terrasig
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January 23, 2008
Plenty of e-ink has already been spilled regarding the panel on "Changing Minds Through Science Communication: a panel on Framing Science," from this past weekend's NC Science Blogging Conference (see Larry Moran, Rick MacPherson, Molly Keener, and Ryan Somma for examples). The panel was the least…
January 23, 2008
Via Berci Meskó at Science Roll, I learned that the medblogger-formerly-known-as Flea has just given his first detailed interview since shutting down his blog during his pediatric malpractice case. Fellow physician, Orac, had a characteristically complete commentary on the situation that included…
January 21, 2008
From "Lesser Known Wise and Prophetic Words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr." by liberal writer and California Democratic Party delegate, Deborah White:
"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals…
January 20, 2008
. . . but in a good way. I'm working frantically on a project due 31 Jan and then spent much of the weekend at various blogger gatherings associated with the NC Science Blogging Conference, the second annual unconference for those interested in writing about science topics for all audiences.
The…
January 18, 2008
My wine co-blogger and dear scientific colleague, Erleichda, and I had hoped to bring you an account of the wines enjoyed at our recent meetup. Erleichda and I have recently had the good fortune of regaining support for our scientific interactions and had a face-to-face conference of the…
January 18, 2008
Erleichda is the nom de plume of a guest blogger who contributes regularly to The Friday Fermentable columns. The act of contributing a column periodically on the topic of wine is consistent with the philosophy embodied in his pseudonym, i.e., to "lighten up" (from 'Jitterbug Perfume' by Tom…
January 18, 2008
We're a little bit late here in wishing the DrugMonkey blog a happy 1st blogiversary. Contributors DrugMonkey, BikeMonkey, and PhysioProf have had a very productive year of offering valuable career advice for graduate and postgraduate trainees in the biomedical sciences, general discussions on NIH…
January 17, 2008
Yesterday, the FDA released a warning statement on an increasingly common mistake in the medically-unsupported practice of "chelation therapy" for autism:
FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients about important safety information concerning Edetate Disodium. There have been cases where…
January 15, 2008
This missive came in yesterday from NIH, apparently sent to all investigators funded by the agencies:
A recent open letter to Secretary Leavitt (PDF here) from Dr. Roland Nardone and several experts in cell biology highlighted an important methodological issue associated with research involving…
January 13, 2008
Leave it to PharmGirl, MD, to point me in the direction of a story that addresses the core theme of this blog: not only can medicines come from the Earth, but the Earth can itself be medicine. This time we're not talking about South Carolina "sandlappers" as detailed in my inaugural post here as…
January 12, 2008
The word on the e-streets is that DrugMonkey co-blogger, PhysioProf, has hung out a new shingle at. . .PhysioProf, the blog. (So as not to confuse the issues, DrugMonkey is the lead blogger at DrugMonkey the blog. . .does that make sense?).
But we get the best of both worlds: PhysioProf will still…
January 10, 2008
This question, posed by Michigan Tech professor Dr Seth W Donahue while hiking in the Sierra Nevada, has led to the discovery of an extremely potent form of parathyroid hormone produced by black bears (Ursus americanus). In an unusual take on my usual topic of natural product therapeutics, Donahue…
January 8, 2008
NIH has just announced the acceptance of applications for their 7th annual conference, Medicine in the Media: The Challenge of Reporting on Medical Research, 5-7 May, 2008.
The National Institutes of Health's Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR) presents a free annual training…
January 7, 2008
We've discussed in July and November 2007 about cosmetics companies taking advantage of the observation of an interesting side effect of certain anti-glaucoma eyedrops - they increase eyelash number and thickness. In the cosmetics industry, this is a big deal such that consumers are willing to pay…
January 6, 2008
The first 2008 issue of New England Journal of Medicine came yesterday in the snailmail box and I read the following story with such great interest that I nearly walked into a tree. Bear with me but the news lately has taken me on a neuroscience streak without my having specific professional…
January 5, 2008
The e-ink wasn't even dry last night on my Friday Fermentable post about the Flying Dog Open Source Beer project before I received a comment from Josh Mishell, Creative Manager for the brewery:
Thanks for writing about our Open Source Beer! $12.79 is a great deal, considering we sell it out of our…
January 4, 2008
I can't believe I missed this earlier in the year: Colorado's Flying Dog Brewery created a beer based upon a basic recipe together with reader suggestions in what was called The Open Source Beer Project:
You are holding what we believe is the first Open Source Beer to hit the market in the United…
January 4, 2008
I'm very excited to announce to Terra Sig readers the kickoff of a new group blog called Science Based Medicine. Yes, it may sound odd that one would need to preface "Medicine" with the qualifier, "Science-Based," but therein lies the goal of this new resource from its mission statement:
Safe and…
January 3, 2008
I don't often venture into the fray whereby the misinformed continue to insist that thimerosal-containing vaccines cause autistic spectrum disorders when all evidence to date has led the scientific community to reject this hypothesis. However, recent stories on celebrities, namely Jenny McCarthy…
January 1, 2008
...there is a very colorful discussion thread of hangover remedies over at the WSJ Health Blog.
Yesterday, Health Blog's Jacob Goldstein briefly discussed a 2000 Annals of Internal Medicine paper on alcohol hangovers and remedies/prophylactic approaches. Despite all of the discussion, Goldstein…
December 30, 2007
In rats, though. But still very interesting.
So says yesterday's New York Times Op-Ed by psychiatrist, Paul Steinberg, entitled, "The Hangover That Lasts." This timely piece follows our discussion on Friday about champagne choices for New Year's Eve, the premier event for binge-drinking.
While I'm…
December 28, 2007
If you're a scientist who still finds yourself employed, you might head out this weekend to pick up a celebratory bottle of your favorite $30 New Year's bubbly only to find it priced at $35 or even $40. The declining value of the US dollar has certainly rendered champagne (French sparkling wine…
December 27, 2007
After hearing this morning of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, I had wondered if any science bloggers might weigh in since Bhutto had attended Oxford and earned a BA at Harvard's Radcliffe College.
Fellow ScienceBlogger, Greg Laden, relates a story from when Bhutto returned to…
December 23, 2007
Well, what I mean is that I am back from my hiatus in me ol' stompin' grounds and now have a reliable internet connection.
I'm not one for posting pictures on the blog, especially when they have nothing to do with pharmacology. However, these should at least be of interest to fellow bloggers,…
December 15, 2007
On this day in 2005 we first signed on to the blogosphere on the original Terra Sigillata at Blogger. I had spent over six months reading the blogs of other in the areas of medicine and science and wondered if there was any need for yet another blog from another frustrated scientist. But I'm an…
December 14, 2007
I learned via Kevin, MD, of a great new BlogTalkRadio show by Ohio physician, Doctor Anonymous. BlogTalkRadio is pretty neat in that you get video of the host, audio of the interview, and a chat window on which listeners can post a running commentary and discussion of the show. I got to "meet"…
December 14, 2007
A couple of days ago I recommended a short information table that compared conventional small molecule drugs to biologics (antibody therapies and other peptides/proteins). It was quick and I recommended it for the average Terra Sig reader.
However, I was quick in writing the post, and should…
December 13, 2007
I'm happy to report that physician-journalist, Tom Linden, MD, has begun blogging over at Dr Mike Magee's Health Commentary.
Dr Linden is currently Glaxo Wellcome Distinguished Professor of Medical Journalism and director of the Medical Journalism Program at the University of North Carolina at…
December 12, 2007
[Retraction 14 December 2007: Following a consideration of comments by Prof Ian Musgrave (below), I must retract my recommendation of this table - upon re-examination, I should have been much more critical of the information provided.)
The Wall Street Journal online has a nice general information…
December 10, 2007
Yes! "A Call for a Presidential Debate on Science & Technology."
Imagine a presidential debate focused solely on issues of science and technology as they relate to medicine, international competitiveness, terrorism, public health, embryonic stem cell research, bioethics of genotyping and other…