How would you feel if genome analysis revealed you were predisposed to “early sudden death” from vascular disease? Less hungry for chips? Determined to blow all your savings in Vegas and have as much sex as the day is long? And what if a message in your inbox from a lab in sunny California coldly […]
The secret to longevity
Originally published in December 2010 in Chatelaine
What do most major life-threatening illnesses have in common? It’s not genetics or lifestyle, but chronic inflammation. Fighting this silent fire within will not only help you live longer, it will help you live better. Read on to find out how to tame the flame Women are strong. Our immune systems respond better to trauma […]
Should smoking on patios be banned?
Originally published in July 2010 in OpenFile.ca
A Toronto-based scientist has renewed calls for a smoking ban on patios, saying that outdoor smoking at restaurants still poses a serious health risk — as serious as indoor smoking, which was banned four years ago. Roberta Ferrence points to several new studies that show the dangers posed by outdoor tobacco smoke to servers and […]
Let there be light
Originally published in June 2009 in Canadian Geographic
Like a lot of people, Doug Welch gets a kick out of watching stuff blow up. We’re not talking about fiery crashes orchestrated by some B movie director holding a can of gasoline. Think bigger — the sort of KABOOM that could jostle the USS Enterprise off course and make Captain Kirk and company wince […]
Cattle Battle
Originally published in June 2001 in The Globe and Mail
The Walkerton crisis brought the problem of manure in streams to urgent attention. Now, a cow-watching Ontario scientist says we’ve been looking at it all wrong Ever since seven people died and thousands more fell ill in Walkerton, Ont., after drinking water contaminated with bacteria from runoff from farms, the study of cows, cow pies […]
