Seal meat is on the menu at Parliament

Let's hear it for Stephen Harper! He's finally made an obvious statement of support for the seal hunt: seal meat is now on the menu at the Parliamentary restaurant.

I'm pleased that the government is supporting this important part of Canadian history. This is a a step in the right direction for support of the seal hunt. I have to wonder, however, if this is a PR move based on the controversy that PETA has brought about.

Harper hasn't typically had a good relationship with First Nations peoples and also hasn't really had their support. It could be argued that this sudden acceptance of the seal hunt is a bid for votes, or maybe he really wants to support this way of life. I'm hoping for the latter.

Identity theft with a twist

It sounds like something out of a nightmare: "Girl finds dead mother hawking cure-all on Facebook." Helen Breimer died 9 months ago of cancer and her Facebook account was hacked to promote a "miracle cure-all" colon cleanser. The account has since been shut down but this is just one example of many of how commonplace identity theft is becoming.

The main point that I got out of this article was that this was just one case of many. Nothing particularly different or important happened in this case but it makes for a good story.

On the contrary dear readers, something important did happen. Shelby Breimer found her deceased mother's profile active and touting the importance of this "miracle" drug. The company, Teloxys Technologies Ltd, has yet to apologize and did not remove the content on its own and Facebook hasn't returned any of Shelby's calls.

The biggest question, for me anyway, would be how to seek justice. A person's privacy has been violated here and no one seems to be willing to do anything about it. How well does this reflect on Facebook and why do none of the news stories seem to have picked up on this?

Sustainable cooking - an oxymoron?

The Brighter Planet has just launched a contest à la Julie-Julia Project to "Master the Art of Sustainable Cooking." I'm both intrigued and skeptical.

It's a great contest idea both for raising awareness of carbon footprint reduction/conservation and for challenging people to think more about what they eat. I'm pleased to see that they've launched the contest right at the beginning of the fall season when food is still plentiful from farmer's markets and relatively easy to get locally. The types of foods that are readily available are also low-effort foods (you don't have to do too much to prepare them).

What I'm really wondering is if people would be willing to stick with the challenge during the winter months when local food isn't as easy to get and when people are craving higher fat foods that require more preparation and more ingredients.

All right, I'll bite. For the month of October, I'm going to try to follow all of the tips listed in the contest, paying particular attention to getting foods from local sources.

Wish me luck.

Howling to the wolves

I was recently fortunate enough to participate in one of Algonquin Park's most famous activities: the wolf howl. According to the report, the wolf howl that I attended was the only one this year to get a response from the guides' calls by wolves.

Apart from anything else, I was very impressed with the level of organization from the staff. Although there was a relatively small group for the howl (around 600 people) the staff were more than ready to leap into action and help everyone out.

The naturalists were knowledgeable about wolf ecology and were able to explain it in a way that everyone was able to understand. All in all, it was a great event to raise awareness of wolves and to help combat people's prejudice against these amazing predators.

Ingenuity for sale

Being the uber biology nerd that I am, Gmail often suggests sites that I should check out and most of these are biology-related. This little gem, on the other hand, is completely chemistry.

Made with Molecules, Raven Hanna's brain child, uses recycled materials and local sources for her jewellery and clothing designs. The part that I love the most is the integration of molecular images and art. Who would've thought that ethanol could look so elegant or that oxytocin could look so cuddly?

I have to admire Hanna who decided to do something that she loves and make it into a viable and thriving business. It makes me want to take a page from her book, but I don't really think that anyone would pay me excessively for drawing ducks.

Oh well, there's always PR as a fallback.

Where have the writers gone?

An article in The Toronto Star caught my eye recently, it was written by a member of the Associated Press regarding a new study that found that a jockey's riding style can cut a horse's race time by 5-7%. Although the topic is very interesting to me, what really caught my eye was the fact that the scientific paper in question was briefly summarized but the most important part was left out: how does a jockey *actually* do it? (The answer, by the way, is by balancing their weight and springing with the horse, a jockey is able to propel the horse forward, much like a child on a swing.)

After some sleuthing on my part, I finally came up with a similar article from the New York Times, written by a staff member, which actually details the findings of the paper and even delves a little into the practical implications of the findings. I guess it boils down to this: why did The Star decide that it was okay to print an incomplete article quickly instead of taking the time that the New York Times invested and having a complete, well-rounded article?

The argument could be made that money is the main problem, but all that I seem to be hearing in the news is about the job cuts that are being made to American papers. So why was this acceptable? The geographic area for the Toronto Star includes two large race tracks: Woodbine and Mohawk, so it's not as though racing wouldn't be of interest.

So I find myself questioning again, why is this acceptable?

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese

Early birds may get the worm, but people who sleep in have more mental stamina than early risers. According to Dr Peigneux's findings, people who get up later are able to keep their energy levels steady and are able to focus for longer periods of time. People who fell into the "early risers" category got up between 5am and 6am and people who were considered to be "late risers" got up around noon.


The really interesting issue that this article brought up for me is the social stigma that people who sleep in are lazy and don't want to work. Is this really the case or do these people just have different circadian rythms? I know I'm definitely not an early bird - I tend to wake up fully around 10am, so should I try to keep resetting my 'clock' to the average work day timing or should I just give up and go with what my body tells me to do?


Kinda makes stop and think about how more effective you could be at doing your job or just about anything if you were to follow your circadian rhythm instead of following the societal norm.


I wonder does this mean I can convince my boss to shift my work hours?