35.735 years in science communication
33 people have searched the Sciencebase site for the phrase Erin Ellington since the beginning of the year and keen as I am to provide a useful service for all comers to the site I cannot yet think of a valid and scientifically sound excuse to include a picture of said centerfold.
Of course, those visitors may not have been searching for the model at all. There was an Erin Ellington on the 1995 UW-Oshkosh women’s cross country team, maybe she’s a scientist and that’s who they were after…
Peter Lawrence of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, UK argues in a paper published in Plos Biology, that men and women really are different and that current political correctness simply glosses over the inherent bias in job interviews and tests. Indeed, these assessments, he argues, favour male candidates because they seek out characteristics such as self-confidence and aggression, which are, despite attempts at being wholly PC, predominant in men.
Rather than choosing an employee on the basis of those characteristics, Lawrence argues, science would be better served “if we gave more opportunity and power to the gentle, the reflective, and the creative individuals of both sexes.” He suggests that if we followed that approach to the selection process, more women would be selected, more would choose to stay in science, and more would get to the top.
He points out that even though discussions of men and women as different are taboo in the current sociopolitical climate we are nevertheless “constitutionally different”. This intrinsic diversity, Lawrence suggests, is not something to hide and employ in political battles, but something to “celebrate and discuss openly…both women and men should be leading such discussions with pride,” he adds.
Further reading on women in science
Most people have heard of the traditional wedding anniversary gifts – silver, ruby, gold, cotton, paper etc, but we’ve compiled a list of wedding anniversary gifts aimed at the chemical couple in your life. So, if you’re looking to celebrate a stable bond take a look, but please avoid if you’re easily offended, some of the entries might cause a reaction.
Licorice root could be the dentist’s nightmare come true – a “candy” that actually prevents cavities. Researchers at UCLA have demonstrated that an extract from the plant root used to make all sorts of candies and other products contains at least two chemicals that block replication of the bacterium Streptococcus mutans, a major cause of dental caries.
Qing-Yi Lu and Wenyuan Shi point out that more studies are needed before these compounds could ever be considered as additives for cavity-thwarting toothpaste or mouthwash. Chinese medicine has used licorice root for centuries and it is only recently that western science has been alerted to its potential in reducing inflammation, fighting viruses, and healing ulcers.
A word of caution though, too much licorice, whether in licorice candies, tea, or other foods, can trigger high blood pressure in susceptible people, far outweighing the protective effects on your teeth.
Science writer Nancy Greenspan, biographer of Nobel quantum physicist Max Born, emailed to alert me to her imminent conversation tour with Born’s son, Professor Gustav Born FRS. The pair will discuss the great scientist’s life and work:
Cambridge: Monday 6 February – 5-6.30pm Sidgwick Hall, Newnham College. Tel (Whipple Museum of the History of Science): 01223 330906
London: Wednesday 8 February – 6.30-8.30pm British Library Conference Centre. Tel: 0207 412 7222
Oxford: Thursday 9 February – 6.30-8pm Museum of the History of Science. Tel: 01865 277280
The BBC reports today that millions of TV watchers, tech-heads, and gadget freaks are costing us the earth when they put their equipment into standby rather than switching it off “properly”: TV’s ‘sleep’ button stands accused.
Apparently, standby mode is costing Britain 7TWh of energy and emitting around 800,000 tonnes of carbon a year. That’s purely wasted energy. With TV standby mode using up to two-thirds the “on” power for some TVs, the Brits might actually be “wasting” more energy than American TV users, since “it is a known fact” that Americans watch more TV.
Bradley’s Almanac [no relation] reveals a hidden treasure from a 1960s American childhood – The Exciting Game of Career Girls, a board game not unlike Monopoly for 2-4 players through which young ladies can decide your future career.
Good at Biology? asks one token, that’s good for nurse and teacher apparently, a propensity to neatness is perfect for an airline hostess, teacher, nurse, and model. Being pretty suits you being a model or an actress.
But, you can forget it if you’re clumsy – you’ll never be an air hostess, a ballet dancer, model or nurse. And if you’re overweight that’s “bad for: airline hostess, ballet dancer, and model” but presumably okay for nurses and teachers!
Apparently, there was a boy’s version too that helped young lads decide on whether they were to be future statesmen, scientists, athletes, doctors, engineers, and astronauts. No teaching, acting, or modelling jobs for the boys it seems.
Such a game looks incredibly un-politically correct from a modern perspective and no toy maker would even consider launching a product even vaguely touching on such political issues these days. But, as we found out when I reported for BMN on women in science, gender bias in employment in this crucial field still exists and one wonders just how many girls of the 1960s opted to be an air-borne trolley dolly rather than a scientist because of this game.
It’s almost been as if the chattering classes were hoping to find that cellphones give you brain cancer. It would give them something else to chatter about, after all. But, the BBC reports that a study of almost 3000 people in the UK effectively debunks this myth – The amount of mobile phone use does not correlate with glioma, the most common form of brain tumour.
If you want to talk about this give me a call.
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Imperial College is on a roll today, with the second press release appearing within seconds of the news reported in my earlier posting.
Now, IC scientists reckon they have found new evidence of link between cat faeces and schizophrenia. Sounds bizarre, but apparently invasion or replication of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii in rats can be inhibited by using the anti-psychotic or mood-stabilising drugs commonly prescribed for schizophrenia. T gondii is found in infected cat faeces and can be present in undercooked meat.
Joanne Webster and her colleagues reckon the activity of these drugs against the parasite suggests a role for it in causing mental problems in some patients.
At a time when the UK government is soon to back peddle on its lowering of the cannabis classification in law because of suspicions prolonged use can cause mental health problems, this finding could provide just the evidence the pro-pot lobby is after. Bird lovers too are provided with new evidence for an attack on their nemesis – the cat.