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Geordie Boffin Podcast The Geordie Boffin Science Podcast is an irregular and irreverent tour of science news from the Sciencebase.com website Login to Add this to your Playlist Format : Science PodcastDirectory.com's listings of the Geordie Boffin Podcast Podcasts
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Nerdy passwords, secure and memorable Updated: 2010-02-09 13:45:04 Description: WARNING: Do not simply use the formula of a common chemical without obfuscating it in some way. It could be dictionary cracked very easily if you do. Coming up with a secure password that cannot be bruteforce or dictionary attacked but that is easy t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How to get your fill of Sciencebase goodness Updated: 2010-02-05 13:00:08 Description: Do you lie at wake at night worrying that you might have missed the latest words of wisdom on Sciencebase? Are you concerned that a new post might have published that you desperately wanted to comment on and now it’s too late? Well…fear n...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Making carbon dioxide useful Updated: 2010-02-04 17:00:24 Description: My SpectroscopyNOW column is now live. This week self-perception, trapping and using carbon dioxide, cosmic coronene, mopping up radioactive caesium, photosynthesis and magic spectral lines: Red lenses – US scientists have used MRI to show that...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science based risk assessment Updated: 2010-02-03 13:00:20 Description: Ask people why the enter the lottery and they will usually tell you that “you’ve got to be in it to win it”. As far as it goes that’s true, but it still doesn’t get around the odds of you picking the right numbers being ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Early Valentine’s Alchemist Updated: 2010-02-02 13:00:18 Description: The Alchemist this week learns of a golden opportunity to make a fundamental industrial feedstock, ethylene, from natural gas, rather than oil. In microfluidics, a droplet of acid finds its way out of a maze, while an accidental mineral could become ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How to teach physics to your dog Updated: 2010-01-28 08:10:46 Description: There have been rough guides, books for dummies, even howtos for idiots, but Chad Orzel is probably the first to take explain an important corner of human endeavour solely to his dog in How to teach physics to your dog. Ironically, the subject on whi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Research Blogging Updated: 2010-01-27 13:00:37 Description: If you blog about peer-reviewed research, then you’ve probably heard about ResearchBlogging.org by now. It’s an aggregator that pulls together posts from around the world that have added a snippet of code to identify themselves as bloggin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine’s on sale again Updated: 2010-01-25 09:18:49 Description: The Associated Press and others are reporting that milk products tainted with the toxic chemical melamine are on sale again in China. Melamine-tainted milk products have been pulled from convenience store shelves in southern China more than a year af...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Indian urban wetland heavy metal Updated: 2010-01-18 13:00:20 Description: A study of heavy metal contaminants in the urban lakes of India, particularly around Bangalore have revealed that attempts at mitigation meant to remove these pollutants have not so far worked and may not be a long-term remedy for the problem. I̵...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alcoholic drug discovery truths Updated: 2010-01-15 13:00:04 Description: As with much of medical science, the appearance of a fascinating research paper and an accompanying press release do not usually mean that a new pharmaceutical intervention, a medicine, is ready to be prescribed to patients on the very day that the p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemophobia and risk Updated: 2010-01-12 13:00:59 Description: As a chemist by training, I’ve always been loath to give credence to unfounded criticism of synthetic chemicals that might stoke up chemophobia. Indeed, on several occasions I have written about how our bodies have evolved to cope with all kind...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Intute Hot Topics Updated: 2010-01-11 13:48:41 Description: My latest news round up on the Intute website is now live: Getting a grip on catalytic troublemakers, detecting toxic compounds in chlorinated water, and a trip to the Martian lake district. Related Posts:Moon, Earthquakes, Chemical WeaponsBasic...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientists torn between cash and kudos Updated: 2010-01-07 13:00:29 Description: With ailing banks propped up by billions in taxpayers’ money and nations rolling through the mud of economic recession is it any surprise that we get mightily frustrated to hear of their enormous bonuses and golden pension pots? Of course notâ€...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cancer, pneumonia, regulations, theranostics Updated: 2010-01-06 13:00:33 Description: The 1st of January issue of SpectroscopyNOW is live: MRI nanoparticles seek and destroy cancer cells – A single nanoparticle can be tracked using real-time MRI as it homes in on cancer cells. A fluorescent dye used to tag the nanoparticle coupl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Classic musical science and Stradivarnish Updated: 2010-01-05 13:00:56 Description: It won’t necessarily be music to the classical purist’s ear, but chemists have been instrumental in revealing the secret beneath the varnish on a Stradivari violins, and the secret is: there is no secret. Antonio Stradivari is perhaps the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Most useless machine ever Updated: 2010-01-04 16:18:38 Description: The most useless machine ever has rapidly become the internet’s first viral hit of the New Year. Essentially, it’s a little wooden box with a switch, but you’ve got to watch the video to see it in action:But, of course, it’s a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Intute hot topics in physical science Updated: 2009-12-24 13:00:10 Description: Over on the Intute site in the physical sciences section you will find the December science news round up from yours truly: What’s the buzz at the LHC? – After a frustrating false start, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) finally got it up a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Five-step plan for green design Updated: 2009-12-23 13:00:03 Description: I recently saw a research paper discussing the lack of tools for designers hoping to make their products greener, more environmentally benign, sustainable even. The paper focused more on the likes of coming up with a green espresso machine and offere...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Happy Solstice Event Updated: 2009-12-21 13:00:01 Description: Wishing all readers, commenters, contacts, fellow tweeps and scientwists, Facebook fans, and friends everywhere a happy mid-seasonal, solstice feast event from sciencebase.com… …I couldn’t just say Happy Christmas could I? It’...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Myrrh, bones, and medical waste Updated: 2009-12-17 09:25:04 Description: Hepatic epiphany for myrrh – A statistical analysis of experimental data on laboratory animals shows that the resin of the middle-eastern tree Commiphora, better known as “myrrh” can act as a protective antioxidant against liver dam...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Religious science and other science books Updated: 2009-12-17 13:00:10 Description: Having posted about atheism recently on the SciScoop science forum, it seems quite apt to have received for review a couple of books with a religious theme at this time of year. The first is The Faith Instinct by Nicholas Wade. Wade is a well-known N...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 25 Scientific musos or 25 musical scientists Updated: 2009-12-16 16:05:57 Description: Science is fun, but there are times when even the most dedicated begoggled labcoat wearing bench monkey has to relax and lots of science types seem particularly drawn to playing music. Now, I’m not saying any of these people are bench monkeys, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Thinking about electric vehicles Updated: 2009-12-09 13:00:45 Description: Electric vehicles reduce noise and local air pollution, such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and ground-level ozone, but do they simply relocate the carbon tire-tracks to fossil-fired power stations or are there benefits on the global scale? F...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD SEVI and HIV Updated: 2009-12-08 13:00:21 Description: Kicking off my SpectroscopyNOW ezine updates this week with an item on how NMR may have unravelled why some people are more susceptible to catching HIV than others. Then there is the MRI work that shows that for obese people BMI (body mass index) is ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Party tricks for scientists Updated: 2009-12-08 07:52:44 Description: Any one of these tricks from Richard Wiseman is sure to get you dozens of swooning fans at a solstice-event party, as long as you don’t burn down the house while doing the tricks with lit matches. Classic tricks including balancing forks on a ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sciencebase blogging schedule Updated: 2009-12-07 17:00:08 Description: This is the Sciencebase blogging schedule for the remainder of 2009: Sciencebase.com Dec 8 – Science news round-up with a spectral twist Sciencebase.com Dec 9 Electric vehicles better than hybrids? ImagingStorm.co.uk – Dec 10 Science of ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Swine Flu Watch Updated: 2009-12-04 08:35:16 Description: Somehow got my family enlisted on the UK’s FluWatch program. The scheme, which has members of the public monitoring their colds, sore throats, and flu symptoms is being run by University College London with various eminent medical organisations...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Twitter, Facebook and Sciencebase Updated: 2009-12-01 13:00:35 Description: Regular readers will hopefully have spotted I’ve cleaned up the site a little recently and added a couple of new widgets to the Sciencebase sidebar menu just below the About section link to my Research Blogging posts. The first widget heralds t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Absolute chemical headlines Updated: 2009-11-27 13:00:57 Description: A wide range of stories again in this week’s Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com Absolute configurations reveal themselves through NMR spectroscopy using residual dipolar couplings in small molecules, according to an international team who have put...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Recognisable scientists versus artists Updated: 2009-11-26 13:00:59 Description: According to the promoters of a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London aimed at UK Scientific Heritage: “Scientists are no longer unrecognisable boffins” thanks to the Science in Focus exhibition, which runs until 17 Ja...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Homeopathy really doesn’t work Updated: 2009-11-19 13:00:45 Description: A couple of years ago, I re-posted an old article of mine about homeopathy discussing its ludicrous claims, its feeble attempts to provide a scientific explanation for those claims, and basically pointing out that no solid evidence has ever been foun...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Latest science headlines Updated: 2009-11-17 13:00:26 Description: Time to bring you up to date on the latest science headlines I’ve put together for other sites this last couple of weeks, so here’s a quick round-up: On the SpectroscopyNOW site, this issue, I covered natural chemicals that can help sunfl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Genetically engineered heavy metal fans Updated: 2009-11-13 13:00:44 Description: The wastewater released from industry often contains high levels of toxic heavy metals, which can kill organisms, damage ecosystems, and accumulate in the foodchain. Electroplating, lead smelting, mining, and countless other processes produce enormou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Juggling cancer nano news Updated: 2009-11-12 13:00:25 Description: Latest news reports from yours truly on Spectroscopynow.com Juggling matters on the brain – UK scientists have used magnetic resonance imaging to reveal that learning a complex task like juggling can causes changes in the white matter in the br...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Berlin Wall falls in Australia Updated: 2009-11-09 13:00:21 Description: Twenty years ago today, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I lay on a bed in a cramped backpackers’ hostel in the Katherine Gorge National Park (now Nitmiluk), in Australia’s Northern Territory, watching news of the fall of the Berlin Wall (...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD List categories for Twitter scientists Updated: 2009-11-03 09:38:00 Description: UPDATE – NOV 5: Still working through the almost 650 members of the list, but now up to the P’s. Pressure was on from lots of science tweeps for to categorise my scientwist list…so I’ve made a start. The spillover (lots of twe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Twitter science list categories Updated: 2009-11-05 08:45:24 Description: The manually compiled Scientwists list of science people on Twitter grew from around 100 of my contacts in January 2009 to almost 700 members, who asked to join or who retweeted the link as of October. Justin Reid helped automate the inclusion of bio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemical Anomalies Updated: 2009-11-05 13:00:29 Description: In the current issue of The Alchemist we learn how to stick methane molecules to metals without breaking carbon-hydrogen bonds and how to make impossible carbene catalysts without the usual prerequisite of an attendant metal centre. Another seeming i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Categories for science tweeps Updated: 2009-11-03 09:38:00 Description: Okay. Okay. Pressure was on to categorise my scientwist list…so I’ve made a start. First off, the spillover (lots of tweeps in the T to Z group from the TweepML.org version of my scientwist list, which has 650 members or thereabouts) have...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD My Whole Cell Twitter Interview Updated: 2009-11-03 13:00:38 Description: Laura Bonetta wrote an excellent article for the science journal Cell recently in which she quoted various science types who use Twitter on the subject of whether or not scientists should be tweeting. It’s a topic I’ve discussed more gene...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientists on Twitter Updated: 2009-11-02 14:03:37 Description: Regulars will know that I’ve compiled and recompiled lists of science types on Twitter for mutual benefit. It started out as a list of 100 of my own Twitter friends back in January 2009, who happened to be in science and gradually grew to well ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Food Chemistry News Updated: 2009-10-29 12:00:55 Description: On the menu today, why red wine is a no-no when it comes to fishy cuisine, how chemists can help you improve your gravy, and a whole platter of food chemistry to tempt your taste buds: “Red wine with red meat, white wine with fish.” But, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Don’t be such a scientist! Updated: 2009-10-27 12:00:04 Description: Don’t be such a scientist! It’s the kind of thing I’d expect my sister to say to my face if I’ve gone off on one of my lecture mode conversations about some great discovery, or something some of my artier friends might whisper...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A month with an electricity monitor Updated: 2009-10-22 13:00:42 Description: Right, the kettle is on for a morning brew and apparently our household is using 3.07 kilowatts. That will include the chest freezer in the garage, the refrigerator in the kitchen, the electric kettle, my laptop and wireless network, oh and a little ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Breast Cancer, Plankton, Tellurides Updated: 2009-10-20 20:00:03 Description: My latest contributions to SpectroscopyNOW.com and my current Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com are now live: Sweetening breast cancer risk – Experimental and epidemiological evidence previously suggested that circulating glucose and insulin may ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Climate Change Action Updated: 2009-10-15 20:00:01 Description: It’s Blog Action Day 2009 and the subject this year is Climate Change. So, here are a few resources for readers seeking out climate information: IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – The IPCC assesses the scientific, te...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Metal Bottle Tops and Landfill Mining Updated: 2009-10-13 12:00:10 Description: Reduce, re-use, and recycle. Just one of the countless mantras of the twenty-first century that we are told will save the planet. Of course, my grandmother used to put it far more succinctly and in a much more accessible form: waste not, want not. No...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Moon, Earthquakes, Chemical Weapons Updated: 2009-10-09 20:00:03 Description: The media was today almost drenched with the idea that water and other wonders would be been found on the Moon, but unfortunately LXPRESS was the least moist of damp squibs ever and no 50 km plume was seen, not even a little splash. NASA scientists a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Gen-F Scientists Ignoring Social Networking Updated: 2009-10-07 20:00:06 Description: A quick analysis of online social networks, such as LinkedIn and Xing would suggest that a mere 1 in 7 research scientists use such tools as part of their work. This contrasts starkly with the business world where uptake is up to 88%. In other words ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sniffer, E coli Clues, Graphene Updated: 2009-10-05 20:00:33 Description: The second batch of physical science and biomedical research news in the SpectroscopyNOW ezines are live: Optical sniffer detects poison gas – US researchers have developed an optoelectronic nose that can sniff out toxic gases. The sensor is fa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Stroke, NIR, Guests Updated: 2009-10-02 20:00:36 Description: My latest physical sciences and biomedical news stories for SpectroscopyNOW.com are now live. The eyes have it – US researchers have demonstrated proof of principle that a short and simple assessment of eye movements in suspected stroke patient...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nervous, Monopolar, Solvents Updated: 2009-09-30 20:00:08 Description: Superfast fluorescent sensor molecules that detect and destroy nerve agent, chemical weapons, caught The Alchemist’s eye this week, as did new insights into the ancient oxygen levels of the early earth. A very alchemical notion emerges from Aus...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD microRNAs Updated: 2009-09-28 20:00:37 Description: Until 2001, few people had heard the term micro ribonucleic acids, but these little chunks of nucleic acid, just 21 to 23 bases long, have been conserved throughout evolution. They don’t code for proteins, but they do seem to be involved in the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Organic Compost Chemistry Updated: 2009-09-25 20:00:27 Description: Okay…so I was kind of joking about doing a regular weekly gardening column, but having spent rather longer weeding and feeding this week than I intended to, I need to get something written for Sciencebase today that wouldn’t be too demand...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Treating the Obesity Epidemic Updated: 2009-09-23 20:00:31 Description: Drugmaker Vivus saw its experimental weight-loss medication, Qnexa, pass two Phase III clinical trials C&EN reported on September 10, and the company’s share price skyrocket. The rewards of developing a safe and effective anti-obesity medi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dental Lead, Lung Cancer and Monopoles Updated: 2009-09-21 12:00:11 Description: This week’s ezines on SpectroscopyNOW are now live, featuring a breath test for lung cancer, magnetic monopoles, a way to boost fuel cells, and reducing toxic waste from dental surgeries. Extracting the dental lead – Lead contamination in...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemical-free Gardening Updated: 2009-09-18 12:00:45 Description: It may come as a shock to anyone thinking of taking up gardening as a hobby or as a way to beat back the credit crunch by doing a little grow-your-own that gardening is based entirely on chemistry. There is no escaping this simple truth. Chemicals gr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD File Sharing for Scientists Updated: 2009-09-15 14:30:33 Description: In the olden days, scientists used to send out paper reprints of their research papers to colleagues…maybe they still do. I get the occasional request for such an archaic entity for the items I have had published in Science, PNAS, and other jou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Organic, Nano, Pharma Updated: 2009-09-14 12:00:49 Description: Challenging natural products succumb to radical synthetic prowess, the Alchemist hears this week, while US researchers find a way to construct macroscopic crystals from tiny DNA triangles. The growing problem of obesity drug abuse in the UK is highli...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fun Science Games Updated: 2009-09-11 12:00:52 Description: It’s Friday, our kids have been back at school a week now, so with the ever-present prospect of a wet weekend ahead of us, how to distract them from Youtube and Facebook with some educational that might help them next week in school… R...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Babies, Smokestacks, and Kudzu Vine Updated: 2009-09-09 12:00:21 Description: Tears and smiles bond secure mothers to baby – The sight of her baby’s smile or even its tears cause the reward centres in a mother’s brain to light up, according to an international functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) stud...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 50 Million Chemicals and Counting Updated: 2009-09-07 12:00:48 Description: UPDATE: Sept 8 – Looks like CAS Registry passed the marker while I was sleeping and now stands at – 50,002,412 organic and inorganic substances. Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) will announce the 50 millionth registered chemical substan...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pre-eclampsia, NIR, Nano-dots Updated: 2009-09-04 12:00:10 Description: Pregnant pause for thought – The analytical cousin of magnetic resonance imaging, NMR spectroscopy, has revealed that a chemical compound found in unpasteurised food can be present at unusually high levels in the red blood cells of pregnant wom...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Biofuels vs Fossil Fuels Updated: 2009-09-02 12:00:19 Description: Biofuels are not much better than fossil fuels in terms of the impact on atmospheric pollution levels and effects on climate change, according to Mark Jacobson professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. This is especiall...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemist Checks Oxy Cholesterol Levels Updated: 2009-09-01 12:00:43 Description: The Alchemist this week learns how fluorine chemistry is blooming, how to melt proteins, and how cholesterol is all about the good, the bad, and the oxy. Also this week, a technique borrowed from organic LED fabrication could lead to a new way to man...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Taking an Hepatic Holiday Updated: 2009-08-28 12:00:50 Description: UPDATE: By sheer coincidence (I could claim prescience), the BBC is reporting that Brits are drinking more than ever on holiday. “Holidaymakers are turning to drink on their breaks with the average adult consuming eight alcoholic drinks a day, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD H1N1 and Glutathione Supplements Updated: 2009-08-26 12:00:57 Description: Could a simple dietary change that increases glutathione, or indeed supplementation with this antioxidant tripeptide, be all you need to boost your immune system and ward of influenza? Several Sciencebase correspondents and hundreds of “blogger...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD What is a Scientific Paper? Updated: 2009-08-24 12:00:13 Description: David Bradley reporting from Science Online London 2009 (#solo09) The “modern” form of scientific publishing began in the 17th century when gentlemen (rare has it been a lady until very recently) with an inquisitive bent decided it would ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Toxic Sunscreen Updated: 2009-08-21 12:00:59 Description: Toxic sunscreen testing – Regardless of the debate on whether or not you can have too little sunshine on your skin, it is important to remember that currently there is no standard tests for monitoring toxic heavy metals contained in sunscreen c...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Digital Privacy Concerns Updated: 2009-08-19 12:00:08 Description: I’ve discussed the risk of losing your job because of blogging previously. Recently though there was a case of summary dismissal by Facebook of a young British woman who debased her employer’s good character via her Wall has gained severa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hot, Tardy Alchemist Updated: 2009-08-13 07:50:51 Description: Bit late with the update for The Alchemist this week, had so much else to talk about before a slot was available, there was also the matter of our family vacation, hope readers find the info current enough to be of interest. The Alchemist recently le...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spinning Facebook and Student Grades Updated: 2009-08-14 12:00:31 Description: A while back The Sunday Times got wind of a poster to be presented at a meeting by a researcher from Ohio State University. OSU posted an embargoed press release to Eurekalert and Newswise, but the Sunday Times, apparently never received that press r...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Unique Urine Fingerprints Updated: 2009-08-17 12:00:39 Description: For decades, the word “fingerprint” has been used to denote a set of unique characteristics, whether literally the complex patterns of arches, loops, and whorls on one’s fingertips or entirely figuratively and more recently, the not...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ten questions to answer before building your eco-town Updated: 2009-08-10 12:00:24 Description: Planning a new city, mapping out a town redevelopment, or simply coming up with a blueprint for an eco site? Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning & Urban Design at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, has ten questions y...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Yet More Summer Science Books Updated: 2009-08-03 12:00:13 Description: In Einstein’s theory of relativity, energy is equivalent to matter, they’re essentially synonymous and in his famous equation Energy (E) is proportional to mass (m), with the square of the speed of light (c2) being the proportionality con...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD PLoS ONE Impact Factor and Page Rank Updated: 2009-08-05 12:00:47 Description: As far as I am aware, the online, interactive, open access journal PLoS ONE (Public Library of Science ONE), has not yet been given any love by ISI, the Thomson Reuters company that doles out impact factors to journal publishers. Impact Factor is str...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Shamrock Enzyme Target for New Drugs Updated: 2009-08-07 12:00:58 Description: German researchers have used the powerful analytical technique of X-ray diffraction to home in on an important metabolic reaction used by all pathogenic bacteria and the malaria parasite. The detailed structure of the IspH enzyme active site they rev...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD We must stamp our ecological feet Updated: 2009-07-31 12:00:02 Description: Sciencebase has been focusing on various environmental and third world problems recently. I say third world, because much of what is euphemistically described as the developing world is sadly not developing at all. If the switch from third to develop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Internal Fingerprints, Brain Flu, and Mars Updated: 2009-08-01 12:00:18 Description: Bonus Saturday science news post from my virtual desktop with a spectral hint all published on SpectroscopyNOW this morning: Insider fingerprints – An Italian and German research team has used NMR spectroscopy to fingerprint a person’s me...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How Old is Your Heart? Updated: 2009-07-27 12:00:52 Description: There are lots of online health tests available, some I’ve reviewed on Sciencebase over the years, such as those that help you answer the question are you at risk of diabetes. Often they are created and publicised by a medical charity, occasion...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientific Knowledge Quiz Updated: 2009-07-29 14:00:21 Description: As we’re in a testing frame of mind, I thought I’d discuss a little quiz that was published as a kind of quasi-scientific assessment of intellect. The basic premise was to find out whether you, the participant, knows more science than the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Counterfeit Drugs Updated: 2009-07-22 12:00:13 Description: Digital industries continue to wage an unwinnable war against the people and organisations that illicitly copy, share, and sell their products, whether DVD rips, DRM-free music files, or pirated software. But, while arguments about lost revenues, per...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemist Taking the P Updated: 2009-07-24 12:00:33 Description: The current issue of my Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com is now online: The old alchemist’s trick of attempting to use urine as a starting material for all kinds of products could offer the twenty-first century a golden opportunity, we learn thi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Tenth Anniversary Updated: 2009-07-20 13:00:07 Description: Elemental Discoveries, the precursor to this blog, existed in various forms on the AFN, the Tallahassee Freenet and enterprise.net from Spring 1996. But, today (July 20) is the official tenth anniversary of when I registered the sciencebase.com domai...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Stinging Heavy Metal Resistance Updated: 2009-07-15 12:00:44 Description: Head-banging science news with a spectroscopic bent from my latest posts on the SpectroscopyNOW ezines, live June 15. A medical tale in the sting – The venom of the eusocial bee contains three novel antimicrobial compounds known as lasioglossin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Swine Flu Trending Again Updated: 2009-07-16 12:00:16 Description: The UK media has been full of swine flu (H1N1) again this week, it’s been trending, to borrow Twitter terminology, what with reports on the tragic deaths of a young girl and a family doctor, advice on virulence and research from Imperial Colleg...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Three A’s of Food Security Updated: 2009-07-08 16:00:22 Description: Famine, drought, disease, crop failure, they might afflict any one of us, but in the developing world and on the margins of urbanised regions, the issue of food security is paramount for survival. There are three main factors to consider when one thi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD More Summer Science Reads Updated: 2009-07-10 16:00:57 Description: Summer science reading requires a sequel as I suspect most of you have read all the previous recommendations for science books, or if you haven’t you’re not likely to pick them up now. So here are a few more choice tomes. In this 40th ann...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cooking up Solar Solutions Updated: 2009-07-13 14:00:04 Description: Solar power need not be complicated. Research into complex materials that convert the energy from sunlight into electricity is well underway, but offers only low efficiencies. In contrast direct heating of water sidesteps the intermediary of converti...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Homeopathic ER Updated: 2009-07-06 16:00:35 Description: Last week, I heard Simon Singh at the World Conference of Science Journalists discussing the state of England’s libel laws, chiropractic, and more. At least I assume that’s what he was discussing, the acoustics in the conference centre we...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD World Conference of Science Journalists Updated: 2009-07-03 14:16:16 Description: Just back from the 6th World Conference of Science Journalists in London this week. Tired, suffering the after-effects of overheating in old London buildings with no air conditioning, such as Westminster Central Hall. Regardless, it was an excellent ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cats, The Matrix, and Acid Drops Updated: 2009-06-26 14:00:55 Description: The Alchemist learns of a scalable cat this week as well as how the matrix is all important when it comes to identifying metabolites in a single drop of blood. A small follow-up trial for prostate drug abiraterone demonstrates quality of life improve...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Metal, Aerosols, and Biggy Smalls Updated: 2009-06-29 16:00:39 Description: World Conference of Science Journalists in London this week, so here’s a sneak preview of the July 1 issue of SpectroscopyNOW from the David Bradley segments in celebration. Wish me luck in defending my corner against those who would smite the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Giant Sperm, Ultrasonic Brain Surgery, and Oil Updated: 2009-07-01 16:00:05 Description: Giant sperm – Some animals supersize their sperm. Microscopic freshwater ostracods, such as Eucypris virens, for instance have filamentous, spiralling sperm cells that can be up to ten times the body length of the organism itself. The longest k...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Aviation Radiation Redux Updated: 2009-06-19 14:28:30 Description: In May, I reported that Russian scientists at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics in Pushchino and the Institute of High-Energy Physics in Protvino, had investigated the chronic effects of the radiation to which we are exposed ev...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Life (and Death) on the Ocean Wave Updated: 2009-06-22 12:00:13 Description: To predict the height of crests and the depths of troughs of ocean waves, scientists can turn to the well-known work of German mathematician and scientist Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss. The so-called Gaussian function provides a mathematical formula fr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Village Archaeology Updated: 2009-06-24 12:00:06 Description: Archaeologists were out in force in our village once again, this past weekend. This time their mini dig was part of our four-day Fen Edge Family Festival, for which I was one of the team of official photographers. A metre-square hole was dug on the e...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fear of Flying Updated: 2009-05-27 16:00:13 Description: Personally, I’ve never had a problem with a fear of flying, a lot of people suffer from this often debilitating phobia though despite reassurances about road death statistics being much worse than air crashes. That said perhaps there is one asp...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Curious X-shooter Antibiotics Updated: 2009-05-29 15:00:46 Description: A sneak preview of my spectroscopyNOW ezine headlines for June 1: Bi-curious microcylinders – A team in the US has produced micrometre-wide discs and elongated rods from bi-coloured and multicoloured compartments. The composite materials could ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Red Hot Spectral Alchemist Updated: 2009-06-01 12:00:30 Description: This week, The Alchemist learns of encapsulated capsules that could emulate cells, a new glassy material for preventing debilitating leaks in solid oxide fuel cells, and a computer model that might help us develop a vaccine for H1N1 type A influenza....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Summer Science Books Updated: 2009-06-03 12:00:27 Description: None of the new science books on my desk this morning are more than an inch thick, so they should make great lighweight packing for a summer holiday read. First up, It Takes a Genome by Greg Gibson, Professor of Genetics at North Carolina State Unive...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Can Death be Sustainable? Updated: 2009-06-05 12:00:33 Description: A case study Few people like to dwell on the subject of death, but it’s up there alongside taxes with life’s inevitabilities. But, consider it we must, for the sake of the environment. At some point in our primordial past the dead were le...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD ChemTweets and Scientwists Updated: 2009-06-08 12:00:55 Description: I was interviewed by Faith Hayden for this week’s Chemical & Engineering News on the subject of, you guessed it, science on Twitter. This link is now free to view. Here’s a transcript of my interview: How long have you been Tweeting?...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD H1N1 Swine Flu Update Updated: 2009-06-10 12:00:15 Description: Many virologists, including Vincent Racaniello, have suggested that the threat of avian influenza (H5N1) was greatly overestimated and so distracted us from more serious threats. Back in early 2005, he suggested that another strain might underpin a p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cloud Spotting Updated: 2009-06-12 12:00:33 Description: Cloud appreciation…it doesn’t quite have the same image as other hobbies, rock climbing, sky diving, fell walking, fly fishing. Cloud spotting is almost on a par with training spotting or stamp collecting, you might think, but just a sing...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Short, Sharp Alchemist Updated: 2009-06-15 12:00:04 Description: Natural quasicrystals, graphene interconnects, and photo-powered nanomotors all come into view through The Alchemist’s eyeglass this week. Also in view, is the finding that hydrogen peroxide is more than a bleach, it’s a marshal for white...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cannabis Cancer, Toxic Waste, Antibiotics Updated: 2009-06-17 12:00:27 Description: The latest science news with an analytical bent from yours truly, now available in the SpectroscopyNOW ezines: Cannabis blow back – A highly sensitive new chemical test has allowed European scientists to obtain “convincing evidence”...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Light, Trials, Balls Updated: 2009-05-20 12:00:15 Description: In my SpecNOW science news column this week: C60, C80, C0, Go! - X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and other techniques have allowed German chemists to demonstrate their synthesis of the first non-carbon analogue of the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pathogen Insecurity and Bio WMD Updated: 2009-05-22 12:00:27 Description: Marc Ostfield is the Senior Advisor for Bioterrorism, Biodefense, and Health Security, US Department of State, Office of International Health and Biodefense in Washington DC and believes that the concept of biosecurity as a primary strategy to combat...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Heavy Metal Packaging Updated: 2009-05-15 12:00:54 Description: Researchers in Argentina have developed a new approach to testing food packaging for trace amounts of the toxic heavy metal cadmium. Cadmium is one of several additives used extensively in the manufacture of plastics. Regulations limit the concentrat...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Backyard Archaeology Updated: 2009-05-18 12:00:47 Description: This weekend we, and a dozen other properties in our village, hosted a team of archaeologists from the University of Cambridge. The team, led by Dr Carenza Lewis (well known to Time Team viewers), were intent on unearthing the secrets of the centurie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Slumdog Engineer Updated: 2009-05-11 12:00:26 Description: Having discussed the possible environmental risks of charitable aid in the form of obsolete electronic goods to the developing world, it seemed to timely to mention other research looking into strong solutions to some of the critical problems facing ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mercury, Climate Change, Cosmos Updated: 2009-05-13 12:00:43 Description: Mercury seals, ancient climate change, and even older microwaves, all feature in my Spotlight column over on Intute, this month. Mercury seals - The Polar Bear has often been given the role of proverbial environmental canary, coming to prominence in ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD SciScoop Science Forum Relaunched Updated: 2009-05-04 12:00:52 Description: Sciscoop.com - the Science News Forum - was relaunched in on May 1. I gave the site a seriously long overdue makeover, re-themed the site, switched to new web hosting, and rebuilt everything from the ground up with the amazing technical assistance of...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Swine Flu Update Updated: 2009-05-06 12:00:07 Description: Swine flu (H1N1) information leaflets are being delivered to households across the UK today. I suspect they do nothing but increase fear and confuse people, especially as the WHO/UN are about to lower the swine flu alert level. In the UK, 27 people n...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Charity Computers and Environmental Waste Updated: 2009-05-08 12:00:34 Description: Charitable schemes to send unwanted electronic equipment, including mobile phones and computers to the developing world could be creating more environmental problems than they solve if the equipment becomes entirely obsolete in a short time. Research...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Raspberry Ripple Galaxy Updated: 2009-04-29 12:00:44 Description: Recently, an innocuous-seeming press release was released by German astronomers announcing that they had found two of the most complex molecules ever in space - n-propyl cyanide, more commonly known to chemists as butyronitrile, and ethyl formate. No...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spectral Alchemist Updated: 2009-05-01 12:00:03 Description: This week, it’s my The Alchemist chemistry news column that coincides with SpectroscopyNOW updates: The Alchemist this week catches site through his spyglass of complex interstellar molecules with a hint of raspberry and rum, and a possible way...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Swine Flu FAQ Updated: 2009-04-27 07:38:04 Description: Swine flu could be the next major disease epidemic. It appears to have emerged in Mexico has killed more than 100 people and infected more 1000 who have recovered. Cases and suspected cases have now been identified in the USA, New Zealand, France, Sc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Stupid Science Updated: 2009-04-13 12:00:04 Description: As a follow up to last week’s resurrected laboratory advice column - Wear Goggles - here are a few tales from the bench, that may convince you to take that advice. When you get down to it, science is simply about real people in real laboratorie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Developing Digital Divide Updated: 2009-04-15 12:00:31 Description: Are digital inclusion projects in the developing world booming or are they doomed to failure? That’s the question asked by legal expert Dinusha Mendis of the University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK. Mendis has investigated the digital div...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spotlight on the Alchemist Updated: 2009-04-17 08:20:21 Description: My April Spotlight on physical sciences news is now available as is this week’s Chemweb Alchemist. Under the Spotlight: Pores for thought - A solid, but sponge-like material has been synthesised by chemists in Singapore. The silica-type materia...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Arsenic, Aminos, X-ray, Teasing Updated: 2009-04-20 12:00:46 Description: I was offline with my family last week, walking and drinking ale in Derbyshire, so I’m a bit late in alerting you to my latest news stories on SpectroscopyNOW, they went live in my absence. So here’s the catchup: Tyson’s toxic techn...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD More Stupid Science Updated: 2009-04-22 12:00:26 Description: My previous post on stupid things people have done in the lab as a kind of Darwin Awards for scientists was described by Guy Kawasaki, of Alltop fame. It also seemed to be so popular a post with lots of people sending me their own anecdotes that I th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Talking Computers with Spam-fisted Luddites Updated: 2009-04-24 12:00:23 Description: Most of you will be familiar with the concept of tools from primitive hand axes, clubs, and even prehistoric smoothie makers, we humans have used them for millennia (and if you’ve noticed several animals use them too). Of course, our tools hav...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Swine Flu Updated: 2009-04-26 07:44:41 Description: Forget avian influenza, it is swine flu that could ravage the world as Mexicans are warned not to shake hands in church and have been told to keep at least six feet of separation between each other, and to wear protective masks. Large public gatherin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dehydrated Water Updated: 2009-04-01 13:00:22 Description: Meanwhile, I have been trawling the medical and scientific literature for more than two decades, hoping to spot a genuine medical panacea that might also be used to get greasy deposits off your kitchen surfaces. Now, is the time to reveal what I̵...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bond, Q, and Controlled Cleavage Updated: 2009-04-03 12:00:01 Description: Bond, Q, and controlled cleavage - US chemists have made an iron catalyst that can be used to rapidly break strong carbon-hydrogen bonds within molecules, up to one thousands times faster than other methods. The research could solve one of the great ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science Books, Hayfever, and Plectrums Updated: 2009-04-06 12:00:50 Description: I’ve let quite a pile of review books accumulate on my desk again as well as a couple of non-book oddities, so here’s a quick round-up. First up is the Instant Egghead Guide to the Mind by Emily Anthes published by Scientific American. Th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Flatus Impudicus, Plume-seeking Insectibot Updated: 2009-04-08 12:00:39 Description: It’s a crude schoolroom axiom around which many an adult pub debate might also revolve: He who smelt it, dealt it. However, there is a serious side to quickly locating the source of noxious odours in an indoor environment of varying airflow, as...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Everybody’s Free to Wear Goggles Updated: 2009-04-10 12:00:53 Description: For the chemical class of 1999… More than a decade ago, American journalist Mary Schmich offered her advice to youth in the form of a spoof graduation speech centering around the crucial maxim ‘wear sunscreen‘, the article was publi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Dawkins Delusion Updated: 2009-03-30 12:00:54 Description: On sibling site Sciencetext.com I talk tech, which often includes warning people about spams and scams and, of course phishing. So, it is with some embarrassment that I confess to being slightly caught off guard by a new twitter follower with the han...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Spicy Disciplinarian Updated: 2009-03-18 13:00:36 Description: Four more fascinating research discoveries feature in my column on SpectroscopyNOW this week, covering research into the medicinal effects of curry powder, cyst analysis, why nicotine does not kill instantly, and bristling nano balls. The spicy disci...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Recognising Eight Funny Patterns Updated: 2009-03-20 08:40:05 Description: A horse walks into a bar, orders a beer, and the bartender asks…Bud or Miller? Of course, you know the real punchline…the bartender actually asks the equine punter“why the long face?”. There, that’s two of the world̵...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Disease Mongering or Medicalization Updated: 2009-03-23 13:00:59 Description: The medicalization of many social facets of our lives, multitasking pharmaceuticals and disease mongering are problems we should face head one. The overlap between business ethics and medical ethics represent a moral minefield. Nowhere more so than i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Very Personal Data Rights Updated: 2009-03-25 14:07:31 Description: Across the globe privacy laws and property rights are confused. Having usually been established in centuries past it is unlikely that any established legal system can cope easily with the requirements of the digital age. Nowhere is this more likely t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Copper Tone Alchemist Updated: 2009-03-27 13:00:16 Description: Spring has sprung for the Alchemist, who, under the northern sun, takes on a marginal copper tone this week. First up, a new copper catalyst that can take a sideways swipe at organic aromatic compounds and make them go all meta. We also have copper n...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Earth Hour Updated: 2009-03-28 18:26:56 Description: Is Earth Hour a great way to raise global awareness of how much energy we are wasting and the possible consequences or our actions? Or, is it simply a cop out so that we can all feel we did"our bit" for the environment without expending any r...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemist Goes Green Updated: 2009-03-16 13:00:44 Description: This week The Alchemist goes green offering a survey of environmental news related to the chemical sciences. First up is the development of porous materials that can extract hydrogen from mixtures of gases. Next, solar energy could be used to convert...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Converting Carbon Dioxide Updated: 2009-03-11 13:00:06 Description: “Nothing beats finding vast lakes of oil for the pumping, or vast deposits of coal for the digging; thanks mother nature!” proclaimed Craig Grimes of Penn State University in an emailed response to my skeptical question regarding his work...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Staying in with Friends on a Wireless Mesh Updated: 2009-03-13 13:00:27 Description: The difference between staying in with friends and going out? Obvious, really. But, translate that idea to networks and you have the basis of self-organized virtual communities, according to Panayotis Antoniadis of the Université Pierre et Marie Cur...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Baffling Fluid Dynamics Updated: 2009-03-09 13:00:06 Description: During my student days, one of the most obviously complicated and beyond-comprehension modules was that on fluid dynamics. It’s not surprising that it was complicated and beyond comprehension, the way fluids (gases and liquids by definition) mo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD R&D People Matter Updated: 2009-02-13 13:00:23 Description: In the long-gone days of my Catalyst column on the original ChemWeb.com, I wrote about how R&D was becoming a distributed endeavour. It was going the way of large-scale data problems that are best solved using a distributed computing environment...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Stormwater Artwork Updated: 2009-02-16 13:00:12 Description: Earlier this year Laura Haddad of Haddad|Drugan emailed me with an unusual request regarding crystal structures. But, before I tell you about that, here’s a little background. Laura is working on an artistic installation called “Unde...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemy, Spectroscopy, and the Hash Updated: 2009-02-18 13:00:04 Description: In the latest ezines from SpectroscopyNOW: Magnetic drug delivery for Alzheimer’s disease - Tiny pieces of magnetite incorporated into chitosan microparticles could act as efficient drug-delivery agents for the Alzheimer’s drug tacrine. T...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Whatever Happened to SARS? Updated: 2009-02-20 13:00:16 Description: In 2004, I did some reportage for the Royal Society from their meeting on emerging viral infections. The meeting was held just after the worldwide SARS outbreak that threw nations into chaos and had the more susceptible parts of the media hyping the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Thick Skinned Geordies Updated: 2009-02-23 13:00:05 Description: A week or two ago the British media was full of the story of scientists hoping to discover why the indigenous people of Tyneside are wont to few clothes even in the briskest of breezes and the worst of winter cold snaps. If you’ve been out on t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Developing Health Updated: 2009-02-25 13:00:56 Description: Compulsory licensing is one of those euphemisms that hide a whole raft of issues. By definition - it is “authorisation to a government or company to make and sell a pharmaceutical drug without the permission of the patent holder”, which m...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemist Turns Polyphile Updated: 2009-02-27 13:00:39 Description: A quite gratifying email from Professor James E. Hanson of Seton Hall University made me realise that I’d gone all poly with The Alchemist column this week: As a polymer chemist myself, I really liked this issue of The Alchemist - or rather in ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD You Can Call Me Al Updated: 2009-03-02 13:00:05 Description: Algebra, alchemy, alcohol, aldebaran, alkali, Alhambra, algorithm, Algarve, and, of course, albatross. One thing in common…they’re all “al” words, and what is “al” you ask? It’s simply the Arabic definite art...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientific Locations Mapped Updated: 2009-03-04 13:00:26 Description: I’ve made a Google map showing important scientific locations - scientific locations. Recently, a fellow singer in the Cottenham Big Mouth collective was telling me about a Google map he’d created with all his favourite eateries that do l...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wireless Probing, Shiny Bugs, Remote Scanning Updated: 2009-03-06 13:00:49 Description: Probing the brain wirelessly - IR-absorbing lead selenide particles form the basis of a method for the study of neuronal activation in samples of brain tissues without the need for hard-wired electrodes. The technique instead utilises light-triggered...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Astronomy to Zoology, Poetically Updated: 2009-02-09 09:08:33 Description: I’m trying to work out whether I’m a bad science journalist or not…scary thought. If I am, then I’ve wasted the last 20 years of my life. I started out specializing in chemistry, that was my field. But these days, I cover scie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Online Health in the Developing World Updated: 2009-02-06 13:00:40 Description: Following on from Monday’s post about health information on twitter, it seemed a nice coincidence that I came across a research paper focusing on healthcare information available in the developing world. The web is still relatively young and ye...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Salt Lowers Freezing Point of Water Updated: 2009-02-02 08:04:58 Description: This morning, my kids are listening eagerly to the local radio to hear if their school will be closed? Why? Because we’re in England, a few millimetres of snow has fallen, it’s a little chilly, and the nation in in chaos. Airports are shu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science News Updates Updated: 2009-02-02 19:25:14 Description: My latest science news updates are now available on SpectroscopyNOW.com and ChemWeb.com, covering a wide range topics from date rape drug analysis to DNA that behaves parasitically and could underpin speciation and evolution: Date rape analysis - Ram...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Health and Medicine on Twitter Updated: 2009-02-04 13:00:23 Description: My good friend Jo Brodie who works at DiabetesUK and twitters as @JoBrodie was crucial in helping publicise my recent scientists on twitter page. She recently gave the list a shout out on the PSCI-COM science communicators discussion group and added ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Green Mercury Light Bulbs Updated: 2009-01-30 13:00:49 Description: With regulations set to ban incandescent light bulbs, the illuminating invention we’ve used since the nineteenth century, a replacement is needed. LEDs hold promise but are dim compared with the bulbs they seek to replace. Compact fluorescent t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Autism Saliva Test Updated: 2009-01-28 13:00:34 Description: I recently reported on the spit test being developed for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It’s in the very early stages of development (this is not an antenatal test), but the details were certainly of interest to the target audience on the Spec...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Catching Obesity Updated: 2009-01-26 09:03:43 Description: UPDATED: Is it possible that obesity, like the common cold is infectious? You’d think so if you believed research that’s been carried out over the last decade and hits the tabloid headlines again this week. The research suggests that a hi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Full Metal Alchemist Updated: 2009-01-21 13:00:49 Description: First story to fall under the gaze of The Alchemist this week is synthetic HDL, a potential alternative therapy for cholesterol problems wrought through gold nanotechnology. Next, we hear of atomic ink that avoids the push and shove of microscopic ma...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Two Decades of Science Communication Updated: 2009-01-23 12:00:20 Description: Today is my twentieth anniversary as a science writer-editor and yet it seems like only yesterday that I walked into the editorial offices of the Royal Society of Chemistry, having abandoned the chemical lab in favour of publishing on 23rd January 19...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Transplant Spectroscopy Updated: 2009-01-19 13:00:14 Description: Yellow and black bile were considered by the ancients as two of the four vital humours of the human body along with phlegm and blood. Ancient and mediaeval Greco-Roman alternative medicine. Imbalances in these humours caused illness. The Greek names ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine Milk Update Updated: 2009-01-19 18:41:57 Description: More than 200 families whose babies were hospitalised after drinking infant milk formula tainted with the industrial chemical melamine are taking their case to China’s highest court after being repeatedly ignored by lower courts, according to a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD All Top Science Updated: 2009-01-13 09:57:22 Description: As some of you will know, Guy Kawasaki and the team at Alltop.com added the Sciencebase newsfeed to their excellent virtual magazine rack in the Science section. You may not be aware of the many other science-related sections on the Alltop.com site, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Physical Spotlight Updated: 2009-01-14 13:00:32 Description: The January issue of my Intute Spotlight column is now live 3D astrophysics - Astrophysicists are using a novel 3D computer visualization technique to help them understand the role of gravity in the formation of vast, stellar nurseries, also known as...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sciencebase on an iPhone Updated: 2009-01-16 10:00:59 Description: If you happen to have one of those luxurious portable gadgets, like an iPhone or the slightly less luxurious Google Android, then you can now read your favourite Science-based blog without all the visual effects simply by loading up the following URL...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Win Sputnik Mania Updated: 2009-01-16 12:00:44 Description: On 4th October 1957, the Soviets made the shock announcement that they had sent the first craft ever into orbit around the Earth. The Americans were stunned, how could the USSR have stolen a march on them in this way. That shock then turned to fear w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Reflecting on Climate Change Updated: 2009-01-05 13:00:47 Description: A radical plan to curb global warming and apparently reverse climate change caused by our rampant burning of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution would involve simply covering large areas of the world’s deserts with reflective sheeting....more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemical Start to the Year Updated: 2009-01-07 13:00:50 Description: The Alchemist took a seasonable tipple over the holiday period but discovered that he needn’t have splashed out on all that expensive wine thanks to the field effect. He also discovers that all those spent coffee grounds he produces could be ha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientwists Updated: 2009-01-08 17:20:31 Description: I carried out a little ad hoc experiment in social media this week. Having backed up my twitter friends and followers using Tweetake, I figured it was time to make them earn their keep…I jest. No, seriously, I’d downloaded the lists, whic...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How Alternative Medicine Fails Us Updated: 2008-12-29 13:00:01 Description: I’m forever fending off the alternative medicine brigade who seem to clump around this website and email me all kinds of supposed miracle cures that will spell the end of all health ills. One herbal remedy I recently focused on is Rhodiola rose...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Happy New Year Updated: 2009-01-01 13:00:07 Description: Best wishes from me, David Bradley, for the coming year. Thanks for all your support and comments in 2008 and let’s hope for even more exciting science, technology, and medical news in 2009 Happy New YearHappy New YearClick here to play...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Leukemia Tweezers Updated: 2009-01-02 13:00:33 Description: The first 2009 issue of SpectroscopyNOW is now available: Tweezing out leukemia spectra - US researchers have used laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS) to help them characterize the effects of different chemical fixation procedures on the spectra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD K Barry Sharpless Live Updated: 2008-12-26 13:00:20 Description: A recent live Webcast gave Professor K. Barry Sharpless, the 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry, the opportunity to explore the intricacies of scientific discovery and how it is that when observation is concerned, good luck favours only the prepare...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Top Ten Science News Posts Updated: 2008-12-10 13:00:29 Description: It’s that time of year again. The shops have been full of Xmas crap joy for weeks, as have I, of course. The neighbours have been through Osram’s full stock twice with their religiously ambiguous, exterior decor, and now I’m filling...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Water of Life Updated: 2008-12-12 13:00:58 Description: A while back, I visited the Bushmills whiskey distillery (it was my second visit in as many decades) always a pleasure, especially the tasting panel at the end of the tour just before you spend all your money on, ahem, souvenirs. Whisky is a broad ca...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Social Media for Science Librarians Updated: 2008-12-15 13:00:58 Description: I’m still following the social media for scientists trail and asked my good friend Roddy MacLeod of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, who runs the Internet Resources Newsletter whether he had any thoughts on gathering up social media resources...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemistry Dictionary 2.0 Updated: 2008-12-17 16:11:11 Description: Earlier this year organic chemist Adam Azman contacted me to ask if there were a free or open source chemistry dictionary available for word processors. Well, a quick search revealed only paid-for dictionaries so he set about creating his own chem di...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Rx Reviews Redux Updated: 2008-12-17 17:00:05 Description: A new(ish) website has launched that aims to provide unbiased patient-generated data on the benefits of 7000 prescription medications and their side-effects. Rateadrug.com hopes to do for pharma products what dooyoo and ciao do for gadgets by bringin...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemy Under the Spotlight Updated: 2008-12-19 13:00:05 Description: This week, The Alchemist is digging in the dirt to find out about the carbon cycle and climate change, taking his whisky (or is it whiskey) with or without water, and discovering how to juggle molecules, on the other hand. Also in biochemical news th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sperm, Discharge, Heroin, and Alzheimers Updated: 2008-12-22 13:00:13 Description: Batteries are included (unfortunately) - A chemical cocktail of toxic gases is released when you burn alkaline batteries, according to the latest research from Spain. The investigating team highlights the issue with respect to municipal waste inciner...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD New Year Science Books Updated: 2008-12-24 13:00:46 Description: If you’re New Year’s resolution is to read more books, then check out the latest additions to my bulging shelves, order them quickly on Amazon and you may just have them in time to fulfill that New Year’s resolution: Experimental he...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Future Updated: 2008-12-01 13:00:48 Description: Pundits are predicting that the first computer that will be at least as intelligent as a human will be built in 2010 and by 2049 a $1000 computer will outsmart the entire human race. But, this video is about more than that. It tracks the shifts that ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Shedding Light on Neon Signs Updated: 2008-12-03 13:00:28 Description: As regular readers know, I like to keep a fairly close eye on what Sciencebase visitors are searching for so that I can put together new posts that provide answers to the questions readers want answering. Recently, there has been a spate of search qu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Top Ten SNPs Updated: 2008-12-05 13:00:15 Description: If you ever thought genetics was only about disease, then check out the popular SNPs list on SNPedia. A SNP (pronounced “snip”) is a single nucleotide polymorphism, which in BradSpeak(TM) is basically a difference in a bit of your DNA tha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Flu Structure, Mp3s, and Magnetic Minestrone Updated: 2008-12-05 13:00:37 Description: You can read my latest science news updates in spectroscopynow.com: One flu over - X-ray studies have revealed details of the structure of a protein used by the avian influenza, H5N1, that allows it to hide its RNA from the infected host’s immu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Dioxins in Pork Updated: 2008-12-07 13:02:22 Description: Dioxins Before Swine - Irish pork is off the menu, according to the BBC. The UK’s Food Standards Agency is monitoring pork products in the Irish Republic because of fears of contamination with dioxins. “Tests showed some pork products con...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Breast is Best in Melamine Scandal Updated: 2008-11-24 10:00:02 Description: The melamine in milk scandal continues to draw interest. You recall, across Asia, in particularly in China, infant formula milk was discovered to be contaminated with a starting material for making plastics and fire retardant materials, melamine. Tho...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD This Guy Needs a Reality Check Updated: 2008-11-26 08:30:40 Description: Welcome fellow twitterers, don’t forget to follow me on twitter, before you read on… In the current economic climate, the “Downturn” as the BBC has so brazenly logo-ized it, when banks are running and companies are being crunc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Religious Faith in Technology Updated: 2008-11-28 09:15:10 Description: The Elucian Islands in the virtual online world known as Second Life are to host a climate change conference. Speakers will present live from Imperial College London and Stanford University in California, and researchers and university students will ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Recycled Virgins, Nano, and Trigger Points Updated: 2008-11-21 13:00:17 Description: My latest science news is now online in the spectroscopyNOW ezine. This week: Recycled virgin - Recycled engine oil has high levels of organic impurities, heavy metals, and carcinogenic compounds, according to work carried out by researchers in Jorda...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Vitamin D Dilemma - To D or Not To D Updated: 2008-11-14 13:00:37 Description: Radiological health expert Daniel Hayes who works at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recent published on the subject of low dose radiation and the possibility that a form of vitamin D could be the key to protecting us from b...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Virtual Rehabilitation for MS Sufferers Updated: 2008-11-17 13:00:04 Description: I recently wrote about how social media might help scientists do their work, so a paper in IJWBS on how those on the receiving end of medical science - patients and healthcare practitioners - might benefit from web 2.0 caught my eye. IT consultant Ma...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Polymer, Nanotech, Vitamins Updated: 2008-11-19 13:00:24 Description: This week the Alchemist hears how polymer chemists are turning to supramolecular chemistry (or is it supramolecular chemists turning to polymers?) to create novel flexible and elastic materials. In nanotechnology, a British consumer activist organiza...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientists Socializing Online Updated: 2008-11-12 13:00:10 Description: My post on social media for scientists seems to have been received rather well, with a huge amount of traffic and positive responses from various big name commentators across the networks and blogosphere. Several scientists have already commented abo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sciencebase Siblings Updated: 2008-11-10 12:00:04 Description: Just a quick reminder of the various sites now associated with the Sciencebase Science Blog: Over on http://www.sciscoop.com we have an active science news forum, recently discussing everything from the morning banana diet scam to space elevators. On...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Election Special Updated: 2008-11-04 08:00:03 Description: Congratulations to Barack Obama and well done American, you should feel proud to voted for your 44th President in Barack Obama. But, now that’s done and dusted on with the real news: In Issue 100 of the relaunched ChemWeb Alchemist, we report o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Social Media for Scientists Updated: 2008-11-05 13:01:18 Description: Towards the end of October, I received a flurry of emails asking me to check out new social networking sites for scientists, I’ve already reviewed the nanoscience community, of course. I suspect that, the academic year having moved into full sw...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scuppering the Program Pirates Updated: 2008-11-07 02:00:19 Description: Professors the world over are worried about plagiarism: students simply lifting huge chunks from web pages and passing the thoughts and arguments off as their own. Then there are the Professors who steal from each other and publish their work in supp...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Revolutionary Solids Updated: 2008-10-29 12:00:29 Description: History teachers can always turn to the significant figures and battles to enliven their lessons, biology education has the enormously diverse range of species to point to, and even physics can pull in metaphors and anecdotes for the more esoteric as...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Five-leaf Clovers Updated: 2008-10-31 07:30:37 Description: An anonymous visitor to the site emailed me: “I found a 5 leaf clover… do you know anything about it? Is it good luck or bad luck?” It’s just a mutation, like the four-leaf clover, of course. The four-leaf mutation is quite ra...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Halloween Skeletons and Reactive Chemistry Updated: 2008-10-31 09:00:13 Description: In the latest scary issue of the chemistry news webzine, Reactive Reports: Dating skeletons, sticky feet for Gecko Guy, volcanic chemistry from the depths of Hades, and chasing mad cows. CSI: Waco - A statistical method that processes spectroscopic m...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine Open Secret Updated: 2008-11-01 09:03:54 Description: In September, news emerged from China that thousands of babies had taken ill having drunk formula milk to which the organic compound melamine had been added. The melamine was being added by unscrupulous operatives somewhere in the milk supply chain, ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science of Spam Updated: 2008-11-03 12:00:47 Description: Who hasn’t received a spam email with some kind of clause laying claim to compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003? They usually say something about the message being anything but spam. But, it quickly becomes obvious, if you actually waste the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ayurvedic Heavy Metal Updated: 2008-10-27 12:00:58 Description: Ayurvedic medicines can contain dangerous quantities of heavy metals, including lead, mercury, thallium and arsenic, clinical toxicologists in London have warned. Writing in the International Journal of Environment and Health, they suggest that recen...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Open Access in Africa Updated: 2008-10-24 12:00:50 Description: There is much talk about Open Access. There are those in academia who argue the pros extensively in all fields, biology, chemistry, computing. Protagonists are making massive efforts to convert users to this essentially non-commercial form of informa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Explosive News Updated: 2008-10-20 12:00:39 Description: In my SpectroscopyNOW.com column this week: US researchers have used NMR to help them develop a new high explosive material that can be melt cast into a charge with any shape (and presumably whose explosions could be monitored by the blast-proof ther...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Rhodiola rosea Updated: 2008-10-22 12:00:54 Description: Live long and prosper with Rhodiola rosea? I very much doubt it. R rosea (aka golden root, roseroot, hóng j?ng ti?n in TCM) is a member of the Crassulaceae family and grows across the Arctic, the mountains of Central Asia, the Rockies, the Alps, the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine in the Global Food Supply Updated: 2008-10-13 16:00:38 Description: While melamine in the mainstream media seems to have quietened down in the last few days, there are still a few of us in the blogosphere attempting to unravel the tangle. I first reported in my melamine in milk article (September 17) how the news bro...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Blog Action Day on Poverty Updated: 2008-10-15 06:30:06 Description: We are, the media tells us, either on the verge or diving head first into a global recession the likes of which we have never seen. Countless financial headlines have screamed Credit Crunch, which sadly isn’t a wholegrain breakfast cereal for d...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science Books Updated: 2008-10-17 12:00:45 Description: Once again, I have a stack of great books sitting on the Sciencebase desk ready for review. First up is Go Green - How to Build an Earth-Friendly Community, which you will be pleased to learn has been published on apparently sustainable paper. The au...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine Apology Updated: 2008-10-18 08:12:42 Description: The day after yet more melamine in food warnings, this time in Bangladesh where eight imported powdered milk products have been banned and in Italy, it is reported that the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, has apologised for the Chinese government’...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Anti Cocaine, Heroin Test, and Excited Brains Updated: 2008-10-10 12:00:14 Description: The latest issue of my SpectroscopyNOW column is now online. In this issue, having sampled a little cannabis chemistry last month, I turned to cocaine, and enzymes to beat addiction, and new techniques for testing the purity, or otherwise of street h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Physics 2008 Updated: 2008-10-07 10:20:50 Description: The Nobel Prize for Physics 2008 is announced here Tuesday, October 7. The Nobel Prize in Physics goes to Yoichiro Nambu (born 1921) of the Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago “for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine and Kidney Failure Updated: 2008-10-07 15:00:08 Description: Sciencebase readers following the melamine story and concerned about melamine contaminated foods, will hopefully be interested in the latest expert opinion on the scandal. Roberta Weiss, a nephrologist (kidney doctor) emailed to provide Sciencebase r...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2008 Updated: 2008-10-08 08:40:26 Description: The Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2008 was awarded to Osamu Shimomura (b. 1928) of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), at Woods Hole, Massachusetts and Boston University Medical School, Martin Chalfie (b. 1947) of Columbia University, New York, and R...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Autumn Leaves Updated: 2008-09-21 23:00:00 Description: Today, is the first day of autumn, the fall, and Google is celebrating with a new leafy logo. But, why do leaves turn red in the fall? It’s all down to chemistry. Red pigments known as anthocyanins form in leaves from many plant and tree specie...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine Scandal Widens Updated: 2008-09-22 07:15:12 Description: Four infants in China have died and at least 53,000 are reportedly ill, many seriously so, having been fed milk powder contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. A three-year old girl in Hong Kong is also ill, but has now been released from ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spectral Analysis Updated: 2008-09-24 12:00:56 Description: This week in my SpectroscopyNOW column, I have four new posts covering, as usual, a wide range of solutions to scientific and technical problems. First up, is the discovery that compounds found in cannabis could lead to novel antibiotics that are les...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Disastrous Rumours Updated: 2008-09-26 12:00:31 Description: Gossip and rumours, they are the life force of cultural interaction. Just ask Guy Kawasaki, whose Truemors.com website took off last year, the hundreds of hacks who peddle the minutiae of celebrity lifestyles complete with the Photoshopped products o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine Contaminated Milk Updated: 2008-09-29 09:00:06 Description: A brief summary and update to the Sciencebase original posts on Melamine in Milk and Melamine Scandal Widens. Dairy farmers have been feeling the squeeze for years, particularly in parts of the world where technological advancement has been slow in ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Double Tennis Racquet Racket Updated: 2008-10-01 12:00:23 Description: I’m not sure what to make of this, but Don Mueller, of William Paterson University, New Jersey, who goes by the nickname Dr Bones sent me some video clips of what is, essentially, a new sport he invented - two-racquet tennis. Now, my first thou...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Melamine Contaminated Food List Updated: 2008-10-02 12:00:26 Description: Before you check out the following items, please click here first to grab the Sciencebase newsfeed. I’ll be updating the melamine news over the next few days, and the RSS newsfeed system allows you to keep up to date with the Sciencebase site w...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cancer Research Blog Carnival #14 Updated: 2008-10-03 12:00:08 Description: I don’t know anyone who hasn’t got a cancer story to tell, whether it is personal experience, a relative or friend, or association with their patients or through their research. Cancer has always been with us, but contrary to the popular ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Medicine 2008 Updated: 2008-10-06 09:34:17 Description: This year the Nobel committee has awarded the Prize for Physiology or Medicine to Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of human papilloma viruses (HPV) causing cervical cancer and to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for their discovery of h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mobile Internet Insecurities Updated: 2008-10-06 12:00:41 Description: Most internet users will be unaware and unconcerned by the computer science and technology that underpins their daily web surfing, emails, chats, and Twitter updates. But, there are, of course, thousands of incredibly bright people working behind the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Save Money on Gas Updated: 2008-06-11 12:00:25 Description: Apologies if, like me, you’re a Brit and prefer to refer to petrol and diesel, then apologies for today’s post title. But, I’ve noticed a flurry of complaints from Americans about the price of vehicle fuel, recently, and just had to...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Water, Water, Everywhere Updated: 2008-06-09 15:00:38 Description: Fresh, clean water is going to be increasingly in short supply. Despite the recent heavy rains across Southern Europe, the building of desalination plants in such regions, and the shipping in of water supplies from elsewhere is likely to increase in ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sunshine Monomer and the X-ray Sidestep Updated: 2008-06-02 12:00:04 Description: A simpler, gentler eye test based on Raman spectroscopy could spot ocular infection and other problems without irritating patients, although they may be required to yawn during the procedure. Whichever way you look at them, whether through the emotio...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nutraceutical News Updated: 2008-06-04 12:00:17 Description: I discovered a rather intriguing perspective on the world of wellbeing, health and nutrition in the latest issue of the journal World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development (2008, 5, 104-123). In it, Sundus Tewfik of the Department...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lead Astray Updated: 2008-06-06 13:40:51 Description: Reminiscences on a serious Stateside gun crime: You would think you wouldn’t find a less controversial topic to write about than the analysis of heavy metals using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS). In some ways it must sound like the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sex and Sin and Some Science Updated: 2008-05-28 12:00:34 Description: Porn star names originally posted in August 2005, this was something of a joke post about how porn star names have become almost the post-modern equivalent of a person’s astrological star sign, and a whole lot more scientifically valid, i...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Catching the Travel Bug Updated: 2008-05-26 12:00:51 Description: Long gone are the days of a summer break where the biggest health risks were stepping in donkey droppings on the beach or being sick on a fairground ride. These days, trips abroad provide the traveller with a whole range of diseases, so what’s ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Make Music, Boost Brain Updated: 2008-05-23 12:00:53 Description: I’ve played guitar - classical, acoustic, electric - for three decades, ever since I pilfered my sister’s nylon string at the age of 12, although even before that, I’d had a couple of those mini toy guitars with real strings at vari...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Recycling Science Updated: 2008-05-19 12:00:17 Description: My Alchemist column on ChemWeb is live once again: This week’s award is for science that sheds light on a range of physical phenomena including liquid-metal surfaces and condensed matter. The recipient of the award, Oleg Shpyrko of the Universi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Heavy Metal and Alzheimer’s Updated: 2008-05-21 12:00:46 Description: More popular science news with a spectroscopic bent from the desk of David Bradley, this week: Heavy metal and Alzheimer’s - While the protein-like plaques that form in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and in other tissues in...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Stem Cell Research Updated: 2008-05-16 12:00:30 Description: Lots of visitors are hitting the Sciencebase site look for information on stem cell research. It is a subject I’ve written about before, both on this site and elsewhere, but I thought it might be useful, given that my alma mater is at the foref...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Balls to the Dinosaurs, Oceanic Oxygen, and a Nano Flush Updated: 2008-05-12 14:00:57 Description: The May issue of my Spotlight column over on the Intute site is now online, this month featuring: Flush with nanoparticles - What happens to carbon-based nanoparticles when they enter groundwater? Can municipal water supplies filter them out? And, if...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Genetic Manipulation Updated: 2008-05-14 12:00:08 Description: Are you happy to eat genetically modified foods? What about your friends and colleagues? Do the GM pros outweigh the cons? I asked a few contacts for some answers by way of building up to a more formal response to those kinds of questions that will b...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Accounting for Research Updated: 2008-05-07 12:00:09 Description: How does one measure the worth of the science base? From the scientists’ perspective it is their bread and butter, or low-fat spread and rye biscuit, perhaps, in some cases. From industry’s standpoint, it is occasionally a source of inter...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Teatime Updated: 2008-05-09 12:00:01 Description: I commented on a post on the Bad Language blog, produced by my good friend Matthew Stibbe, earlier this week. He was waxing lyrical about cutting power consumption in his SOHO and mentioned how he prefers to brew tea with freshly drawn water. I point...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Wrench for Social Engineering Updated: 2008-05-05 12:00:52 Description: Social engineering attacks, what used to be known as a confidence, or con, tricks, can only be defeated by potential victims taking a sceptical attitude to unsolicited approaches and requests for privileged information and resources. That is the mess...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Colourful Scare Stories Updated: 2008-04-14 12:00:28 Description: The British media had a feeding frenzy over artificial food colourings again last week, following pronouncements from the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) urging manufacturers to voluntarily remove six additives from their products. The additiv...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemy, Hydrogen Economics, Lead-free Crime Updated: 2008-04-16 12:00:33 Description: In my ChemWeb Alchemist column this week, German chemists have constructed nanoscopic balls from DNA, researchers in the UK have discovered natural antibiotics in Greek cheese that could prevent food poisoning, and Stateside, researchers have develop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Rebuilding the Periodic Table Updated: 2008-04-18 09:20:31 Description: I’m bored with looking at the standard periodic table on my office wall. It has been useful over the years, of course, and has been exploited and sexploited too in the form of a periodic table of yoga and a sexy PT. It has also been hacked apar...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Interview with Egon Willighagen Updated: 2008-04-21 12:00:44 Description: Most of you who orbit the chemical blogosphere will be well aware of Egon Willighagen’s efforts in helping us build the chemical web. Willighagen is a post-doc at the Wageningen University & Research Center in the Netherlands and cites ope...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Taking the P (and the N) Updated: 2008-04-23 12:00:52 Description: Urine is a problem. Huge volumes are flushed, with fresh water, into the world’s sewage systems and then enormous volumes of yet more water are used to treat the waste along with solids. However, writing in a forthcoming issue of the Inderscien...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Biomonitors Updated: 2008-04-25 12:00:16 Description: Keeping a weather eye on atmospheric pollution is a large-scale, costly and time-consuming activity. However, there just happens to be a vast network of self-contained, self-powered units around the globe that can respond to the presence of toxins, r...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Incidents and Accidents Updated: 2008-04-28 12:00:50 Description: A friend of mine who worked in a biotech lab in Europe suffered a bout of what she thought was hayfever this year…snuffling and runny nose, itchy and sore eyes, the usual thing…except this was in February! She took a few days sick leave -...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spicy Nanogoo Updated: 2008-04-30 12:00:19 Description: Nanopaprika could be the key ingredient for spicing up the nanoscience and nanotechnologies communities. Site editor Andras Paszternak asked me to join just before the scientific social networking site passed the hot point of 500 members. Whether or ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD RSS Awareness Day Updated: 2008-05-01 08:44:56 Description: A post from David Bradley Science Writer RSS Awareness DayClick here to play...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Latest on Spectral Lines Updated: 2008-05-02 12:00:39 Description: There have been 32 issues of my science news column on spectroscopynow.com since it was last officially called Spectral Lines, but I thought it was a nice name so occasionally resurrect it here when I highlight the latest research findings I cover on...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spying on the Chemical Spy Updated: 2008-04-07 12:00:34 Description: Chemspy users may have noticed a few outages recently, at least on the blog section of that site, so rather than spend many an hour trying to upgrade servers, I’ve decided to re-host just the blog content from that site on Sciencebase. The data...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wind Power Updated: 2008-04-01 09:45:22 Description: This experiment is closely related to the potato-powered mp3 player but not the lemon battery, so if you try this at home…well… Anyway, the set up involves a lighted candle, a couple of screws, a glass jar and lid, various crocodiles clip...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Curing Pubmedophobia Updated: 2008-04-01 15:12:29 Description: Scienceroll’s Bertalan Meskó has come up with a solution for PubMed fatigue. It’s a debilitating condition that leads to feelings of inadequacy, but it’s not the patient who feels inadequate it’s the PubMed bot itself. “...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Online Science Updated: 2008-04-02 16:00:46 Description: For my sins, I asked another question on LinkedIn recently with the aim of canvassing opinion on how science can benefit from online social media. I posted the question in the biotech section, which seemed to be the most appropriate, they don’t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Doing Science Updated: 2008-04-03 09:28:22 Description: An interesting item on doing science from Chad Orzel represents more than a nod and a wink to the late, great Carl Sagan, although I didn’t see his name mentioned for whatever reason. Anyway, Prof Orzel distils the scientific process down to th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD VRML for MEMS Updated: 2008-04-04 09:50:47 Description: I first wrote about MEMS - microelectromechanical systems - some time in the early 1990s. There was a promise at the time of scalable, modular reaction units that would eventually preclude the need for chemical plants to have multi-gallon reaction ve...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Balloon Party Tricks Updated: 2008-04-04 12:00:55 Description: Unlike Monday’s wind power video, this one is no joke. In fact it’s testament to the strength of balloon rubber, the force of gravity, fluid mechanics, and high-speed photography. The clip lasts about 32 seconds, but the actual action is ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Manes, Brains and Branes Updated: 2008-03-31 12:00:02 Description: I’m playing catch up, after some offline time last week (holidays, families, and illness), so today’s post is a grab-bag of the various items (mainly books) sitting in a large pile on my desk that I thought deserved a quick mention and a ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Industrial Organic, Green Fireworks, and Unfolding Proteins Updated: 2008-03-28 13:00:03 Description: I was scanning the commercial world for a change for The Alchemist’s first find this week, and learned that General Electric is hoping to revolutionize OLED (organic light emitting diode) manufacture. A chemical web pioneer is offering a soluti...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientific Sin and Self Plagiarism Updated: 2008-03-26 13:00:06 Description: One of the seven deadly sins for scientists I came up with in a previous post on Sciencebase touches on the whole issue of trust. I coined the term self-plagiarism, I was alluding to the growing problem of scientists publishing essentially the same p...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Soft Option for Hard Water Updated: 2008-03-21 13:00:07 Description: Well, after a week of sinning, today’s post is more straightforward science news. First up, a soft test for hard water. Researchers in Spain have developed an inexpensive, reusable, and portable hard water sensor based on a fluorescing strand o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Trust Updated: 2008-03-24 13:00:59 Description: A few weeks ago, I posted a question on the business and networking site LinkedIn. It was a deliberately naïve and heavily loaded question, which I hoped would inspire fellow LinkedIn users to respond in depth, but on reflection I probably committed ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sciencebase Seedier Side Updated: 2008-03-19 13:00:30 Description: Anyone would think Sciencebase resided in one of the seedier corners of the internet. Because of all the recent fuss about the new seven deadly sins, I was just checking out the visitor traffic using Google Webmaster Tools and found some quite worryi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Seven Deadly Sins for Scientists Updated: 2008-03-17 13:00:06 Description: Given recent pronouncements from a certain organisation based in Rome, I thought it was time to list the Seven Deadly Sins for Scientists. Science is often referred to as being without morals and behaving unethically. Well, science itself cannot be e...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Girly Games Updated: 2008-03-05 13:00:18 Description: My latest science news write-ups on the SpectroscopyNOW portal are now up for grabs. This week, I cover the apparent gender gap when it comes to computer games, how Japanese researchers are using near-infrared light to probe young women’s brain...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD French Fries, Wild Mushrooms and Ouzo Updated: 2008-03-14 13:00:18 Description: A mixed bag this week in my Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com this week. First up, news that US$1 million is to be ploughed into biofuels research that could circumvent some of the serious environmental concerns associated with this renewable energy so...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Shedding Light on Optical Storage Updated: 2008-03-12 13:00:42 Description: A review of the state-of-the-art in optical storage technology from Sony scientists caught my eye while I was data mining journal ToC feeds recently. The demise of the Toshiba HD DVD format and the emergence of Sony’s Blu-Ray as the winner has ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Lemon Battery Updated: 2008-03-10 13:00:47 Description: The lemon battery, it’s a perennial kids science favourite and perfect for a rainy Saturday morning (if it’s not raining why aren’t you kids outside playing instead of surfing the InterWebs, huh?) Anyway, with a single lemon, a few ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Girly Addiction to Video Games Updated: 2008-03-05 13:00:18 Description: My latest science news write-ups on the SpectroscopyNOW portal are now up for grabs. This week, I cover the apparent gender gap when it comes to computer games, how Japanese researchers are using near-infrared light to probe young women’s brain...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Linked In Questions Updated: 2008-03-07 13:00:37 Description: Recently, I did a little blogging experiment on the business networking site LinkedIn (inspired by a post on Copyblogger). I was writing a feature article for Sciencebase about risk and the public perception of trust in science and technology. As an ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Rubbing Up the Gene Genie Updated: 2008-03-02 11:00:07 Description: Sciencebase is this week proud to play host to the Gene Genie Blog Carnival thanks to an offer from Bertalan “Berci” Meskó over on the excellent ScienceRoll. For those who don’t already know, a Blog Carnival doesn’t usually in...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD I Am Not What I Eat Updated: 2008-02-29 13:00:29 Description: I usually don’t do online, or any other kind, of survey. But, an ad for the Nutriprofile personal nutritional profiling site in the weekend papers caught my eye. It was the accreditation by various academic bodies that caught my eye. Among them...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD In What We Trust Updated: 2008-02-27 13:00:21 Description: News headlines almost always deal in data-free absolutes. Take this recent strapline from an item on Australian news site: Drinking two or more colas a day - whether sweetened with sugar or an artificial sweetener - doubles your risk of chronic kidne...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Beer or Wine? Updated: 2008-02-25 13:00:57 Description: In the good-old days there was no choice, if you were posh you drank wine, if you were not you drank beer. Same goes for the Beatles-Stones debate. The Beatles were the nice clean-living, fun loving beat combo, whereas the Rolling Stones were the sca...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Technological To-Do List Updated: 2008-02-20 13:00:00 Description: A panel of eighteen apparently maverick thinkers was charged with coming up with a to-do list for the twenty-first century by the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). The maverick panel includes such notables as former director of the National I...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Full Spectrum Science News Updated: 2008-02-22 13:00:08 Description: Musical molecules, bright fibres, polarised brain chemistry, and cholesterol regulation, all feature in my SpectroscopyNOW column this week. Musical molecules - What do Schroedinger’s equation and Schoenberg’s expressionism have in common...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Watery Typo Leads to Salvation Updated: 2008-02-15 13:00:28 Description: In the realm of physical chemistry (or is it chemical physics?) there was almost theological interest in this week’s Alchemist. Having written about water glass and how low-temperature studies of aqueous phase changes are helping scientists to ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD CO2 Refusenik to Win Pulitzer Updated: 2008-02-18 13:00:39 Description: Polar bears are not quite the enormous white climate canary of frozen climes that we have been led to believe. In fact, they’re more likely to turn out to be the elephant in the room, when in fifty years time their numbers have grown despite Go...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sciencebase Upgraded Updated: 2008-02-11 21:04:53 Description: I finally upgraded the Sciencebase site to the very latest version of Wordpress, it had been languishing at version 2.1.3 (can you believe it?) for far too long. There had not only been dozens of security upgrades since that version and the current v...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Search and Cite for Science Bloggers Updated: 2008-02-12 11:32:30 Description: A couple of weeks ago I was reading a post by Will Griffiths on the ChemSpider Open Chemistry Web blog about how the DOI citation system of journal article lookups might be improved. The DOI system basically assigns each research paper a unique numbe...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Did Your Doctor Inhale? Updated: 2008-02-06 13:00:06 Description: A survey of medical students in Brazil found that more than 80% use alcohol, while cannabis use is limited to about one in four, a quarter use solvents and just over 25% use tobacco. In contrast, less than three quarters of female medical students us...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Giving the Ghetto Blaster Retro Chic Updated: 2008-02-08 13:00:28 Description: The ongoing quest for bigger, better, smaller, faster gadgets and other consumer products is not environmentally sustainable and must be replaced by an approach to design that builds on the products of contemporary mass-produced culture by re-working...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Brain Scan Reveals Cultural Differences Updated: 2008-01-30 13:00:06 Description: I’ve just finished writing a news article for the SpectroscopyNOW.com MRI ezine and wanted to expand on some of the implications of the work here. The item describes the results of recent research that purportedly show differences in how born-a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Six Degees of Separation Updated: 2008-02-01 13:00:02 Description: In the latter part of my university career I met someone from another part of the country who had taken an entirely different degree course at roughly the same time as me, but whom I’d never bumped into at university itself. In fact, it wasn...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Who Do You Work For? Updated: 2008-02-04 13:00:59 Description: Getting the balance right between work and life is difficult, if not impossible, for many people. There are so many pressures on us pushing and pulling from countless directions. Multitasking has become the norm, but the act of juggling career, famil...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD No Spies Under My Bed Updated: 2008-01-28 13:00:04 Description: Currently, the only truly effective way consumers can stop the collection of their personal data when shopping is not to use the internet, to be paid and to pay for everything in cash, and to hide their money in their mattress. More seriously, most o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Most Commented Posts on Sciencebase Updated: 2008-01-25 13:00:39 Description: If you have ever wondered what gets people chatting on the Sciencebase Blog and why the site has now passed the 3000 newsfeed subscriber point, then you might like to check out this selection of recent posts that, according to a neat little Wordpress...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 18 Handpicked Online Periodic Tables Updated: 2008-01-21 13:00:09 Description: Where online do you turn, when you are looking for a periodic table? The domain name PeriodicTable.com - reveals a superb online periodic table with an obvious website name and the option to buy a poster printout. For more on what Periodic Tables mea...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Spammatical Errors Updated: 2008-01-23 13:00:43 Description: I usually ignore the comment spam folders on this website as per my own advice. Occasionally, however, I will scan them quickly. I do so if a regular reader has commented and has emailed to say that their comment is yet to appear. Legitimate words do...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Attractive Health Measures or Magnetic Manure Updated: 2008-01-14 13:00:22 Description: We probably all know at least one person who swears by their magnetic charm bracelet for preventing travel sickness, reducing arthritic pain or even helping them through situations that induce an attack of social anxiety disorder. These bracelets and...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nano Pico Femto Satellites Updated: 2008-01-11 13:00:40 Description: Swarms of satellites each weighing less than 100 grams and not much bigger than a personal digital assistant or even a cell phone could soon be heading for space. These so-called femto satellites could quickly displace the behemoths of yesteryear tha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Learn to Let Go of Your Spam Folders Updated: 2008-01-04 13:00:33 Description: In the spirit of recent posts about conversational spam and other such topics, I thought I’d let you into a little secret. My blog comment spam folder fills up every day but thanks to Akismet you never get to see the spam on the blog itself. Sa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Airborne Germs and Handwringing Updated: 2008-01-07 13:00:02 Description: Just before the Christmas break, right as my annual winter festival cold kicked in and I was up to my neck in end of year deadlines, I posted a link to a press release in my Geeky Bits science extra column. That page is a repository of the less worth...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD An Amply Adequate Sufficiency of Tautology Updated: 2008-01-07 20:00:19 Description: As Russ Swan of Laboratory Talk pointed out in reference to my previous post on the redundancy of the phrase “male semen”, there are numerous other examples around. For instance, the phrase HIV virus is equally redundant as it literally s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Plasticine, Salt, and Melting Snow Updated: 2008-01-08 13:00:11 Description: Why do they grit the roads with rock salt in winter? What does the salt do to the water to reduce ice on the roads? Is this somehow related to how salt affects the boiling point of water? Keywords to search for: colligative properties, boiling, freez...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 40320, Such a Significant Figure Updated: 2008-01-09 13:00:55 Description: I am currently writing a post about pico and femto satellites for Sciencebase, these devices are tiny compared to the enormous one tonne behemoths many of us would picture if asked to visualise an artificial satellite (more on that later). Anyway, th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemical Language Translated Updated: 2008-01-02 13:00:41 Description: During my time at the Royal Society of Chemistry (do I sometimes make it sound like a prison sentence?), I watched in awe as my old mucker Andrew Wilkinson helped reformulate the IUPAC book of chemical definitions commonly known as the Gold Book. Tha...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Billion Light Years from Home Updated: 2008-01-01 13:00:25 Description: Have you ever come across this kind of description of an astronomical event? “…astronomers have witnessed a supermassive black hole blasting its galactic neighbor with a deadly beam of energy…Both galaxies are situated about 1.4 bil...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science Blogs, Favourites of 2007 Updated: 2007-12-27 13:00:06 Description: In an effort to keep Sciencebase bubbling along during the holiday season, I figured a quickie post listing some of my favourite science blogs from this year might be interesting. Blogs come and go, of course, and my newsreader account is in constan...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Popular Science Discoveries This Year Updated: 2007-12-29 13:00:55 Description: No science blog would be fulfilling its annual duties if it didn’t provide an end of year round up of what’s been hot and what’s been not in the past year. So, I activated Alex King’s excellent Popularity Contest plugin (new v...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Ten Computing Tips Updated: 2007-12-20 12:00:01 Description: Seeing as the holiday season is fast approaching, I thought I’d offer an extra post covering some of the browsing and blogging tips and tricks I run on the Significant Figures site at Sciencetext.com. On that site I used to mainly discuss inapp...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD December Chemical Discoveries Updated: 2007-12-21 13:00:12 Description: In addition to my interview with Chinese chemist Andrew Sun, mentioned earlier this week, the December issue of Reactive Reports features the pick of chemistry news DNA Nanorings A simple approach to making rigid DNA nanorings with tailor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How to Poison Your Dog this Christmas Updated: 2007-12-22 13:00:46 Description: ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse Well, that may not be quite true, do you know what you’re dog is doing right now? What about the cat? They’re not rummaging t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemistry’s Sun Rises in the East Updated: 2007-12-24 13:00:49 Description: Many of you will know chemist Andrew Sun from his On the Road blog and from his occasional but insightful comments on the Sciencebase site. I recently interviewed him for the Reactive Reports chemistry webzine and you can read the result there in the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD David Bradley Abbreviated Updated: 2007-12-17 11:30:33 Description: I wrote a rather vainglorious post on my Significant Figures site last week - entitled David Bradley: Killer, Lover, Player Puller, it was basically an excuse to do a bit of personal branding but also highlighted the fact that there are so many other...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Male Semen is Redundant Updated: 2007-12-18 20:30:36 Description: You’ve seen the kind of thing: “Warehouse Razed to the Ground in Fire”, as if razing didn’t already mean the building was levelled. Worse, “Balloon Ascends Up into the Air”, ascending down is very difficult, simult...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Composting Chitosan Cat-litter Composite Updated: 2007-12-19 16:00:40 Description: That has to be the oddest blog headline I’ve come up with this week, but it’s not in fact that esoteric once you get down to it. Basically, researchers in China have created a new material based on dolomite (porous kitty litter material) ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Could Warm Feet Save the World? Updated: 2007-12-14 16:00:18 Description: Wind turbines, photovoltaic power cells, wave energy, porous hydrogen storage composites for fuel cells, carbon sequestration, nuclear, even the idea of damming the Red Sea for a massive hydroelectric power plant are among the high-tech approaches be...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sciencebase Top Ten Molecules of 2007 Updated: 2007-12-10 16:00:24 Description: Everyone loves a list. (Don’t they?) Well, as we’re approaching the end of the year and some of us are well into the panto and party season already, I thought it would be a good idea to run down a hit parade of this year’s molecules...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Volcanoes, Moons, Pearls, and Alchemy Updated: 2007-12-12 16:00:07 Description: This month’s physical sciences Spotlight over on the Intute site turns on oceanic plans, lunar volcanoes, and pearl necklaces: Infertile Global Warming Plan - Plans to fertilize the oceans with iron or other nutrients in order to absorb atmosph...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 8 Squeezes for Your iPhone Battery Updated: 2007-12-05 16:00:13 Description: If you’ve just bought an iPhone, you’re probably expecting many happy years of battery power. Well, not so fast. Laptop batteries are very similar to rechargeable batteries in other devices, they wear out. I’ve had my current laptop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Youtube for Scientists Updated: 2007-12-07 16:00:42 Description: Regular readers will know that I have a penchant for posting science videos every now and then. I’ve written about vids on how to explain Newton’s laws with Lego, A spoof sweet potato battery to power your mp3 player, Einstein meets Hen...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 8 Ways to Get More Juice from Your iPhone Battery Updated: 2007-12-05 16:00:13 Description: If you’ve just bought an iPhone, you’re probably expecting many happy years of battery power. Well, not so fast. Laptop batteries are very similar to rechargeable batteries in other devices, they wear out. I’ve had my current laptop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientific Job Surfing Updated: 2007-11-26 16:00:37 Description: ‘Be as creative, obscure and tangential as possible,’ is Allan Jordan’s advice to anyone surfing the net for a new job. He tried every site available until he got his present position at Cambridge-based Ribotargets a small pharmaceu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Sweet Proteins, Crystallised Proteins Updated: 2007-11-28 16:00:06 Description: A new naturally derived artificial sweetener could soon hit the market, thanks to the development of a mass production technique devised by University of Wisconsin-Madison research Fariba Assadi-Porter. The sweetener, known as brazzein, is a 54 amino...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Magnolia Gum, Organic Uranium, Biotech Sweetener Updated: 2007-11-30 16:32:32 Description: I’ve got a weird and wonderful mix of chemistry news again on the Reactive Reports site and my Alchemist column on ChemWeb.com Barking Up the Right Tree for Fresh Breath - A traditional Chinese extract from the bark of the magnolia tree could g...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Fourteen Do’s and Don’ts for Medical Bloggers Updated: 2007-12-03 16:00:31 Description: Fellow freelance journalist James Butcher alerted me to the existence of a clutch of rather verbose guidelines for journalists and others pertaining to the reporting of medical research results. The guidelines were published in November by the UKR...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Revealing Invisible Science Updated: 2007-11-20 14:47:31 Description: The notion of the Invisible Web created quite a buzz, long before Google even had just one “oo” let alone half a dozen. The phrase alluded to the putatively millions of additional web pages, essentially hidden from view behind database sc...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Holiday Reading for Scientists Updated: 2007-11-21 15:00:10 Description: I’ve allowed a stack of books to accumulate on my desk over the last few weeks, some of them I’ve glanced through, others I’ve devoured over the course of a few days in snatched moments between writing, researching, blogging, and fi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Is Your Trailing Spouse a Significant Other? Updated: 2007-11-23 16:00:08 Description: Today’s blog post is a little bit of a cheat, it’s a re-run of a feature I wrote for HMSBeagle the now defunct life sciences webzine for its Adapt or Die column to which I contributed on a monthly basis for a couple of years. However, the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Taking the P out of Urine Testing Updated: 2007-11-16 15:00:26 Description: A new approach to testing urine samples without having to purify them first has led to the discovery of a new hormone that controls sodium excretion and so could be involved in controlling high blood pressure. Too much sodium equates to raised bp. Th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Obesity News Epidemic Updated: 2007-11-14 15:00:12 Description: We all know we’re all getting fatter, don’t we? Obesity has become the latest plague of the developed world. And, body mass index has become the vital statistic your GP is most interested. Well, I’ve actually lost a few pounds from ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scientific Intuition Under the Spotlight Updated: 2007-11-12 15:00:50 Description: It is that time of the month again. Spotlight on the physical sciences time, in conjunction with my colleagues at the intuitive portal Intute. This month’s round-up includes the latest on the problem of stump exposure and glaciation in a global...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Einstein Meets Hendrix Updated: 2007-11-10 15:00:29 Description: Well, not quite, but the wonderfully named Dr Mark Lewney puts on a great show not only as an axe hero extraordinaire but as a high-flying physicist who can explain why his nifty chops and runs sound the way they do. I had a quick e-chat with him the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Never Divide by Zero Updated: 2007-11-05 14:00:49 Description: There is nothing like a Lego movie to cheer up an overcast day, and it has been a long time since I posted the Newton’s Laws Explained with Lego movie. So let’s get metaphysical and find out what happens when you square infinity or when a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Vote for Sciencebase Updated: 2007-11-05 16:00:11 Description: I need your support! Sciencebase got nominated for a 2007 Weblog Award in the Science category, so it would be great if as many of you could vote for the site. This is the link - http://2007.weblogawards.org/polls/best-science-blog-1.php - be sure to...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Asthma Sufferers, Hold Your Breath Updated: 2007-11-07 15:00:03 Description: As someone who developed exercise-induced bronchospasm (mild asthma) only after coming up to Cambridge, having never suffered in childhood, I was rather disappointed to find myself on first one inhaler then a second. The discovery of breathing techni...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD The Missing Stuff of Thought Updated: 2007-11-08 13:00:48 Description: It would be so easy to latch on to one particular section in cunning linguist Steven Pinker’s new book, The Stuff of Thought. It’s full of expletives, cussing, and good old swear words. There’s a serious point to Pinker’s use ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Facing up to Facebook Updated: 2007-11-09 15:00:22 Description: Sciencebase readers who scroll all the way down to the footer of any page on the site will most likely have spotted a clutch of new icons in a section I call Geeky Fun Stuff. I never thought of myself as an ubergeek until recently, but I guess it all...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD 1800PetMeds Coupons Updated: 2007-11-03 15:00:37 Description: I’m not sure whether I should admit the following, but this morning I found little scatterings of murine faeces and could detect a musky yet ammoniacal odour in the storage area where we keep our dog and cat food. Not nice. In case you haven...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cataloguing Innovation Updated: 2007-10-31 17:51:33 Description: An intriguing paper on the notion of idea generation came to my attention this week. It’s from the International Journal of Management Practice, which might have suggested something rather dry and off topic, but the first named author Roy Woodh...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Yahoo Pipes for Scientists Updated: 2007-11-02 15:00:36 Description: I’ve talked about Yahoo Pipes before. It was Berkeley chemist and Sciencebase regular Mitch Garcia who turned me on to them with his clever pipe that allows anyone to search as many chemistry journals as possible that offer ASAP and in press pa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Back to Fundamentals Updated: 2007-10-29 15:00:03 Description: Is there any justification for spending public money on fundamental scientific research for which there is no obvious potential for technological application, wealth creation, or any obvious purpose other than the advancement of human knowledge. If t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Pick and Comment Updated: 2007-10-28 18:00:33 Description: Okay, here’s the thing. Sciencebase is now getting around 2000 spam comments every day. So, if I take a break, like I did this week, that’s a vast cr*pflood to check through even with the help of the Akismet spam filter and the Auntie Spa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD High-speed MS Diagnosis is in the Eyes Updated: 2007-10-26 15:00:16 Description: MRI brain scans have recently been used to calibrate and corroborate the results of a new eye-scanning technique that can diagnose multiple sclerosis symptoms in just a few minutes. The technique, optical coherence tomography (OCT), scans the layers ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemical Reactions Updated: 2007-10-24 15:00:01 Description: The latest issues of my ChemWeb Alchemist and Reactive Reports columns are both available online. Headline stories this month ask important questions, such as: Why does cannabis get you “high”? What is it about the psychoactive component ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Disney Coupons Updated: 2007-10-21 15:00:00 Description: I’ve been struggling this week to think of an excuse to mention Disney coupons. This is a science blog after all, but as regular readers are well aware it is supported in part by a coupons section. At the weekend, I usually try to shoehorn in s...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Scintillating Scientific Scintillations Updated: 2007-10-22 15:00:36 Description: Sciencebase is now on Scintilla, the science blog portal from the journal Nature. It’s worth checking out and with the help of the site’s guru Alf Eaton, I got a couple of minor technical issues quickly resolved. One of the key features o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Jonny Wilkinson, Physicist Extraordinaire Updated: 2007-10-16 15:00:55 Description: On this side of The Atlantic, there is growing interest this week in Jonny Wilkinson’s balls, and more to the point how he kicks them. Wilkinson’s drop goals are testament to his keen understanding of the physics of aerodynamics, fluid me...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Flu Clinic Widget Updated: 2007-10-17 15:00:43 Description: Is flu vaccination a shot in the dark? Regular readers will recall the recent debate on multiple vaccines, statistics, and risk we had here in September. I also have rather close personal experience of one of the risks associated with having the annu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Hot Milk and Global Warming Updated: 2007-10-19 15:00:16 Description: The most ludicrous media storm blew up in the UK this week over alleged plans that the government was supposedly to force us to use ultra heat treated, so-called long-life, milk in our tea and on our breakfast cereal rather than the nice fresh pasteu...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Tricorder for Blood Disease and Breast Cancer Updated: 2007-10-15 15:00:58 Description: Science news with a spectroscopy bent from my desktop hit the virtual newsstands today over on SpectroscopyNOW.com First up, an atomic coilgun that can stop atoms in their tracks using a sequence of pulsed magnetic fields has been developed by US sci...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Physics 2007 Updated: 2007-10-09 10:00:33 Description: This year’s Nobel Prize for Physics went to Albert Fert (France) and Peter Grünberg (Germany), who share the prize fifty:fifty for their discovery of giant magnetoresistance in which a very weak magnetic change gived rise to a major difference ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2007 Updated: 2007-10-10 10:31:13 Description: The Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2007 goes to Gerhard Ertl of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces. Congratulations Professor! We have the semiconductor industr...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Solar Power, Japanese Hair, X-Rays, and Winning SONS Updated: 2007-10-10 15:00:20 Description: This week, The Alchemist learns of awards to two chemists funded by the European Science Foundation and undertaking cutting edge multidisciplinary work in solar energy and liquid crystals. It turns out that when it comes to crystallography size no lo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Peace 2007 Updated: 2007-10-12 12:46:48 Description: Oscar winning politician Al Gore and the hundreds of scientists of the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change established by the United Nations) have been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize for Peace for their work on raising international aw...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Rush Natural Science Updated: 2007-10-12 15:00:29 Description: Earlier this week, I went to see “one” of my childhood musical heroes, progressively rocking Canadian three piece Rush. The band was on top form as ever and the crowd jostled to the music almost in synchrony like so many atoms in a Bose-E...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Science Helps Dig Up Your Genetic Family Tree Updated: 2007-09-24 15:00:59 Description: My wife’s mother is very keen to trace her family tree and has dug up roots as far back as the early 18th century with possible hints at some ancestors dating back to the late 1600s. She has quite a rare and locally focused maiden name, so it h...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Plain or Vanilla Pheromones Updated: 2007-09-26 15:00:43 Description: NOW with working links! The latest issue of chemistry webzine Reactive Reports is now online, in this month’s issue: Plain or Vanilla Some men smell of vanilla while others smell of urine, but it is not always down to personal hygiene or...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Slowburn Treatment for Chronic Disease Updated: 2007-09-28 15:00:06 Description: For years, the notion that bacteria could cause ulcers was brushed aside, until the work of Robin Warren, who “rediscovered” the gut microbe Helicobacter pylori, was finally accepted. More recently, periodontal disease, a bacterial infect...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD eCampus Coupons for Chemistry News Updated: 2007-09-30 19:00:39 Description: Laptops, college gear, textbooks, CDs, and DVDs, all available at a discount thanks to our eCampus coupons page and almost all essential for working on chemistry news, well maybe not the CDs or DVDs, and probably not the college gear. And, come to th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD A Natural Blowtorch Updated: 2007-10-01 14:30:37 Description: Nature’s blowtorch is an enzyme system that oxidizes toxins, drug molecules, and other noxious molecules found in the body ready for excretion. But, understanding exactly how this molecular machinery has been an ongoing research job for many ye...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD No More Chocolate Headaches Updated: 2007-10-03 15:00:32 Description: Does eating chocolate give you a headache? What about red wine? Cheese, perhaps? Yes, well read on to find out how a space-age detector developed to look for signs of life on Mars could soon become the kitchen gadget of choice for anyone who suffers ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD How Not to Grab the Blogosphere Updated: 2007-10-05 15:00:43 Description: This week I, and a dozen or so other science writers and bloggers, got spammed with a single email by a public relations company hoping to get us to write about the “next big thing” from their client. Nothing shocking there, we all get PR...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Abebooks Coupons and Life Science Careers Updated: 2007-10-06 22:00:36 Description: According to Toby Freedman, a university life “generally does not prepare individuals for careers in industry”. On the other hand, news this week that a freshman physics class just launched their own company, suggests he might on occasion...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nobel Prize for Medicine 2007 Updated: 2007-10-08 10:13:28 Description: The Nobel Prize website was offline at the time of writing presumably unable to take the strain of hacks and bloggers every scrabbling to learn of the winners. Anyway, Mario R. Capecchi (US) and Oliver Smithies (US) and Martin J. Evans (UK) have won ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cutting the Cost of Watts and Soaking up CO2 Updated: 2007-10-08 15:00:04 Description: In this month’s Intute Spotlight, I report on a new approach to carbon storage that researchers hope will allow us to reduce or stabilise atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, although I have my doubts. Carbon sequestration is a well-studied theor...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Alchemical Happenings Updated: 2007-08-30 15:00:55 Description: As regular Sciencebase readers will know, I write a regular chemistry news round-up for ChemWeb under the plome-de-nume of The Alchemist. This is the latest incarnation of a column I first wrote for the original ChemWeb.com almost a decade ago. ChemW...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Circular Arguments and a Complex World Updated: 2007-08-31 09:00:14 Description: Mika Aaltonen of the BIT Research Centre at the Helsinki University of Technology in Finland argues that at the very fundamental level, human beings are storytelling animals, this premise may seem obvious but arises not because we like fairytales and...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Cosmic Effort Sheds Light on Dark Energy Updated: 2007-08-27 15:00:09 Description: In the late 1990s, the universe changed. The sums suddenly did not add up. Observations of the remnants of stars that exploded billions of years ago, Type Ia supernovae, showed that not only are they getting further away as the universe expands but t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Two Slits Are Better Than One Updated: 2007-08-28 15:00:23 Description: Sciencebase Exclusive - Careful experimentation and theoretical analysis of a double-slit experiment have finally quashed a controversy in fundamental physics – the complementarity-uncertainty debate. Ever since the catflap to the quantum world was o...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Could World of Warcraft Fight Disease? Updated: 2007-08-24 15:00:47 Description: In September 2005, about 4 million World of Warcraft gamers saw a new and unexpected challenge in the game. Players exploring a new area within the game encountered an extremely virulent, highly contagious disease, known as Corrupted Blood, which had...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Giving Good Headline Updated: 2007-08-14 15:00:27 Description: I was discussing press releases and headline writing recently with a technology writer friend. One thing that many first-time authors and the people they write about are blissfully unaware is that magazines and newspapers usually employ specific peop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Short Chicken Wire Roll Up Updated: 2007-08-15 15:00:17 Description: In a past life I was deputy editor on the RSC journal Chemical Communications and recall the excitement and tension around the time we published Sir Harry Kroto’s pioneering fullerene paper. At the time, there were all kinds of imaginative plan...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wound Healing and Super Cabbage Updated: 2007-08-16 15:00:06 Description: This week in The ChemWeb Alchemist, I report how Illinois chemists have developed a novel catalytic approach that side-steps functional group modifications to streamline organic syntheses. The Alchemist also discovers that a serendipitous finding lea...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Extra Geeky Bits Updated: 2007-08-17 15:00:41 Description: Keen-eyed Sciencebase readers will have spotted the “Geeky Bits” link at the far-right of the menu above. Behind this link is the science extra section of the site where I blog at a micro level on various papers and articles I spot on the...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Quantum Dots and Spin Pumps Updated: 2007-08-20 11:00:55 Description: It is not so long ago, that the first thing that sprang to mind when one read the phrase ‘quantum dot’ is some rather esoteric and complicated aspect of avant garde physics. This is still partly true, there is some rather complex experime...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Why Do We Yawn? Updated: 2007-08-22 15:00:59 Description: No one knows why we yawn. There are lots of theories, some talk about it signalling tiredness or getting oxygen to the brain, others mention clearing out stale air from the lungs and reducing blood carbon dioxide levels. Most are baloney. But, one th...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Copper Blues Updated: 2007-08-10 14:00:19 Description: Lots of people take multivitamins, mineral supplements, and a vast range of antioxidants? But, do they improve your health and wellbeing above and beyond what you could achieve with a well-balanced diet, plenty of fresh air and exercise? In some inst...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Wine.com Coupons and Health Updated: 2007-08-11 15:00:38 Description: It’s that time of the week again, time to crack open a bottle to share and time to wonder about the health effects or otherwise of wine. If you’re also wondering how to save on your wine you may have guessed from this post’s title t...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Biomarkers Point to Earlier Treatment for Parkinsons Updated: 2007-08-13 07:00:26 Description: Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease are devastating illnesses. The former steals a person’s control of their body while the latter takes away their mind. There are no cures. But new research into biologic rhythms now underwa...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Finding ET Updated: 2007-08-08 15:00:08 Description: Research in the field of exobiology relies on one of the biggest assumptions we make about the universe - that we are not alone, that there could be life on worlds other than the Earth. However, one assumption we should not make about life elsewhere ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Intellectual genetics Updated: 2007-08-01 15:00:08 Description: Two prominent legal moratoria - the Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS, adopted by World Trade Organisation in 1993) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD adopted in 1992) - are potentially in dire...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mixing and unmixing Updated: 2007-08-02 19:00:33 Description: I’m on a photography course this week, hence the leaner, meaner Sciencebase posting regime. But, I did find time to chat with technology writer Wayne Smallman on Blah Blah Tech, who pointed out this neat video showing three distinct coloured fl...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD We are all made of stars Updated: 2007-08-03 15:00:53 Description: A cocktail of chemicals is venting in enormous jets from the oxygen-rich surroundings of a supergiant star 5000 light years from earth, according to Arizona radio astronomers. Using the the Arizona Radio Observatory’s 10m Submillimeter Telescop...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Camera courses and photo coupons Updated: 2007-08-04 17:38:44 Description: For those of you who are interested in knowing a bit about my personal life, I’ve spent day times this week on a digital photography course (evenings and early mornings have been blogging and work as usual, which makes for a rather tiring week)...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemical Summer Updated: 2007-08-06 15:00:54 Description: It’s a bumper summer special issue over on Reactive Reports, with an interview with Chemistry Central OA advocate Bryan Vickery and a stash of breaking chemistry stories Reactive Profile—Bryan Vickery, Chemistry Central Bryan Vickery did his B...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Six degrees of privacy Updated: 2007-07-27 13:00:08 Description: Worried about keeping your private details private on Facebook? Do you know what information Google stores on each and every search you do? What about your bank, do they track your online purchases and send that information to direct marketing agenci...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Acronyms, abbreviations, and HSN coupons Updated: 2007-07-28 22:00:37 Description: Acronyms and abbreviations have always been a hobby horse of mine. Too many publications use them almost randomly without bothering to define. I suspect I’ve been guilty of that on occasion, but I try not to slip up. I was reading a PhD thesis ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Mice and a slice Updated: 2007-07-30 15:00:11 Description: A new methodology for fibre-optic Raman mapping and FTIR imaging of secondary cancer cells, metastases, and detecting tumour cells has been developed by researchers in Germany. The technique facilitates imaging of samples thicker than 50 micrometres ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Arctic droughts, plastic breakdown, and liquid telescopes Updated: 2007-07-16 08:00:15 Description: This month’s intute Spotlight from David Bradley is now available online: Telescopic lunar liquid: A liquid reflector for a vast Newtonian telescope to be based on the surface of the Moon is being developed by scientists in Canada, UK, and US. ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Chemweb Chemistry News Updated: 2007-07-17 15:00:36 Description: The Alchemist this issue takes a look at colorful nanoparticles and how to control them with a magnet, a platinum wrap that could improve the efficacy of certain types of anticancer drug, an answer to why trucks cannot crush mother-of-pearl, and the ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Harry Potter and the Terrorist Threat Updated: 2007-07-18 15:00:48 Description: Could the UK government’s response to the terrorist threat since 9/11 be the basis of plots and story lines in the Harry Potter series of books? Judith Rauhofer of the University of Central Lancashire believes so and has carried out a study of ...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD When blogging gets you fired Updated: 2007-07-19 13:00:34 Description: You wouldn’t think that writing up a few random thoughts in a blog could get anyone into trouble, would you? Obviously, if you’re making libelous statements then some day soon you are going to be sued, allegedly. But, most of us are sensi...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Getting into the Cochrane Library for free Updated: 2007-07-20 15:00:46 Description: Today, I was following up a press release about a review of clinical trials. The analysis suggests that the cannabinoid receptor antagonist rimonabant could help people quit smoking without gaining weight. The research was published today in the Coch...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Digital Camera Coupons Updated: 2007-07-21 15:00:32 Description: If you’re in North America, you can sign up for a free subscription to Advanced Imaging. The magazine is published monthly and provides some 55,000 imaging professionals in industry, science, medicine, the arts, broadcasting, and the media with...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Blogging tips Updated: 2007-07-23 13:15:08 Description: For readers who don’t already know, I thought I’d let you into a little secret, I’ve been unfaithful to the Sciencebase Blog. While bringing you a regular daily dose of science news and views on Sciencebase I’ve also been runn...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Renewable myths and nuclear heresies Updated: 2007-07-24 19:00:45 Description: Renewable does not mean green. That is the claim of Jesse Ausubel of the Rockefeller University in New York. He explains that building enough wind farms, tidal power stations, hydroelectric dams, and electric generators running on biomass to meet glo...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Nuclear threats Updated: 2007-07-25 15:00:54 Description: Earlier this week I highlighted the views of Jesse Ausubel, who argues that renewable energy sources will not be sufficient to fulfill global energy demand and that nuclear power is the only viable option for powering the world. See Renewable Myths a...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD Bad motor scooter Updated: 2007-07-26 15:00:48 Description: I received an intriguing press release the other day that arrived with a photo of someone on a pink motor scooter touting a new service: London-based Scooter Computer. At first, I thought the release was alluding to a new built-in gadget for sexually...more... LISTEN NOW | VIEW CACHE | DOWNLOAD |
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