Office for Science and Society - Separating Sense from Nonsense

You Do Not Have a Lizard Brain

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:07:10 +0000

Inside you are three animals: a primitive crocodile, a panicky mouse, and a pragmatic human being.

The Barbie Drug Your Dermatologist Has Never Heard Of

Julia Nevski — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:12:37 +0000

Spray it up your nose, or inject it under the skin, and within days your skin turns a deep, even, suspiciously permanent bronze. No sun required. TikTok calls it the “vacation peptide.” The compound is melanotan II, and its more famous nickname, the “Barbie drug,” has been showing up in dermatology journals since at least 2010 — for the tan, plus a side effect serious enough that it later spun off its own FDA-approved libido drug. The name conjures exactly who you’d picture: young, female, chasing an Instagram-ready glow.

Resveratrol Supplements. Trifling Facts. Lots of Conjecture.

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:32:12 +0000

A quick online search for “resveratrol supplements” finds dozens produced by various companies. They contain anywhere from 50 to 500 mg resveratrol per capsule and sport labels that scream “source of antioxidants.” But there is no mention of any condition that resveratrol is expected to treat or prevent. For good reason! While there is plenty of speculation about what this compound can do based on laboratory experiments that use cell cultures, yeasts, worms, flies or rodents, it is best to remember that humans are not giant test tubes or colossal rodents.

I Would Have Loved to Be There (and Not Just for the Toilets)

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:25:59 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

The first sight visitors encountered at London’s Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851 was a 27-foot glass fountain that continuously dispensed Schweppes naturally carbonated spring water sourced from the Malvern Hills in England.

Quackery in Quebec: The Trojan Horse Bill I Worry About

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:13:56 +0000

A new bill has been proposed at the National Assembly of Quebec, and while it may look like it will benefit our health, there is a lot going on under the surface. It is an excellent example of how the rebranding of pseudoscience gives it legitimacy, and this Trojan horse is now knocking on our legislative door.

An Ode to Cyanotype Printing

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

I wouldn’t consider myself one to be too artistically inclined. I am unable to draw, I am not crafty, and I certainly cannot make music. It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing crafts; I do. I just was not blessed with this natural talent. That’s why, when I came across cyanotype, I was intrigued.

Should You Worry About a Carcinogen in Your Shampoo?

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 18:54:58 +0000

Our story starts with “surfactants,” a term derived from “surface active agents.” These are molecules with one end being “hydrophilic”, meaning it is attracted to water, while the other “hydrophobic” end is attracted to oily substances or to air. If you like your shampoo to form a luxurious lather, disdain stains on your clothes and dishes and don’t want your face cream to separate into layers, then you want surfactants in your life. But surfactants aren’t grown in fields or harvested from trees, not directly anyway. They have to be chemically synthesized. And therein lies the problem.

Injections of ‘MOTS-c’ Can Make You Live Longer. If You Are a Mouse

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 03:24:15 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

Seeing Turmeric in a New Light

Angelina Lapalme — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 02:56:47 +0000

As you could probably tell by spending two minutes in my presence, I love chemistry. It’s part of who I am. To some people, that might get a little annoying, but I promise I know to tone down the chemistry nerdiness depending on my audience. While learning the technical information is great and all, what really excites me is seeing chemistry in action, especially when it catches me by surprise.

The Homicidal Triad Seen on Crime Dramas Is Wrong

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:34:00 +0000

If you have a child who still wets the bed after the age of 5, and if you are a fan of crime dramas, you may be asking yourself some seriously dark questions about your kid’s future.

Episodic television crime dramas love to serve up outdated, simplistic but sensationalistic models of human psychology. Criminals with weird manifestations of OCD get easily profiled by preternaturally competent, fast-talking, genius-IQ law enforcement officers, who bring the perp to justice in 42 minutes tops. Real life this is not.