A Knight in Dragonland

Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 Lancet article set off a wave of anti-vaccine hysteria, “changed and misreported reported results in his research” according to a Sunday Times investigation. Put in simpler terms, Andrew Wakefield is a liar and a fraud.
The Lancet article was thoroughly unconvincing even if the data behind it was sound. A [...]

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No matter how you slice it, the vaccine schedule represents a miniscule exposure to antigens and organims compared to what people encounter as part of life. Worrying about the exposure from the vaccine schedule is like worrying about a thimble of water getting you wet when you are swimming in an ocean.
Dr. Mark Crislip, Science-Based [...]

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008 goes to …
Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, researchers at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, for their discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Harald zur Hausen, currently at the German Cancer Research Center, for his discovery of human papilloma viruses (HPV) causing cervical cancer.
Congratulations!

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Along with John Enders and Frederick Robbins, Thomas Weller won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries in viral tissue culture leading to the development of both the Salk & Sabin polio vaccines. His later work was also instrumental in developing vaccines for rubella (German measles) and varicella (chicken pox).
Dr. Weller [...]

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For a freelance science project (go Geeks!), two New York teens collected samples of sushi from 4 restaurants and 10 groceries in Manhattan. They then sent the samples off to the Fish Barcode of Life project (yes, Fish-BOL) at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
Results of the DNA analysis revealed that 2 out of [...]

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Not so much. Listen to the data, not the frenzy.
Hat Tip: Marginal Revolution.

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But they do! … although they’re not in the Fire Swamp.
A new species of rat the size of a large cat has been found in the remote Foja Mountains of the island of New Guinea by a team of scientists supported by Conservation International. Several other new species were identified as well.
Hat Tip: Retrospectacle.

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Dr. John Prescott and Jenell Wilkie from the Department of Psychology at James Cook University in Australia have produced an interesting piece of research. The study measured pain tolerance (as induced by immersing the subjects’ hands in frigid water, a common way to induce pain experimentally without being overly brutal) while various scents were [...]

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This story has me geeking out big time!
Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory in Chile have discovered a potentially habitable planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581. At 20.4 light years away within the constellation of Libra, Gliese 581 is one of the hundred closest stars to Earth. This planet – right now [...]

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You think that phrase is just for Star Trek? Think again! Researchers at Duke University, Imperial College London and the San Diego company SensorMetrix have developed a rudimentary cloaking device that was able to bend microwaves around a test object – a copper cylinder in this case (Science abstract here, New York Times [...]

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OK, this newsclip on Yahoo caught my eye.  It’s probably right up there with cold fusion, but it sure would be nice if it were true.  The company is confident enough to issue an open challenge to the scientific community in The Economist.  We’ll see what plays out.

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