Creation Science Fair - the first place for elementary level was won by Cassidy Turnbull, who demonstrated the differences between her uncle and a monkey. Much more impressive was the winner of the high school level who used prayer to make microbes evolve antibiotic resistance. I, for one, am glad that children across the world are learning the power of Creation Science! (via New Scientist)
posted by adrianhon
on Aug 28, 2003 -
32 comments
The Public Library of Science has been getting some good press lately.
An Editorial at the Sacramento Bee,
The New Scientist,
Washington Post and
The Boston Globe, have all written up The PLoS, the organization founded by a Nobel Prize-winning biologist and two colleagues, is plotting the overthrow of the system by which scientific results are made known to the world -- a $9 billion publishing juggernaut with subscription charges that range into thousands of dollars per year.
They are committed to making the world's scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource. Check it out at
publiclibraryofscience.org.
posted by Blake
on Aug 19, 2003 -
5 comments
Health Physics Instrumentation Collection. A shoe-fitting fluoroscope,
Geiger Mueller detectors,
civil defence items,
atomic movie posters,
radioactive quack cures,
radiation warning signs, etc.
Much more in the way of historical scientific instrumentation at the
University of Toronto Museum of Scientific Instuments : exhibits on
psychology,
acoustics, and
early electron microscopy; more in
the collections.American Artifacts has some interesting articles and illustrations on antique scientific and medical instruments, such as
these quack eye massagers.
posted by plep
on Aug 17, 2003 -
10 comments
Anxious? Depressed? - you need more
brain cells. Just take one of
these twice a day.
New research shows that antidepressants may not work as we
thought at all, rather they actually stimulate growth of cells in the hippocampus area of the brain. This may all be for the good - but it seems strange that we release millions of happy pills and market them as safe without knowing for sure what they do. Perhaps its the
money talking.
posted by grahamwell
on Aug 9, 2003 -
75 comments
Fourmilab Switzerland is a large and diverse site created and maintained by John Walker, co-creator of AutoCAD and founder of Autodesk, Inc. A few sub-sites have been mentioned here over the years, but there is plenty to explore -- ranging from free computing utilities, science tools, a diet plan, original fiction and educational texts, to a page on
RetroPsychoKinesis: influencing the past with your mind.
posted by ewagoner
on Aug 8, 2003 -
4 comments
Seal kills scientist A British scientist has been killed by a leopard seal whilst snorkelling in Antarctica.
I had no idea that a seal could (or would) attack a human. These things can grow to 23ft long! They are known to feed on penguins, but a human is a fair bit bigger than a penguin, so this is one nasty animal, not the doe-eyed creature we coo over in nature programmes...
posted by jontyjago
on Jul 24, 2003 -
45 comments
They’re a little like
Operation. Today students can practice all sorts of skills on surgical models like
TraumaMan®, the
Hillway Man, or
Geri, the Geriatric, who comes complete with wrinkles. There’s
spinal surgery,
gall bladder surgery,
ultrasound/amniocentesis,
suturing, and
casualty kits. Some of them give me the I’m-a-silly-git giggles and naming a company Limbs & Things doesn't help. There’s the
head with all sorts of
things wrong with it, including
“Extraneous Lumps”. The
toe with refills is pretty nifty, but
disturbingly life-like. There are
strap-ons and
table-top models.
(Possibly NSFW) Some could make interesting
conversation pieces.
(Also poss. NSFW)
In addition, Somso, maker of the “dial-a-prostate” model above, also makes interesting non-interactive models like this
fandex of a head, a
larynx with tongue, or a
fingertip. They also have
neat models of
animals,
fungi, and
flowers.
posted by lobakgo
on Jul 23, 2003 -
7 comments
Today the
British government released a
major report on the safety of genetically modified foods. According to
New Scientist, "existing genetically modified crops and foods pose a 'very low' risk to human health and are 'very unlikely' to rampage through the British countryside", but
others disagree.
posted by turbodog
on Jul 21, 2003 -
58 comments
One egg, one month. Seemed like such a simple, comprehensible system - until now. "We are literally going to have to re-write medical textbooks," said Dr. Roger Pierson. Turns out many women may ovulate more than once a month, which may be why the rhythm method fails so often.
posted by soyjoy
on Jul 9, 2003 -
56 comments
Physicists have discovered a new class of subatomic particle that will provide unexpected insights into the fundamental building blocks of matter. The new particle is the so-called pentaquark - five quarks in formation.
posted by stbalbach
on Jul 1, 2003 -
12 comments
Savant for a Day! NYTimes journalist Lawrence Osbourne becomes a guinea pig for a University of Sydney's professor's mind-enhancing device based on the theories of autistic "Rainman" cognition with interesting results.
posted by skallas
on Jun 20, 2003 -
27 comments
The Pale Horse Percentage. The demise of civilization has been predicted since it began, but the odds of keeping
Planet Earth alive and well are getting worse amid a breakneck pace of scientific advances, according to
Martin Rees, Britain's honorary astronomer royal. Rees calculates that the odds of an apocalyptic disaster striking Earth have risen to about 50 percent from 20 percent a hundred years ago.
posted by The Jesse Helms
on Jun 9, 2003 -
21 comments
First Birds with teeth in 70 million years . Vicious toothed, flying microraptors once darkened the Jurassic skies. Now,
scientists have learned to activate the dormant, vestigal avian "tooth gene" and so coaxed chicken embryos into growing teeth. From the grave, Alfred Hitchcock enviously quips - "a messy thing indeed when toothed birds kill a man". Meanwhile the French are appalled: “quand les poules auront des dents”, which translates to “when hens have teeth”, is analogous to the English “pigs might fly”. Coming soon: flying pigs.
But there might be a baldness cure in this new research. I'll remember that as the flocks of mutant raptor-fowl move in for the kill.
posted by troutfishing
on Jun 4, 2003 -
18 comments
2003 Reith Lectures. Neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, talks about a number of fascinating neurological disorders and the insights they provide into mental functioning.
posted by srboisvert
on May 24, 2003 -
10 comments
Just a reminder that the lunar eclipse occurs tonight, starting at 7:00pm Pacific Daylight Time (and lasting about three hours). Various webcasts have been set up for the darkness-impaired.
Apologies for the double-post, and I am aware that I'll probably get like 5 comments that say "SpaceFilter".
posted by hammurderer
on May 15, 2003 -
41 comments
Oh, God! Under the Bush administration there were a lot of things we had to forget, things like how democratic presidents get elected, how to sell democracy to undemocratic peoples, how to be free, patriotic, etc. Now, it seems, is the time to forget all about this menace to mankind: SCIENCE.
posted by acrobat
on Apr 23, 2003 -
35 comments
