Archive for December 2009

Is Deep Impact About to Happen?

Is our Earth doomed by asteroid collisions?
Remember the Hollywood action flicks Deep Impact and Armageddon? Space missions were launched to try and avoid catastrophic collisions with an asteroid.
Will that be happening in real life?
Scientists say it is probable. Eventually.
When Apophis, a 270-metre wide asteroid, was first discovered in 2004, astronomers estimated the chances of [...]

Cost of Food

What is the true cost of getting food from farmland to kitchen tables?
In major cities of North America, it seems so easy. I have 2 major grocery stores 2 blocks from my home. I can easily walk to one of them in almost any kind of weather and buy whatever my palate desires. Better yet, [...]

Technology – Some Wins, Some Losses

A couple from Nevada, travelling through the high desert of Eastern Oregon, got stuck in snow for almost three days when their GPS unit sent them down a remote forest road.
It sounds like the problem was that the GPS gave them a “shortest route” option that did not take into account winter conditions.
Two things saved [...]

Masquerading Food

Venison or Beef? Sturgeon caviar or Mississippi paddlefish eggs? Cheese made from goat’s milk or cow’s milk?
Those are the types of questions asked by two grade 12 students from a school in Manhattan. They got their answers from a unique Canadian DNA technology that can quickly identify numerous mislabelled food products.
Once you answer the questions [...]

Ice Plus Hill Equals Slippery Slope

Should manufacturers be allowed to add cancer-fighting enzymes to processed foods?
That is the question that this post at The Toronto Star is saying the Government is asking.
The additive in question is already permitted in the United States, Australia, China, Russia, Denmark, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
Health Canada will accept public comments on [...]

Marshmallows and Campsites

It is actually a bit cool for camping right now (I live in Canada, and there is snow on the ground as I type this) but I saw one of these in the store while I was Christmas shopping yesterday.
Yep. A battery operated marshmallow stick!
Even handles 3 marshmallows at once.
Just does not seem right to [...]

Bisphenol A and Sex Toys

Regular readers know that I have written about bisphenol A a number of times, the most recent being here. Its use in food containers has been linked to health issues in humans. Happily, a number of governments have banned its use in materials that are used to create food containers and similar items.
Two sisters that [...]

Seatbelts

A sad report in the Toronto Star this morning.
Around 1:20 a.m., as she headed west on Wilson Ave., a woman slammed her silver Volkswagen into the back of a parked TTC bus. The bus was empty and had broken down. The driver had parked in the curb lane, turned on the hazard lights and left [...]

Men and Doctors

I do not know if it has ever been scientifically proven, but it seems that men go to their doctor much less consistently than women.
Grandpa Richard is no exception. I am not sure, but I think my last complete physical was about 5 years ago. Considering that men over 50 should be doing that at [...]

What Matters Now

As Seth Godin says, “Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up.”
Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around. I hope a new ebook I’ve organized will get you started on that path. It took months, but [...]