Why so quiet lately? . . . . . Well, nowforthesciencebit.com may have been quiet, but our offices certainly haven’t. We created a life, a miniature male human*. The experiment ended 64 days ago, and we’re happy to say it was successful. However, additional work is underway (every 2-3 hours, day and night), and followup analyses are being performed. Results [...]

Last week, Gillian Tett of the Financial Times wrote an opinion piece titled, ‘Why doesn’t America like science?’ mentioning the amazing fact that only three of eight Republican candidates believe in evolution. I will keep political opinions out of this piece, but I have to put some interesting points from this article before you, regarding science, politics and belief (and [...]

Forgive the tardy posting of this article. I’ve been swept up in all things autumn, baby, and American. It’s autumn, or more popularly ‘fall’, in Baltimore, and at 7 months pregnant, I’m finding it hard to keep up with the sweeping of incessantly falling red leaves. But writing I can do, so let’s explore some of the science topics that [...]

Faith Hill’s take on a kiss: It’s centrifugal motion It’s perpetual bliss It’s that pivotal moment It’s unthinkable This kiss, this kiss  Personally I wouldn’t like to feel centrifuged when I’m kissing someone, but that’s poetry (kind of). Let’s answer the question: why do we close our eyes when kissing? Scientists have been trying to figure this out. Yau Che [...]

1. Placenta to the rescue; Nature News “New research in mice shows that when calories are restricted, the placenta steps up to the plate – actively sacrificing itself to protect the fetal brain from damage.” When mice were starved over 24 hours, the placenta ‘fed’ the babies itself.   2. Ancient Moves for Orthopedic Problems; NY Times While I’m not [...]

Your writer was less than happy to wake up and see the headlines this morning: “Tall people ‘more likely to develop cancer’” said the BBC. “Cancer risk may grow with height” said the CBC.  Being a 6 foot tall woman may have its advantages, like pretty much always being able to see the stage at music concerts, being easy to spot [...]

“Yes please!” I said when a friend asked if I’d like a fresh, daily supply of yoghurt. She took a jar covered in cheesecloth out of her kitchen cupboard, and dipped a fork into the contents: creamy, thick yoghurt. She fished around with the fork and lifted out a cauliflowerish lump: kefir.   “All it takes is a piece of [...]

1. Malaria miracle   Medication used in Africa to kill the parasitic roundworm that causes river blindness has proven to be toxic to malaria-carrying mosquitoes too. The drug, developed by Merck, appeared to kill mosquitoes that fed on the blood of people taking it. This broad-spectrum drug also prevents elephantiasis, a disease caused by lymphatic-dwelling parasitic worms that are often [...]

1. University of Glasto There was more science going on at Glastonbury Festival this month than just bowel infections and bacteria in the mud. There were bona fide scientists at this 5-day, musical mudfest, giving talks about the universe and rationality, as Helen Thomson at New Scientist describes here. And these mind-expanding thoughts were drug-free. 2. E. coli power The [...]

In just 4 weeks, over 3500 people have been infected and 43 have died from antibiotic-resistant bacteria that causes internal bleeding and kidney and nervous system failure. The source was finally found to be sprouts grown from lentils, radishes and beans from an organic farm in Germany, the country in which all but one of the deaths occurred.   This dramatic [...]

Yesterday we started a new life in Baltimore. It’s a far cry from ancient, chilly Oxford, and has over 13 times more people. It’s the 12th largest city in the United States, it was founded in 1729, it has a free bus service called the Charm City Circulator, and it’s 32′C Celsius today (89 Fahrenheit). Excellent. Taken from the coat [...]

You are one of the lucky ones (or not). Only half of people are reported to have asparagus-smelling pee soon after eating the pungent green stalks. The smell is thought to come from mercaptan (also called methanethiol), a substance that is produced when asparagus is digested, and it can appear in our urine as soon as 15 minutes after we’ve [...]