Patents can kick-start the money train
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
As we settle into 2014 and think about tackling our holiday expenses, I thought this would be a good time...
Read More >>Chemical warfare used to battle invasive species
CHEMFUSION
Dead mice don’t get headaches. So why are scientists on the island of Guam stuffing them with acetaminophen, the widely used painkiller? The hope is that the acetaminophen will give a major headache to brown tree snakes. More than a headache in fact. Should the snakes dine on the toxin-filled rodents, it will be their...
Read More >>Our National Museum of Science and Technology deserves a new home
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
This past August, the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa welcomed its 20 millionth visitor. Quite a milestone and one made all the more remarkable considering that the museum is located in its original building — a former bakery warehouse in a retail and light industrial section of Ottawa about 12 kilometres from the...
Read More >>Patents must clearly identify the inventors
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
Over the past year, I have attempted to explain some of the basics of patent law. I have regularly mentioned the three basic tenets for obtaining a patent for an invention: the invention must be new, inventive and useful. While these tenets accurately describe the requirements for patentability, this isn’t the full picture. The final...
Read More >>It’s a madder, madder, madder, madder world
CHEMFUSION
The Redcoats are coming, the Redcoats are coming!” Well, Paul Revere could hardly have missed them. And if he were observant, he could even have distinguished the officers from the privates. The privates’ coats were coloured red with a dye derived from the root of the madder plant. The officers’ jackets’ were a stunning red...
Read More >>Then and now
HISTORY
The growth of corporate giant Alcan in 20th century Canada was closely linked to two things: the evolution of the world’s most versatile metal — aluminum — and Quebec hydroelectricity, which provided cheap power for aluminum smelting. Alcan was born in 1902 as the Northern Aluminum Company Limited, a Canadian subsidiary of the United States-based...
Read More >>Blunt answers to lack of business innovation in Canada
BUSINESS
This past April and September a number of demonstrations were held across Canada under the banner of “Stand Up for Science.” These efforts generated a lot of media coverage with a call on the federal government “to make a strong commitment to science in the public interest.” While any media attention for science is welcome, this sound bite is clearly intended to get the public wondering and maybe worrying: What is...
Read More >>Identifying system failures at Lac Mégantic
REGULATION
On July 6, Canadians woke up to the news of the derailment and fire at Lac Mégantic, Que. — a tragic accident on such a scale that it was featured in news media around the world. The facts are not fully known at this stage, but it looks as if the proximate cause was a runaway unmanned train that derailed at the curve in Lac ...
Read More >>Patents must clearly identify the inventors
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
When a patent application is filed, the inventors named on the application are the original owners of the invention. Of course, these initial ownership rights are often subject to other contractual obligations, such as an employment contract or other assignment document. During patent litigation, a party challenging a patent may attempt to invalidate a patent...
Read More >>Then and now
HISTORY
Herbert Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical, was born in Belleville, Ont. in 1866, the son of Joseph Dow, a master mechanic and sometime chemist. The younger Dow grew up in the United States and, after graduating from the Case School of Applied Science in Ohio, pioneered new processes to create chlorine chemicals and organic...
Read More >>Of Greek gods, gold and gibberish
CHEMFUSION
The term “hermetically sealed” derives from the name of the Greek god Hermes, who conducted souls into the afterlife. When the Greeks learned that the Egyptians had a god Thoth, or Tehuti, who specialized in wisdom and learning, they named him Hermes Trismegistus, or “thrice greatest Hermes.” Supposedly Hermes Trismegistus was the scribe of the...
Read More >>Chemists need professional designation for the public good
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
Provincial chemical associations across Canada are working very hard right now to get their respective governments to enact legislation formalizing the practice of chemistry. Quebec has already been successful; most of the other provinces are in the process. Some provinces have too few chemists to organize an effective approach to their governments. In Ontario, anyone...
Read More >>