Can successful investors distinguish good science from utter nonsense? If they are not knowledgeable about what bit of quackery has been debunked, they may just fall for it when it is repackaged. You may be puzzled by the metal clips that seemingly give you more strength, but the way to pull off this trick is simpler than you think. My latest Cracked Science segment for the McGill Office for Science and Society.  

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If you've been following the story of liberation therapy for MS, we have now come to what is conceivably the end. Eight years after the original W5 segment made this dubious MS treatment widely popular, the scientific evidence is in. Read the full story in the Montreal Gazette here: http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-myth-of-liberation-therapy-fo... ********************************************************************************************************************************************** Well, it's finally over. It took eight years, but I think we might actually be done. Liberation therapy will hopefully fade into obscurity as…

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  A Christmas-themed delivery and Stanley-Kubrick-directed opening skit lead Chris and Jonathan to discuss the worth of chemotherapy. Do doctors themselves refuse chemo, and is chemotherapy only effective in 2% of cases? You may be surprised to find out the origin of the latter myth in the Worst Paper Ever (possibly). Also, Jonathan makes Chris cry; will doctors stop stenting stable angina; and Jonathan's interview with Dr. Steven Novella on the importance of the narrative…

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  Arctic Apples are genetically engineered to not brown when you cut into them. Some people are worried that the technology involved in this engineering feat could have negative repercussions on our health, and there's a study that seems to back these fears up. Should we be worried... or is it a case of bad science? My latest video for the McGill Office for Science and Society.  

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"The winner of our 'Canada's Favourite Blog for 2017' contest was Body of Evidence, run by scientists keen on cutting through the prolific medical misinformation found on the Internet. Take a quick look at their site and you'll find many ways to administer your regular dose of medical news-blog post, podcast, or video. Doctor Chris Labos and biological scientist Jonathan Jarry manage this powerhouse site on top of their regular jobs. By day, Chris is a…

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  As a lead up to the holiday season, I wrote a short piece for the CBC blog about the dangers of alcohol consumption. You can read it here: http://www.cbc.ca/life/wellness/holiday-heart-and-other-drinking-health-... ************************************************************************ Most people these days are well aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as the career ending potential of drunken displays, alcohol can bring with it a number of health hazards that don't make the headlines. While the long-term benefits of…

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  A conversation with Trevor Butterworth of Sense About Science USA and Adam Oliver Brown of the University of Ottawa on art, science, education, and communication. Topics covered include the use of design in statistics; the silos of academia; false balance in science journalism and recent improvements; how science experts end up in the media; students sneaking into scicomm workshops; apartment design in NYC; the original PhD; Jon Snow, Florence Nightingale and Da Vinci walk…

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My latest Cracked Science segment for the McGill Office for Science and Society. This one gives you superpowers! How can you identify the bad arguments used to sell you natural cures that don't work? Watch to find out!  

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As some of you might now, I help out with a project called Health News Review that reviews how the media covers medical news. We review news stories and press releases according to see if the news coverage is accurate and free of sometimes exuberant language. This story from a CBS affiliate in Minneapolis is about a new cardiology-testing clinic that put one reporter though a battery of tests. How much of it was necessary?…

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  A hotly debated trial at a recent cardiology conference has many people questioning the value of opening up blocked arteries in patients with stable angina.   While the evidence for acute heart attacks is pretty clear, what to do with these low risk patients is not. Enter the ORBITA trial, a rare placebo controlled trial of a common intervention.   Read the story here: http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/opinion-orbita-angioplasty-trial-provides-food-for-thought *********************************************************************************************************************************   If you’ve been following the news lately,…

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