The science network
POLICY PUNDIT
Alan Bernstein, head of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, calls for greater involvement from the private sector to ensure our nation stays abreast of rapid advances in the technology...
Read More >>A fight for integrity
POLICY PUNDIT
Members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) are demanding changes to how the government deals with “public science,” including reinstating government scientists’ right to speak...
Read More >>Reflecting upon a villainous 20th century chemist
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Hannah Gay’s lecture on “The Chemists’ War” reported in January/February’s Canadian Chemical News brought so many thoughts to mind: my stepfather, gassed with chlorine at Ypres; myself, during the Second...
Read More >>With patents, the devil is always in the details
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
While I am sure he gave many memorable speeches, Bill Clinton’s most famous statement as president may actually be the following: “It depends upon what the meaning of the word...
Read More >>1951 Chemistry in Canada
HISTORY
The post-Second World War period was boom time in Canada for the chemical manufacturing sector, with companies like Canadian Industries Ltd., or C-I-L, offering the latest in goods to an...
Read More >>Make a mint marketing the new wonder drug H2O
CHEMFUSION
Do we laugh or cry? According to its promoters, magnetized water cures all ailments. Despite the fact that water cannot be magnetized, website upon website sells various devices that claim...
Read More >>Shoot for the stars
POLICY PUNDIT
World-renowned mathematician and physicist Neil Turok, director of the Perimeter Institute for TheoreticalPhysics in Waterloo, Ont., discusses Canada’ s place in the emerging quantum age and the need for scientists...
Read More >>Demystify public misconceptions about chemistry
POLICY
With social media being the dominant mode of communication in the 21st century, celebrities, Twitter sound bites and sweeping simplistic slogans have usurped the general public’s confidence in scientists. “Natural...
Read More >>Don’t make patent promises that you can’t keep
INTELLECTUAL MATTERS
Late in 2013, many Canadian news outlets blared a headline similar to the one reported on the CBC’s website, “Eli Lilly Files $500M NAFTA Suit Against Canada Over Drug Patents.”...
Read More >>The Chemists’ War
HISTORY
The Second Battle of Ypres by Richard Jack was commissioned by the Canadian War Memorials Fund to commemorate the first major action of Canadian troops at the Western Front during...
Read More >>Start your day with a big cup of pseudoscience
CHEMFUSION
Let me tell you about my day. This morning, as soon as I turned on the car radio, I was treated to an ad for the “Legendary Pure Silver Angel...
Read More >>Marine natural products research threatened
ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY
The need for new biologically active compounds with applications as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals is undeniable. In the very near future, there is a serious risk that a significant number...
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