http://www.blue-genes.net Young Scientists Discuss Both Good and Bad Science Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:49:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The book I’m reviewing today, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, is a bestseller, and deserves its popularity - it is an enthralling story and a fantastic piece of popular science writing, the first time I have seen bioethics presented in such an engaging manner. It tells the ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2011/07/henrietta-lack/ I recently watched a harrowing documentary, The Cove. It documents a covert operation to film the regular slaughter of dolphins left in a cove after a drive hunt to capture dolphins for marine mammal parks. Dolphins are intelligent creatures and their meat is not usually intentionally eaten by humans. Purely anecdotally, ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2010/03/bbc-says-dolphins-emit-chi/ Does it matter what swine flu is called? The 2009 outbreak of non-seasonal influenza, which is classified as  A(H1N1) according to its type of core protein and surface antigens, has popularly been referred to as 'swine flu' throughout the English-speaking world, and equivalent phrases in other languages - for example la ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2010/01/a-swine-by-any-other-name/ The World Health Organization (WHO) is a globally respected co-ordinating body for international public health. Its publications and recommendaitons bring together reliable evidence from across the globe and governments often act accordingly, budget permitting. Of course, as a UN agency, politics does enter into it in the sense that the ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2010/01/whos-afraid-of-flu/ Mavericks. People showing great independence of thought*. Some of the greatest discoveries in science have been made by mavericks. Nonsensical untruths have been promulgated by those very same mavericks. Mavericks stimulate the imagination - they lend themselves naturally as protagonists in a stimulating narrative, generating public interest. Heroes like Galileo and ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2009/12/a-most-controversial-man/ Enter Academician Academician: Welcome, one and all, to the 123rd meeting of the Skeptics' Circle. Hat tip to one of the most important men ever to stand up and say 'Er...hang on' for tonight's theme: Galileo Galilei. He wrote his thesis on the shape of the solar system in the ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2009/11/the-123rd-congregation-of-the-skeptics-circle/ The end of October is upon us, with the imminent approach of demons stalking the night and magical changing clocks. Fear not, however, because this year we've got something special to brighten up your autumn. The fifth of November will be a day to remember, not just for bonfire enthusiasts ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2009/10/carnival-carnival-submissions-to-the-123rd-skeptics-circle/ Today saw the release of the paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine containing the hotly awaited data concerning the HIV vaccine trial that took place in Thailand. There was already some discussion of the initial results, which were reported in September and discussed by Colin, amongst others. ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2009/10/the-hiv-vaccine-trial-results-are-out-onwards-and-upwards-chaps/ What can conferences achieve? Why do we go to the great expense of holding them? I have been to two conferences in two weekends, and they could not possibly have been more different. TAM London 2009 was a meeting aimed at humanists, skeptics, scientists and atheists. There were many notable, highly entertaining ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2009/10/can-a-conference-change-the-world/ Most denizens of the interwebs (at least of this corner of the interwebs) will have heard the announcement that the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine will be given to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak for their work on telomeres - the structures found at the ends ... http://www.blue-genes.net/2009/10/understanding-cancer-part-2-%e2%80%93-telomerase-the-road-to-immortality-and-the-nobel-prize/