October 2008 - Posts - Lab Rats

October 2008 - Posts

Ancient ‘mummy' hath no modern kin

Posted by Seema Singh at 
Where could man's quest of knowledge, that too of prehistoric patterns of migration, lead him? To sequence the genome of 5,300-year-old ‘mummy', also called Oetzi or ‘the Tyrolean Iceman'. And what was found? The ancient ‘mummy' has no modern children. In a research published in Current Biology today, a team of British and Italian researchers...

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Decoys in off-label drug promotion

Posted by Seema Singh at 
My hotmail inbox has, on average, one mail on Viagra discount sale every day. Well, the promotion these days is for Viagra's protection against bacterial infection! I haven't checked out the websites but from the subject line it looks like another off-label promotion of this blockbuster drug, fake or genuine I don't know. Off-label use of...

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Name-letter-effect and your workplace

Posted by Seema Singh at 
I don't quite agree with the findings here but since Lab Rats is meant for talking, primarily, about science, rather than personal proclivity, here's a piece of news from the latest issue of Psychological Science , which I think will find echoes in the corridors of Balaji Telefilms in Mumbai. It appears that your initials could influence where...

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Sins of memory

Posted by Seema Singh at 
We might one day get where we can erase unpleasant memories from our life, or brain, to be precise. Scientists report today in the journal Cell that they have found a way to selectively erase memories from mice . What does that mean? The technique, manipulation of memory molecule or a protein CAMK-II, is preliminary, but maybe one day it could lead...

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Mills: God or Fraud?

Posted by Jacob Koshy at 
Either Randell Mills , Harvard medic and MIT electrical engineer is yet another science trickster, or the 21st century's Einstein. Implications of his work mean: a) We have a cheap, unlimited, extractable source of power b) Dark energy /matter is explained c) Quantum physics is wrong, and if his theories have solved these eternal questions, Mills...

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Any science at the Indian Science Congress???

Posted by Jacob Koshy at 
Just as I was wrapping up for the day, I got an email invite for the annual upcoming I ndian Science Congress (ISC). For a change, the Department of Science and Technology is planning a gala press briefing a good two months before the event--something they have never done in its 96-year old history. Traditionally, the Indian Science Congress is supposed...

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India's import: asbestos cancer

Posted by Seema Singh at 
To what extent can business interest blind nations to health disasters? We don't know yet. The way Canada and India (and some other developing countries) are conducting asbestos business, it's really difficult to believe if there's conflict of interest at all in Canada continuing to export asbestos, despite limiting its use within its own...

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Talking, not yelling...

Posted by Seema Singh at 
Will help the politicians reconstruct the global economy using means that we are now left with on the planet. The reference here is, of course, to the " god of growth " and the looming environmental crisis . Globally, it is financial crisis that has brought environment campaigners together in this week's New Scientist , but locally I think...

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Chinese premier with a ‘science' editor

Posted by Seema Singh at 
Imagine the head of a country meeting the editor of a science magazine for two hours! Unless it's truly a meeting of minds, it's difficult to pull it off, that too among much media glare. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao recently spent two hours with Bruce Alberts, editor-in-chief of the journal Science , talking about why and how he wants to ground...

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Social skills can get you a fatter pay

Posted by Seema Singh at 
More than high test scores can, says a new research. This sure challenges the established dogma of cognitive abilities but what these folks at the University of Illinois argue in their new research in the September issue of Social Science Research , is good common sense. "Ten years after graduation, high-school students who had been rated as conscientious...

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The more alcohol you drink, the smaller your brain gets

Posted by Seema Singh at 
...At least in volume, though any functional implication of this reduced brain volume is yet to be systematically determined, says a new research in today's issue of the Archives of Neurology , Journal of American Medical Association. I know habitual drinkers must be smirking while reading this, but stay with me -- the findings have larger public...

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Send applications in multiples of 5,10,...

Posted by Seema Singh at 
Yes, that's what many Indian science (I'm not sure about other govt. departments) establishments require if you are applying for a job, fellowship or a grant. I can dig out scores of such advertisements but I sample a few current ones here: 1. Department of Science and technology: For Assessment & Modeling of Organisms/Plants Response to...

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Math whizzes: myth, gender & talent

Posted by Seema Singh at 
Lost in cultural biases today are many math whizzes, particularly females. This is resulting in the veering away of a whole generation of girls, and even boys, from careers in mathematical sciences and related fields, says a new cross-cultural study. At Mint , we have covered this subject, in article and blog . But in our true style of maintaining continuity...

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Cheers to red wine, this time for cancer

Posted by Seema Singh at 
Time, once again, to celebrate that wonder molecule in red wine called resveratrol. New research in today's issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention shows that moderate consumption of red wine may decrease the risk of lung cancer in men, particularly among smokers. Lead author Chun Chao analyzed data collected through the California...

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Smoking ban and cigarette companies

Posted by Seema Singh at 
So, the smoking ban is in effect. Do you still see smokers around? More importantly, have you stopped anyone from smoking following the ban? I tried but was given a dirty look and a lame excuse that he wasn't aware of it. Admittedly, I tried policing on the beach, arguably not the perfect public place to stop people from indulging the habit. However...

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