sciencetolife

This will be the last post for Science To Life. Due to changes in my professional life I will no longer maintain the blog. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing here and I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog. Take care!

The Graduate Junction The Graduate Junction provides an easy way for Masters, PhD and Postdoctoral researchers to see what current work is being undertaken by their peers and communicate with those who share common research interests in a global multi-disciplinary environment. It was created by a…

This article was brought to my attention by the male minority (we have 2 men and 8 women) in my lab. They suggested that the article supports their plea to recruit more men into the lab in order to neutralize the excessive female-ness that they are exposed to every day. They are grossly…

The Southeastern United States has long been recognized for producing talented scientists and technicians. But are too many of them leaving the Southeast to find jobs? I recently explored this issue in an article that was published in the August 2008 edition of Tech Journal South. Georgia, North…

I recently read an interesting article about why doing scientific research makes a person feel stupid and why this may actually be a good thing. The article is written by Martin A. Schwartz, a professor at the University of Virginia and is published in the April 2008 edition of Journal of Cell…

You may soon be enjoying microwave popcorn and other 'nuked' foods and beverages faster than ever before, while saving on electricity. Researchers in Pennsylvania and Japan report development of new ceramic materials that heat up faster and retain heat longer than conventional microwave cookware…

After 6 years in graduate school, I finally defended my dissertation and earned those 3 letters I've wanted for so long: P.h. & D. I look forward to putting the emotional and psychological roller coaster called "grad school" behind me and moving on into the professional world, which I hope…

Here are some interesting posts from bloggers in my Blogroll: 1. Counter Minds tackles the question "why do people have different blood types?" 2. Bio Job Blog writes about being involved in the creation of a new science-oriented social networking site called "The BioCrowd". 3. The Gist writes…

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the major cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age in developed countries (1). Researchers of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, have developed a mouse model of SIDS to study to role of serotonin…

I am happy to report that my research paper on a protein implicated in breast and lung cancer, called BAP1 (BRCA1-associated protein-1), was recently accepted for publication in the journal 'Cancer Research'. As you know, my research studies are in the field of cancer biochemistry and for the…

Nicholas Carr set out to explore how the ubiquity of text on the Internet is affecting our brains, after realizing that his increased Internet use may be affecting his ability to concentrate on reading long, detailed texts. His essay is published in the July/August issue of The Atlantic "Over the…

The question was asked by a Science To Life reader using the "Make a Request" icon. He asked: I am interested in how bacon impacts the body. Is it filling because it has fat that is useful for delaying hunger and quelling the appetite? Is it not damaging because of nitrates or nitrates used in…

Clifford S. Mintz Ph.D., author of Bio Job Blog, writes about a study suggesting that artificial sweeteners may cause people to gain rather than lose weight. Like Cliff, I had heard reports of this but never paid much attention. Although the study was published several months ago, I recently…

A new study aimed at confirming the region of the brain that is important in detecting sarcasm may open the door for new diagnostic tools in detecting mental illness, according to an article in The New York Times. Study leader Katherine P. Rankin, a neuropsychologist and assistant professor in the…

I recently teamed up with Hitt Medical Writing, LLC to bring you science/medical writing jobs (see the new section of the sidebar). Hitt Medical Writing is a company that provides solutions to industries in the life sciences, including continuing medical education, pharmaceutical, and biotech…

Google Health, the latest service from Google, was recently launched as a beta version. Online personal health services have been around for a while (including Revolution Health and Microsoft's HealthVault) but here's what Google says is different about theirs: 1.Portability:Through Google Health,…

There may soon be a new (more eco-friendly) option in funeral services: dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the residue down the drain. Lye is an alkaline chemical also known as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and the process of using it to dissolve certain substances is called alkaline hydrolysis.…

Seed Magazine editors, now hard at work on the next issue, want to see the typical or not-so-typical places where our bloggers (and their readers) do science. For the chance to get your scientific work space featured in Seed, please send a photo of it to art@seedmediagroup.com by Tuesday, May 13th…

I recently started writing for a new website called TechPedia Atlanta which will launch in Summer 2008. TechPedia Atlanta is a wiki-style site that will let anyone create or edit encyclopedic entries about the Atlanta technology scene. I like the idea of an Atlanta-centric technology site…

India will account for approximately 60% of heart disease cases worldwide within two years, according to new research published in the journal Lancet. The study, led by Dr Denis Xavier of St John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore and other researchers from Canada says one major…

This post from one of my favorite blogs, AfriGadget, highlights interesting ways that Africans are modifying cell phones for their unique technological needs. It is based on the author's (Erik Hersman) conversation with Jan Chipchase, a design and usability ethnographer for Nokia, who travels…

This NPR report describes how researchers in Oregon have adapted a technique to administer citywide drug tests using sewage. The research team, led by Dr. Jennifer Field, is part of a relatively new field of science called "sewage epidemiology". The purpose of this kind of research is to figure…

Researchers at Penn State have concluded that satisfactory sexual intercourse for couples lasts from three to 13 minutes, contrary to popular fantasy about the need for hours of sexual activity. They arrived at these conclusions by conducting a survey of U.S. and Canadian sex therapists and…

The largest road safety research project ever launched in Europe will usher in a series of powerful road-safety systems for European cars. But, in the long term, its basic, experimental research could lead to a car that is virtually uncrashable. Read the rest of this Science Daily article. ICT…

I recently co-founded a group called the Science Writers Association of Emory (SWAE). It was created out of an overwhelming interest in science journalism and medical writing among Emory graduate students. We were lucky enough to get the support of our Graduate Division of Biological and…

The March 2008 issue of Nature has a great editorial piece on the current (and future) state of science in news media. The article draws heavily on new information released by The Pew Research Center in a report called The State of the News Media 2008. It discusses the glaringly evident problem of…

The death of a euthanasia-advocate, who suffered from a debilitating cancer that ate away at her face, has re-kindled the debate over doctor-assisted suicide in France. A French law adopted in 2005 allows terminally ill people to refuse treatment in favor of death but stops short of allowing active…

Two MIT pharmaceutical industry experts believe that the mounting U.S. drug price crisis can be contained and eventually reversed by separating drug discovery from drug marketing and by establishing a non-profit company to oversee funding for new medicines. The experts are Stan Finkelstein, M.D…

Bora Zivkovic, my fellow SciBling from 'A Blog Around the Clock', was gracious enough to interview me as part of his interview series from the 2008 North Carolina Science Blogging Conference. Check it out here.

Parts of the Southeastern U.S (where I live) have been experiencing severe drought conditions for months. Droughts can have significant environmental and economic impacts on a community. According to this press release, aridity is on the increase across the globe, as is the world population, and…