Categories
Chemistry

7 Science Valentines That ACTUALLY Work

Valentines. Nestled in the heart of the WORST month of the year, this perfunctory holiday excels at parting fools with their money. The only thing keeping this tradition alive is secret lobbying from industries that produce chocolate, jewelry and collector’s editions of Notting Hill. All of these things are close to worthless Valentines themselves are pretty […]

Categories
Biology Chemistry Physics

4 Apps That Turn YOU Into a Scientist

In case you hadn’t noticed, the universe is huge. There is just too much stuff going on. Scientific inquiry has shed light on particular areas, like gravity and bugs and how airplanes work, but there is still SO MUCH that we don’t understand. Think about the cure to cancer, or the exact number of times […]

Categories
General

Inbreeding And The Disgusted Expression on Your Face When You Read The Word ‘Inbreeding’

WAIT. THERE. RIGHT THERE. Hold that face. That disgusted grimace has roots in ancient genetics. You just received a directive from your DNA.  A roll of the dice I’m going to tell you a story about bad genes, but I need to give you a crash course in genetics first. Genetics, like dice, are governed by basic probability. You […]

Categories
General

Who Built the Food Pyramids?

TL;DR: the traditional food pyramid is wrong and places too much emphasis on foods like milk and grains. Although the revised one I’ve linked here is supposedly science-based and unaffected by business interests, it comes from Harvard, which, despite what you might think, isn’t a bastion of objectivity. You need to determine what is best for […]

Categories
General

The Best PowerPoint Presentation I’ve Ever Seen

On October 8th, Science Online Vancouver offered a workshop on how to improve presentation skills. Science Online Vancouver (@sciovan) is a group of science communication advocates, researchers, students and other scientists who convene online (and in pubs) to discuss science relations and communications. We also discuss fun and excessively nerdy things, like the molar mass […]