It turns out that if you thought that foetal lamb cells as a treatment for autism (& a range of other disorders & illnesses) was the pinnacle (or should that be ‘the depths’?) of silliness, you’d be wrong. Dr Huertgen has competition. It was previously believed that sheep were the best donor animals because of their […]
Continue readingMonth: July 2012
foetal lamb cells for autism? baaaah!
Orac posts a fair bit on various quack ‘treatments’ – some, like the use of so-called Miracle Mineral Solution (aka industrial bleach) for just about anything that ails you – are quite dreadful in their potential to do harm. (MMS’s latest outing was as a ‘treatment’ for autism – used as an enema!) One recent […]
Continue reading‘esoteric’ – you keep using that word…
…. and in the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: "I do not think it means what you think it means." At least, that’s what I thought when I came across this website (courtesy of PZ Myers & also discussed on various Australian media sites, although I’m not sure that I’m grateful as now I need to […]
Continue readingmoss s*x and springtails
Sexual reproduction in flowering plants is often mediated by the birds & the bees (& other animal agents), but up until now the life cycle has appeared much simpler in plants like the mosses. Until fairly recently it was generally accepted that moss sex was a case of ‘just add water’: this released sperm from […]
Continue readingfirst supertrees – now super domes
After goggling (a mixture of gobsmacked & ogling) the supertrees, our little party of escapees from the day’s official IBO program made our way into the Flower Dome, the first of the two great conservatories in Singapore’s Gardens in the Bay. Cue more ‘oh, wow!’ moments as the scale of the building became apparent – […]
Continue readingsingapore’s stupendous supertrees
I’ve just got back from the 2011 International Biology Olympiad. Our team did well – Richard Chou received a silver medal; Sumin Yoon & Evelyn Qian won bronzes, & Eddie McTaggart was awarded a Certificate of Merit. So well done, all round! It was a testing time for our students, who were competing against the […]
Continue readinga letter from exotic places
Once again my good intentions to get back into a more regular blogging cycle have been stymied – although this time the reasons are all good. For I am in Singapore, at the 2012 International Biology Olympiad. Fifty-nine different countries have sent students to compete in this prestigious competition, supported by senior academics & teachers. […]
Continue readingmore on active learning in the biology classroom
This is a piece I first wrote for Talkingteaching 🙂 Yesterday I was up in Auckland at Scicon (the national secondary science teachers’ conference. There’ve been some great presentations, including a lovely on on bioluminescence by fellow sciblogger Siouxsie Wiles (did you know that our very own NZ glow worms mate for hours & then […]
Continue readingdivergent views on the importance of critical thinking
Regular readers will know that I spend quite a bit of time rioting about critical thinking: what it is, why it’s important, how to develop the relevant skills in our students. In fact, I tell my own students that one of the most important things they’ll gain from their time at uni is the ability […]
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