Each September since 1991, the scientific community have gathered to celebrate the obscure, strange and sometimes just the pure weird. Organised by the Annals of improbable research, the Ig Nobel awards recognizes that while some discoveries may at first appear trivial, you can never quite know where they might one day lead.
Continue reading “Cheese disgust and therapeutic Didgeridoos: it’s the Ig Nobel awards 2017”
Dreaming is a kind of mental state or altered state of consciousness which occurs during sleep. Often, they involve fictitious events that are organized into a loose story. They show that our brains are capable of generating entire worlds that are disconnected, but often draw inspiration from our waking environment. They have fascinated mankind since time immemorial and much has been speculated about their origins and purpose. Early accounts account of dreams from as far as 5000 years in Mesopotamia, set in clay tablets. Like many other things, they also have been subject to the fundamental human need to find a meaning in things that they don’t understand by inventing one. As such many ancient civilisations treated them as a means by which the future and prophesies can be communicated.
Continue reading “Decoding dreams: the science behind dreaming”
Twins, good for minor characters in creepy horror films and known for the special bond that they’re supposed share. But what exactly is the difference between identical and non-identical twins I hear you say. Well, let’s get down to the science.
Your fingerprints are unique. They are yours, and yours alone. They can open doors, unlock your phone, let you into a country, or even just into a theme park. They are your personal identifier. Although there are many uses for fingerprints, perhaps the one which has most captured the public’s imagination is their use in forensic science. After all, how many criminals in stories wouldn’t have been caught without a careless fingerprint left at the scene. Because of this, it is quite fitting that this is also one of its first recorded uses.
Picture the scenario:
You pull up to deserted T-junction in your brand new Mini Cooper. After a cursory glance in each direction, there doesn’t seem to be anything there. But then again, you’ve driven this way hundreds of times and nothings ever there. You slowly ease into the middle of the junction. Suddenly the glint of another car’s windshield enters your peripheral vision. There’s a screech of tortured rubber but it’s too late. Time goes into slow motion as the two vehicles approach at what seems a glacial speed. Everything goes black. When you open your eyes again, the world is full of twisted metal. Your head feels like the morning after a heavy night with Orsen Welles and there’s smoke rising from under the hood. You’re battered and bruised, but alive. What’s the first thing that goes through your head?
Lab coats. That thing you wear when you’re trying to look sciency because there are cameras around or the lab is a bit nippy. However, when you line up for your first of many coffees of the day, the casual observer may see something different. Possibly as a result of all the chemical stains, or maybe because of the splatters of blood, it will probably be assumed you’ve been dumpster diving in the hospital trash and stolen an MDs coat.
Continue reading “The appropriation of the lab coat: A short history”
If you can keep your hypothesis, when all about you
Are scrapping theirs and saying you should too,
If you can trust your calculations when all PIs doubt you,
But make allowance for poor maths skills too;
If you can incubate, and not be tired by waiting,
Or review papers, and see though bare faced lies,
Or do westerns, and don’t give way to hating,
And not be too upset about your cell cultures demise:
The basics are as follows:
Human energy field/Aura/Reiki is a field of energy that surrounds and penetrates the body and also emits from every living thing (like the force, just less exciting). They even have a colour (if you are particularly aware) that depends on your base emotional state.
A healing touch practitioner is able to interact with this field and remove any blocks to the ‘vital flow of energy’ that a patient may have. This then allows the now considerably fiscally poorer patient to absorb more energy from the universe (I can only assume they mean background radiation) to speed up healing. All this without requiring any of that nasty medical equipment that would only clutter up the place, increase overheads and leave less space for fairy themed paraphernalia.
Continue reading “The Science of Healing Touch (or alternatively, how magic hands work)”
Its surprising how many times major diseases have been cured by scientists, according to major news outlets that is. As a result, there is often a certain degree of disappointment when the truth finally comes out that they have actually only cured Alzheimer’s disease in flies. However, have no fear. To help un-muddy the water, here’s a quick insiders journalist-scientists translation guide.
Continue reading “What news reports on science actually mean…”
Some Science on the Side 