Sometimes in science there are things which everyone knows, but no one dares to say. Perhaps it’s too obvious, or perhaps people in industry have a hold over them. As an independent blogger with nothing to lose, I decided it was high time for me to come clean and reveal one of the biggest hoaxes … Continue reading
“Why do I have to quit using my e-cigarette before my surgery? Isn’t this just more bias against smokers for no reason?” It isn’t. To start from the top, smoking is discouraged when you’re going in for surgery because it increases the risk of all kinds of complications, including during anaesthesia, the surgery itself and … Continue reading
Is there such a thing as a plant that doesn’t photosynthesize (without dying)? Thanks Robert for the question! The short answer is yes! These plants have evolved a parasitic lifestyle, and have such tiny amounts of chlorophyll that they couldn’t photosynthesise if they wanted to. The only examples I’ve found are all in the genus … Continue reading
Is smoking really harmful? Aren’t the studies that say it is biased? Question received by email, possibly calculated to make steam come out of my ears. This question is worth answering if just to make the point that yes, there are biased studies out there, and also studies that just aren’t that well designed. That’s … Continue reading
I know, I know, it’s been ages and I promised to write up my experiment. Since I miss the eclipse here in Britain (and I missed it back when we got a total eclipse too, because of cloud cover!), I’m going to finally keep up that promise. You can find part one of the experiment … Continue reading
What is herd immunity (& why does it help when healthy people get vaccinated)? This question came via Mordred on Habitica. The assumption for the rest of this post is going to be that you accept that vaccinations work, via allowing the body to make the right antibodies to kill the real pathogen through what … Continue reading
Why did Angelina Jolie have a double mastectomy? Another question from Jess, via Twitter. I’m sure most people heard about Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy after discovering she carries a faulty copy of a gene called BRCA1, at the time, and her piece about her decision seems to have caused a wave … Continue reading
