I thought this one was beyond doubt by this point, but flicking through my parents’ paper I really did see a headline asking if a woman’s cancer was proof that sunbeds cause cancer. No, really, I swear. So the facts are that we know that sunbathing in general can cause cancer. All light is radiation, which is … Continue reading
There’s a new article in the Guardian here claiming that blue light is dangerous for you, accelerating the risk of a form of blindness called macular degeneration. Scientists say they have found how blue light from smartphones, laptops and other digital devices damages vision and can speed up blindness. Research by the University of Toledo … Continue reading
You’d think that a world without predators would be ideal, really. Everyone living in harmony, getting their food without harming anything sentient, so much less stress and less injury, too. No need to spend your time running away or worrying about shelter, etc, etc. You’d think it’d be great for everyone, right? It turns out … Continue reading
Given that I’m a huge fan of Jennifer Doudna’s team’s work on CRISPR/cas9, I’m surprised I haven’t written about it here before. If you really want to read about CRISPR at length, I really recommend Doudna’s book, A Crack in Creation — but if you just want a quick primer, that I can do! CRISPR stands … Continue reading
Is the current European heatwave something to do with climate change? Answer: yes. Let’s leave aside for now the issue of whether or not you believe in anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change. The fact remains that the climate is changing. We know that the poles are melting — even the permafrost (the clue’s in the name) is … Continue reading
Question on Twitter, via CNN: “Should boys get the HPV vaccine, too?” (Actually, the linked article is pretty good and solid in saying yes, but I hate news articles that phrase things like that as a question, as if it’s up for scientific debate. It isn’t. And here’s why.) HPV is the virus frequently linked to … Continue reading
If you’re keeping up with your dinosaur news, you’ve probably heard about Ingentia prima already: the earliest known giant dinosaur, a herbivorous sauropodomorph that lived in the Triassic Period. It’s not quite the quintessential sauropod you might be conjuring up in your imagination (long live Brontosaurus), with a shorter neck and less pillar-like legs, but you can see … Continue reading
