Critical Thinking

A Journey into “AI Psychosis”

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:58:59 +0000

I was chatting with a friend the other day, telling him I felt there was a deeper layer to reality. He thought it was fascinating, and among the many ideas he rattled off was the hypothesis that the universe is a simulation.

I told him I was noticing repeating numbers everywhere, and while he did mention the frequency illusion—once something is brought to your attention, you’re more likely to notice it—he also talked about angel numbers. I mentioned I could hear a faint humming sound at night, like a signal. He put forward the possibility of vibrational information.

How Many Lives Do Amber Alerts Really Save?

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:17:43 +0000

On Sunday, March 22nd of this year, a large swath of the population in Quebec was woken up at 4:25 as cell phones lit up and screamed. An Amber alert had been broadcast.

Lessons in Going Slow: Vaccination Schedules, Tuberculosis, and What Happens When Faster Isn’t Always Better

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Earlier this year, the United States dramatically scaled back its universal childhood immunisation schedule recommendations. Under an overhaul spearheaded by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the number of diseases for which vaccines are universally recommended dropped from 17 to 11. Vaccines for polio and measles remain on the list, but others—like hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and Covid-19—are now recommended based on risk or “shared clinical decision-making” between doctors and parents.

You Can’t Beat Beets!

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 12:36:31 +0000

It doesn’t matter how good a video or an article is if you can’t get people to watch or read it. That’s why a lot of thought goes into coming up with a catchy title that grabs attention. In this case, since I’m talking about the possible health benefits of beets, the root vegetable, a headline just about writes itself. “You can’t beat beets.”

Putting Concerns About Weed Killer Glyphosate Into Perspective

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 03:14:05 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

TZLA Plasma Healing: The Anarcho-Capitalist Cure-All

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:36:35 +0000

“My age lowered by 25 years. And I’m still going, by the way. It’s incredible.”

A Simple Calculation to Determine the Quality of Your Diet

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 18:08:15 +0000

For about 300,000 years homo sapiens has been eating just about everything that seemed edible. Plants, grains, fruits as well as parts of any creature that walks, flies, swims or crawls has travelled down the esophagus. One would think that with all that experience we would have figured out what sort of diet is conducive to health. But here we are, 300,000 years later, talking about low carb diets, ketogenic diets, carnivore diets, low fat diets, vegan diets, flexitarian diets, intermittent fasting diets and a bevy of others.

Is Your Sauna Session Sabotaging Your Swimmers?

Sophie Tseng Pellar BSc — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 05:01:58 +0000

Over the past few months, a not insignificant number of my male friends have asked me (unprompted) whether going to the sauna is ruining their sperm. Bold questions. Intimate questions. But fair ones. Sauna culture has exploded in North America, and with it, men now face an understandable worry: is the sauna accidentally slow roasting fertility?

HIV/AIDS Denialism Is Back, Courtesy of Joe Rogan

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 18:21:09 +0000

Joe Rogan, the most influential podcaster globally, is an HIV-AIDS denialist. Imagine the backlash if the six o’clock news were espousing this decades-old, harmful pseudoscience front and centre.

When Your Phone Makes Time Disappear

Lia Erisson — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:41:46 +0000

When I think about the first few hours of my day, I picture myself getting up, making breakfast, picking out my outfit, and tidying my apartment. What I don’t often recall are the 30 or so minutes I spend doomscrolling on Instagram or playing video games as soon as I wake up. To be honest, that time barely registers as having existed at all.

In all likelihood, you have similar experiences in your day-to-day life.

BPC-157 – No Proof Required!

Patricia Brubaker, Ph.D., F.R.S.C. — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:20:08 +0000

The actions of the stomach are an important first step in the digestion of the food that we eat. This occurs in part through mechanical grinding of large ‘clumps’ of food into smaller pieces for passage into the intestines. However, cells that line the stomach also secrete a number of compounds into the gastric cavity. These include hydrochloric acid (HCl), as well as a number of complex proteins and a few much smaller proteins known as peptides.

White Noise May Worsen Sleep

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 20:40:01 +0000

Getting a good night’s sleep is paramount to health; and yet, whenever we reach for a sleep aid, we are told there are risks involved.

COP30: Reclaiming the Truth

Eva Kellner B.A.Sc. — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

On January 7th, 2026, Donald Trump explicitly withdrew the United States from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), along with 65 other organizations. His reasoning was that these organizations and treaties “no longer serve American interests.” This action is one of Trump’s many attacks on the integrity of climate change.

There are Lots of Longevity Regimens. One Stands out for Me

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 02:50:22 +0000

This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette.

Interesting Chemistry Hides in Cookware

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 13:57:51 +0000

Like most chemists, I like to cook. After all, what is cooking but the appropriate mixing of chemicals? In the lab we use flasks and beakers, but how do we equip our kitchen? Tiffany's in New York offers a silver frying pan for thousands of dollars, specialty stores sell gleaming copper pots for a couple of hundred, while a thin aluminum pot can be had most anywhere for a few dollars. What's the difference?