There's an increasing body of literature demonstrating the benefits of active learning for tertiary students taking science subjects. This is a topic I've written about before, but I'm always interested in reading more on the subject. And let's face it, the more evidence the better, when you're wanting to get lecturers in the sciences engaged […]
Continue readingCategory: new science stories
fascinating stories of dna, and the kiwi’s close cousin uncovered
On Monday I was lucky enough to attend a lecture by Alan Cooper, director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA and one of the authors on a very recent paper that provides a new view of kiwi evolution (Mitchell et al., 2014). It was a fascinating & wide-ranging talk that started with a bit […]
Continue readingdissecting the predictable (in this case, ffnz on broadbent et al)
A paper just out by Broadbent et al (2014) describes research which used data from a 38-year-long longitudinal study of Dunedin children to examine claims that exposure to fluoride in childhood has a negative effect on children's IQ. The paper found these claims wanting, and thus – quite predictably – it's now subject to attack […]
Continue readingan anti-fluoride view: democracy is ok as long as it delivers what we want
At least, that's how it sounds in this Waikato Times report on the first day of presentations relating to submissions on Hamilton City Council's draft annual plan. One of those submitting was quoted as saying The democratic argument is flawed in this instance. Sometimes democracy is not enough, we need wise leadership. Democracy is a dangerous […]
Continue readingcommunity water fluoridation is scientifically sound – high court judgement
We've been waiting a while for the High Court judgement on the scientific validity of community water fluoridation, and that judgement is now available. And it supports the science – see this report on the OneNews webpage. (Hamilton City Council, please take note.) The following content is from the Science Media Centre website: Court rejects fluoridation […]
Continue readingfluoride-cancer claims exaggerated? it looks that way
My friend & blog-buddy Grant drew my attention to a story about osteosarcoma at stuff.co.nz – and to the comments section, where one commenter raised the issue of a claimed link between this rare form of cancer and community water fluoridation (CWF). This particular claim has surfaced quite a lot lately, as anti-fluoride groups target […]
Continue readingsecrets from an ancient graveyard
One of my current favourite TV programs is Time Team – I enjoy learning little bits of history & Tony Robinson's happy enthusiasm is so contagious (but I still think of him as Baldrick). So you'll understand that I was happily distracted this morning when, while looking for something else (isn't that usually the way?), […]
Continue readingselecting for maladaptive behaviour
One of the questions that often comes up in my first-year bio classes relates to natural selection and human evolution. Does the fact that modern medical science keeps alive people who in previous centuries might have died, mean that we're countering the effects of natural selection? As you can imagine, this generates quite a lot […]
Continue readingbicep-flexing & s*xual selection
When I was a kid, we’d all look forward to Friday evenings – because Dad & Grandma would come back from town with the weekly supply of comics. The ads in the back were almost as good as the cartoons, although we were very disappointed to find out that sea monkeys were definitely not as […]
Continue readingancient jewelry
I don’t own much jewelry – probably because I’m not often inclined to wear it. And what I do have is mostly old, passed down from my mother & her mother before her. Old, but not anywhere near the age of the find reported in PLoS ONE by Marco Peresani and his colleagues (2013). The […]
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