Ophelia, the gluten-free craze (=gluten-free eating by people who don't have Celiac) has just been refuted by the researcher who set that wave of craziness in motion. He examined the methodology of his original research, found it unsatisfactory, redid the experiment under more stringent conditions, and failed to repeat the results of the first experiment. Failed completely, thoroughly. I love this story because it is not a story of fighting factions and special interests, but a story of a researcher, who, being what a true scientist should be, never stops to doubt.

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I can tell you why I don't chop onions myself - they make me cry hard, and no tricks help that. So I either chop leeks, which I call my tearfree shampoo, or buy chopped onions at Safeway (the regular grocery store chain of the West Coast). I prefer leeks, because the store-bought chopped onions are not chopped finely enough, but sometimes laziness wins over. But literally I tried every trick before I gave up. I tried chopping onions while holding a piece of bread between my teeth. I tried refrigerating for half an hour before chopping. I don't remember what else I tried, but I remember how stupid I felt tring to prevent that piece of bread from melting into my mouth (I could not stop the saliva from forming). The idea wS that a piece of bread positioned underneath the nose will absorb whatever it is that is causing tears before it enters the nose. Didn't work.