In the Herald today (I’m not picking on them! It’s just that this is our morning paper) is a headline: Having sons will turn fathers right-wing, study suggests. The ensuing item is from a UK research project that also suggest that if a man has daughters, his voting preferences will trend to the left. (Presumably someone with […]
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science communication is fun!
In a couple of weeks it’ll be time for Fieldays again. We’ve lived in Hamilton for 13 years now, but last year was the first time I’d ever been out to this major agricultural event. And I went out there every day – because I’d been closely involved in the development of the Univesity’s stand […]
Continue readingonly in mice…
Just a quickie & a link: Ben Goldacre’s got an interesting post on the total misreporting of several bits of research, in the UK media. (Having read one of the ‘news’ items, on ‘man-flu’, I have to say that in that case the reporter was pointed in the right direction by the researchers themselves. But […]
Continue readingbad doctors, mad scientists, & evil big pharma
At least, that’s how those working in medicine/health were characterised in a letter to one of our local papers. The writer seems to see the whole vaccines/pandemic warnings issue as a conspiracy to drive up profits for doctors, scientists, & pharmaceutical companies. Personally I always thought doctors & health researchers were in the business of helping […]
Continue readingviral s*x
Well, viral recombination anyway. I mentioned in an earlier post that viruses can pick up sections of DNA from each other, while within the host’s cells. Now ERV has a post on this, in a lot more detail (& really well explained – she is a great science communicator!).
Continue readingthin pickings again, I’m afraid
By the time you read this I’ll be on the way down to Palmerston North (to give a public lecture & a seminar & talk with students); all that travel & chat leaves little time for blogging, although if I get a bit of time between talks I’ll see if I can pull something together […]
Continue readingmusings on hansen’s disease
Some years ago I read the whole series of ‘Thomas Covenant’ books by Stephen Donaldson. (I have to say that I found them a bit overblown – & I got seriously annoyed with the protagonist, Covenant, on more than one occasion.) Anyway, one of the plot lines was that Covenant suffered from Hansen’s disease – […]
Continue readinga contemporary issue for you to consider: chemotherapy
Or rather, why people may choose not to go with chemotherapy as a cancer treatment. Orac has a great post on this. The context: a sad case in the US where a 13-year-old has rejected chemo for a cancer (Hodgkins lymphoma) where chemo has an excellent track record in terms of cure/remission. The underlying motivations […]
Continue readinga brief hiatus in service
It’s been hectic at work lately (in fact, things seem to be that way most of the time!) & tomorrow I’m off to Taranaki with my Dean & the VC for a couple of days. Why? To meet with teachers & principals of schools there, so that we can find out more about the needs […]
Continue readingmore on swine flu
My students & I have talked a bit about swine flu (sorry, Human Influenza A H1N1) in classes over the last week. Probably a lot of other teachers are doing the same thing. Anyway, I’ve come across a rather nice post on the subject by uni lecturer in the US, which anyone interested in the […]
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