July 23, 2023

Author Inspiration

Interview with Robin Craig the Author The interview below explores where I get my plot ideas from, my writing process and more. Enjoy it – I did (thanks ThoughtWare Books) for chatting with me:-) Interviewer: Robin, your repertoire includes a wide variety of stories, ranging from science fiction and alternative […]
September 2, 2011

Rational Rioting

A recent Scientific American article on the British riots claimed that “contrary to popular wisdom, mobs are not mindless. In fact, they act rationally—a characteristic that suggests ways to prevent riots.” If you go through the reasoning, what it amounts to is: we need to stop rioting, but rioting is […]
August 14, 2011

Scientific Myopia

Science reports: Figuring Out What the Debt Agreement Means for Science As the ink dried last week on the hard-fought budget agreement between the Obama Administration and Congress that raised the U.S. debt ceiling to avert a government default, federal science agencies, universities, and researchers were left wondering what it […]
July 12, 2011

Vaccine Wars

The Vaccine War was played on SBS2 last night: Public health scientists and clinicians tout vaccines as one of the greatest achievements of modern medicine. But for many, vaccines have become controversial. Young parents in America are concerned at the sheer number of shots, while others are choosing not to […]
May 21, 2011

The Pox

There is a curious debate on the final elimination of smallpox stocks, reported in The Scientist: Destroying smallpox stocks This week, health ministers from the World Health Organization’s member countries will gather to decide the fate of the last two known remaining stocks of smallpox virus. Scientists and health officials […]
May 6, 2011

Stem Cell Ban Lifted – For Now

  Good recent news is the sensible decision by a US Appeals Court overturning an injunction that barred the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from funding research using human embryonic stem cells. Good as far as it goes, but it doesn’t put a stop to court action, which is based on a […]
April 7, 2011

Political Animals

Scientific American reports: Scientists want politics kept out of endangered species decisions Some 1,293 scientists have sent a letter to each and every U.S. senator urging them not to support any endangered species legislation that is based on politics rather than science. But the very existence of an “endangered species […]
March 19, 2011

Fire, Ice and Precautions

Check out a very interesting post by David Lappi on trends in global temperature: not just the last 100 years, but the last 10,000 years, the last 5 million years and the last 65 million years. The two striking things about the trends shown are the huge shorter term natural variations […]
December 5, 2010

Political Scientists

I came upon this description of scientists’ fearful response to the recent U.S. Elections: Researchers Anxious and on the Defensive After Republican Gains Many researchers fear the worst after a Republican resurgence at the polls produced a 25-plus-seat majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and loosened the Democrats’ grip […]