THAMNO

With Christmas approaching fast, I went to have a look at the brand-new Christmas decorations at the world-famous Toronto Eaton Centre. What I found was surprising, and disappointing.

A stroll around the newly constructed green roof on top of the podium surrounding the council chamber of Toronto’s New City Hall.

It was predictable. After an exceptionally mild winter in Toronto, the beloved cherry blossoms in High Park were early this year, drawing huge crowds, happy smiles and many picture takers.

Apple’s recently launched iPad, a supposedly revolutionary device, but while some people were enthusiastic, many others were quite underwhelmed. People in Japan however, have been using Ipads for around six years, in the form of adult diapers.

The Netherlands Bazaar is a biennial charity event organized to collect funds to help needy people of Dutch extraction. It is also a good opportunity to learn more about an important and often invisible part of Canadian society.

People are becoming increasingly afraid of “germs” on their food. Conventional wisdom has it that food is a natural product, and as a result, contamination with (harmful) micro-organisms is unavoidable. Japanese companies have found a solution.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Toronto, with temperatures of up to 9.6C. An ideal day for the yearly unofficial start of spring, with the traditional St. Patrick’s Day Parade. All things green were “in” yesterday, and something not-so-green as well.

At 2 am this morning, the clocks were changed to 3 am. From now on, it will be light and dark an hour later.

A nanotechnology swimsuit that cannot get wet, has just been unveiled by Solestrom International, a company that also pioneered swimsuits with built-in protection against UV rays.

Renowned biologist Richard Dawkins talks with oncologist Michael Baum about complementary and alternative medicine, about their uses and their dangers.