USASEF Expo Performer
kcollins | December 13, 2011By Joe Schwarcz PhD, Author, USASEF Expo Performer, AT&T Sponsored Nifty Fifty Program Speaker
Physicians today are unlikely to encounter "Gilder's palsy." Nor are they likely to diagnose a patient with "hatter's shakes." But prior to the twentieth century these ailments had to be considered when a patient presented with tremors, irritability, increased salivation and fatigue. In the case of the hatters, the culprit was mercury nitrate used to produce felt. Beaver and rabbit fur, the traditional materials for making felt, can be matted more easily when the pelts are first treated with…
kcollins | September 30, 2011By: Joe Schwarcz PhD
Author, USASEF Expo Performer and AT&T Sponsored Nifty Fifty Program Speaker
"Do you have any liquids, gels or powdered fruit drinks?" Except for the powdered fruit drinks, such questions have become routine at airports. But back on July 10, 2006 I had no idea why I was being asked this bizarre question. Why would the agent be concerned about my toiletry and dietary habits? I couldn't make heads or tails of it. The only connection with flight that sprang to mind was with Tang, the orange-flavoured crystals that John Glenn took along on his orbital mission in 1962…