One of the most important lessons about science in society, is that coverage of scientific research publications by the scientific or lay press often leads to a distorted and inaccurate representation of the findings or the promise held by the data. My intent in these regular ‘Wacky Science Round-Up’ pieces is both to expose this phenomenon, and to explore the wide variety of science being conducted around the world – hopefully to illicit excitement about science and scientific findings. This is after all, why scientists started doing research in the first place – the thrill of discovery.
Some of the Wacky Science Stories from the past month:
** Drugs are now being produced and sold in the form of ice cream. LactoPharma, a company in New Zealand is producing strawberry flavored ReCharge ice cream, containing bioactive lactoferrin which has been shown to restore immune response after chemotherapy. Lactoferrin is a milk-derived protein whose shelf life is improved in ice cream form (See The Scientist, Mar 2010).
** Studies have shown that as use of porn increases, rates of sex crimes go down - with no increase in negative attitudes towards women. (Review of older literature from The Scientist, Mar 2010.)
** View this free Discover gallery of animals that slurp creatively, that’s right – some animals use ingenious ways to slurp up their food:
** Genetic Science Learning Center at Univ. Utah wins science prize for online resources in education. (see Science Jan 29 for other finalists).
Free web-based tool for scientists and non-scientists: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
** AAAS Science Books and Film online now – discover the best and the lastest here:
http://www.sbfonline.com/Pages/welcomesplash.aspx
** Aeronaut Felix Baumgartner plans to take a helium balloon 36km into the stratosphere to make a world-record breaking jump back to earth (the record was previously 31km). Commercial flights fly at 12km. (Science 5 Feb)
** Next time you’re in a standoff in the wild west, be sure you’re not the first to draw your gun. Niels Bohr (nobel prize winning physicist) piloted these studies, which have now been confirmed. Apparantly, we move faster in reaction to something – not when we initiate the action (Science 12 Feb).
** We know that in humans, sexuality is a complex spectrum, much more than the simply XX and XY. Well now we know that this same phenomenon exists in chickens, some of which are half-female or half-male in every cell of their body (Nature Mar 10)
** Harvard biologist, author (most notably of Consilience) and ant specialist E.O. Wilson has just authored his first science fiction book, titled (of course): Anthill.
** Science film festivals (Sci 12 Feb) Lights Camera Science – does Avatar belong in this list?? http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/327/5967/778
** Food Security (or really, insecurity – aka: hunger) is gaining a lot of press lately. (See also my latest blog about Obesity and Hunger in the same community). Science magazine provided a special in depth section covering this important issue: http://www.sciencemag.org/special/foodsecurity/ (Science 12 Feb)
** A recent PNAS publication outlined a mathematical model to trace criminals and how they “move and mix with potential victims or targets” (Jan 2010)
** Ever notice that tomato juice tastes better while on an airline flight, than on the ground? And that coffee tastes worse at those high altitudes? (well, I’ve never noticed) but scientists have discovered that this is because atmospheric pressure dampens sweet and salty tastes leaving bitter intensified and sour unchanged. I’ll be experimenting with my no-longer-free in-flight meal next time I fly…(Sci 19Feb)
** We’ve all heard that antibiotic omnipresence can lead to bacterial resistance, so the next generation of bacteria will no longer be killed by that antibiotic. Now, scientific understanding shows that this occurs because sub-lethal doses of antibiotics trigger reactive oxygen species in the bacteria that lead to DNA mutations, some of which prove beneficial. So when your Dr. says to take your full prescription of antibiotics, be sure you do. (Sci 19 Feb)
** View the 2009 visualization challenge winners, the best images or graphics from science and engineering: http://www.sciencemag.org/special/vis2009/ (Sci 19 Feb)
http://www.sciencemag.org/special/vis2009/show/ (for the slide show)
The image above is one of the winners, showing self-fertilization of a flower.
** Teenagers these days are not getting enough sleep. And not why you might think. Scientists have discovered that teens are not getting enough sunlight, so their daylight entrained circadian rhythms are all out of whack, leading to a time-shifted sleepiness. Sleep deprivation can affect overall health, focus and attention, and metabolism. (Sci 19 Feb)
See other wacky science from the recent news covered by Aliquot in recent posts:
- Mountain peaks for weight loss and cannabis for slow sperm: http://open.salon.com/blog/aliquot/2010/02/09/mountain_peaks_for_weight_loss_and_cannabis_for_slow_sperm
- The frog signals pesticide harm: http://open.salon.com/blog/aliquot/2010/03/03/surprise_sex_change_the_frog_signals_pesticide_harm
- Sexual chemistry: http://open.salon.com/blog/aliquot/2010/02/08/sexual_chemistry_-_what_to_believe_about_love_and_pheromones
- Neuromarketing: http://open.salon.com/blog/aliquot/2010/02/03/neuromarketing_keep_it_in_mind_as_you_watch_the_superbowl
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Aliquot enjoys a good science discussion. For this post, please share, rate, comment or send a message. Much appreciated!
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Michael Steinberg
doctorwascher
Paul Hinrichs
Mary Elizabeth Williams
Cary Tennis
Dave Cullen
Salon.com
Comments
But I do agree with you - Science and Nature (and PNAS, Cell, Lancet, NEJM, etc) do tend to get the newest, most interesting, cutting edge, and 'sexy' science articles. Simply because when someone has a publication like that, they go to these journals first because the articles reach a wider audience and garner higher 'impact factors' for a researcher's CV. But this is not to say that great, and interesting, science can be found in less popular journals.
As for your last point, I do in fact write a bit more in-depth analysis in some of my other posts, like the ones listed above (ie: Wakefield paper (see 'truth about Autism' post), and the two studies in the 'mountain peaks' post). This round-up isn't meant to do that, its just a round-up...but I do hope that these over-simplified headlines lead people to do some digging themselves, because there is more than meets the eye!
thanks for your comments!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/3242252/Drinking-too-much-coffee-could-shrink-womens-breasts.html
btw, Firestorm, you missed the second part of aliquot's explanation "to explore the wide variety of science being conducted around the world".
As an example above, and needing absolutely no further in-depth analysis of the study:
**Studies have shown that as use of porn increases, rates of sex crimes go down - with no increase in negative attitudes towards women. **
This is a correltation study, plain and simple - no attempt was made to figure out causation so the study's final conclusion is tenuous at best. And those are the sorts of headlines we see trumpeted across the lay press all the time - misleading and oversimplified to the point of being incorrect (at times). My hope is that better science education helps all of us distinguish which headlines we can trust (should I drink a lot more red wine now to live longer??) and those we can not without further data collection and analysis.
That is my point of the round-up - its simply a compilation of some recent headline-grabbing studies (and yes, Science and Nature are usually the studies that wind up in the LA Times or USA Today), some of which create excitement about science, and some of which are masquerading as good science in the guise of sensationalism.
Thanks for all the comments, Alicia, AU, Gigabiting (and thanks for the link Gigabiting!).
A.