Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

(Aug 27, 2025 02:05 AM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]"When chocolate first reached Switzerland in the 17th century, it was not the sweet comfort food we know today. It was exotic, dark, and suspicious. Priests even warned parishioners that drinking too much of this bitter brew could tempt the soul just like wine or lust. In certain folktales, chocolate was whispered about as a devil’s bargain, something that stirred passions and weakened restraint.

Yet at the same time, merchants claimed it was powerful medicine. They boasted that it gave strength, sharpened the mind, and even improved virility. The push and pull between indulgence and morality played out in village squares and pulpits alike, giving chocolate an almost mythical aura.

What fascinates me is how quickly the story flipped. By the 19th century, pioneers like Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé transformed chocolate into something entirely new by creating milk chocolate. What was once branded as a sinful temptation became a source of national pride. Switzerland went from warning its people against chocolate to becoming the global symbol of it.

To me, that transformation is remarkable. It feels like Switzerland made peace with its “devilish” indulgence and then turned it into its sweetest identity. Whenever I bite into a square of Swiss chocolate, I can’t help but think about that history. Something once feared as dangerous is now celebrated as the very heart of Swiss culture."

I can't remember the last time I ate something that contained real chocolate. Everything these days seems to be topped with, filled with, or even wholly constituted of that ersatz stuff (almond bark).

"In 1922, a team of scientists arrived at the Toronto General Hospital, where wards were filled with children suffering from advanced diabetes. Many of the young patients were in diabetic comas, teetering on the edge of death from ketoacidosis. Others were barely surviving on starvation diets—then the only known way to slow the disease. Parents sat helplessly by their children's bedsides, waiting for the inevitable.

Then something extraordinary happened. The scientists went from bed to bed, injecting each child with a new purified extract called insulin. As they reached the last child, still unconscious, the very first child they had treated began to stir. One by one, the children awoke, emerging from their comas. What had been a ward filled with grief and despair transformed into a room overflowing with relief and joy.

This groundbreaking moment was the result of tireless work by Frederick Banting and Charles Best, under the guidance of John Macleod at the University of Toronto. With James Collip’s help, they refined and purified insulin, making it viable for widespread medical use. Rather than profit from their discovery, Banting, Best, and Collip sold the patent to the University of Toronto for just one dollar, believing it belonged to the world. In 1923, Banting and Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize in recognition of their life-saving breakthrough."

It was everywhere we went. It was awful. Even the cars had lighters and ashtrays. So why did so many people smoke back then? Big tobacco brainwashed us all. Smoking was constantly presented in ads and in movies to look cool and sophisticated. All the tough guys and gals did it. And growing up back then who didn't want to look tough? For decades all the evidence of smoking's harmful effects was suppressed by the tobacco industry and rich corporate lobbies. And so we ended up a society of hacking, leather-skinned, smelly nicotine junkies. Fortunately my parents never did smoke, for which I remain forever grateful. But even today all is not well. My apt bans all smoking from the apts and only allows it to happen 50 ft away. So all the smokers now stand around in the parking lot every hour or so spreading their carcinogens into the outdoor breeze. I always get a good whiff or two going to my car and back. The noxious legacy of Big Tobacco lingers on.

"How Big Tobacco Brainwashed The Public"

https://www.brut.media/us/videos/economy...Ag5sfWU-gQ

Thank you science! Thank you for all the vaccines and medications and health/dietary advice and surgeries not to mention warm houses in winter and clean running water and soap and insecticides and agriculture and homogenized milk and textiles and cars to get around easily and quickly in and appliances and ambulance rides and debit cards and online shopping and all this spare time that I have now that I don't know what the hell to do with. lol

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2279857705783495

Norman Rockwell the "revolutionary"?

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1471435974124567

The strange death of President Zachary Taylor..

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Fb6ISYor28k

A brief history of American rebellions...

https://yesterdaysamerica.com/protesting...n-history/

"During the filming of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), there was one night when the wild, campy chaos turned deeply human — and it centered on Tim Curry.

It was during the climactic scene where Dr. Frank-N-Furter, after all his flamboyance and madness, sings “I’m Going Home.” The moment was meant to be theatrical, even ironic — but Curry transformed it into something heartbreakingly real. The cameras rolled, the lights dimmed, and suddenly, the laughter on set faded.

As he began to sing, Curry dropped all pretense of parody. His voice cracked slightly on the word “home,” and he stood there — stripped of costume glamour, makeup running, tears forming. Crew members later said you could feel the room change, as if everyone realized the performance wasn’t just Frank’s farewell — it was Curry’s raw confession of isolation.

When the take ended, no one spoke. Director Jim Sharman finally said, almost in a whisper, “That’s it. That’s the heart of the film.”

Susan Sarandon, watching from behind the monitor, later said, “It wasn’t camp anymore. It was human. For a moment, Tim wasn’t playing a character — he was showing us the ache behind the sparkle.”

Curry himself later reflected, “Everyone saw Frank as outrageous, but to me, he was just lonely. ‘I’m Going Home’ wasn’t about space or time — it was about wanting to be seen for who you really are, even once.”

That take stayed in the final film. And in a movie famous for its glitter and rebellion, that scene — a broken soul singing through the pain — became its most unforgettable moment of truth."

"In 1959, a psychiatric hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan became the setting for one of the strangest experiments in psychology. Three men arrived with the same unshakeable belief. Each one was certain he was Jesus Christ, each one convinced that the other two were confused. Doctors wondered what would happen if these men were placed together and encouraged to interact day after day.

The hospital arranged group sessions where the three sat in the same room, spoke about their identities, and challenged one another’s stories. Conversations bounced between calm reasoning and heated arguments as each tried to prove his truth. Instead of changing their minds, the men often created new explanations to defend their beliefs, turning the sessions into a mix of confusion, logic, and unexpected humor. The experiment highlighted how powerful personal realities can be, even when directly contradicted.

Their unusual meetings drew attention within the hospital and eventually caught the interest of psychologist Milton Rokeach, who documented everything. In 1964, he released a book titled The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, capturing the strange, sometimes uncomfortable, and often fascinating interactions between the three men. The story remains one of the most controversial case studies in the history of mental health research."