID-19 demands answers, but studying long COVID proves to be quite the scientific challenge

The Debilitating Puzzle Box of Long COVID

Imagine sitting in front of 40,000 tiny pieces that you have to assemble into a jigsaw puzzle. Except that some of these pieces may belong to a different puzzle. There is no box to tell you what the

10: Resetting the Hype Around the Vagus Nerve 📲 Can simple exercises reset your vagus nerve and cure everything? The Internet seems to think so

Resetting the Hype Around the Vagus Nerve

Murkiness and wishful thinking about an emerging scientific subject can be spun into certainty. Where researchers are exploring the tenebrous depths of our nervous system with the equivalent of a

#HappyNewYear from the OSS 🎉 Let's take a look at the articles you liked best from 2022! In order of the number of page views, we proudly present our #YearInReview ... drumroll please 🥁

Dec 28, 2022

Burt’s Bees lip balm is purported to fool the body into feeling a high when applied on the eyelids. What’s the scoop on #peppermint oil’s pseudo-high?

Peppermint Oil’s Pseudo High

Burt’s Bees is my all-time favourite lip balm. I always keep a tube in my bag (sometimes more than one). So, when I found myself on the Burt’s Bees side of TikTok, I was excited to see that other

Dec 28, 2022

The #holidays are a time for eating, drinking, and merriment, but could these #festive times also be causing #heartattacks?🫀🎄

Do the holidays cause heart attacks?

This article was first published in The Skeptical Inquirer A few different studies have looked at the temporal patterns of heart attacks and tried to find trends. A 2018 observational study from

Dec 25, 2022

What do you picture when you hear the phrase “It’s beginning to look a lot like #Christmas”? 🎄 It likely conjures up imagery that is nearly all frosted, sparkling and white. ❄️ ⛄️ 🌨 Why is that?

The Little Ice Age That Made Christmas White Forever

Our collective vision of Christmas landscapes is so immersed in snow that the very phrase “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” conjures up imagery that is nearly all frosted, sparkling and

Dec 24, 2022

The #memorialdiamond industry claims to transform cremation ashes into diamonds. Some say it’s impossible. Who’s right?

discusses 💎s from ashes on

and

@CTVMontreal

These Diamonds Are Made from the Deceased

In 2017, I visited the oldest diamond polishing factory in the world when I was in the Netherlands for a conference. I was given a guided tour during which I learned about the many ways in which a