On 2 March 2008 the New York Times ran an article entitled “More Families are Shunning Inoculations“. With states requiring more immunizations, parents are using religious exemptions to refuse the vaccines. And why would these parents wish to risk that their children contract potentially fatal diseases, such as polio, measles, and pneumonia, which can be …
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” –Albert Einstein During the holiday season, you might think it insensitive to post such a quotation. But as the end of the year approaches, I cannot help but remember all the stupid things my fellow species has done, and …
I just started reading The Drug Trial, about Canada’s biggest science scandal. In the first few pages, the author, Miriam Shuchman, talks about the moral code of science. She lists three examples: Don’t lie about your work. Don’t steal someone else’s work and claim it’s your own. Report your findings, don’t bury them. Then she …
Usually I hate to dignify the views of proponents of creationism and intelligent design by discussing them. Their views are so off-base, that they are not worth time. But as their influence grows, we do need to ensure that they don’t gain ground. With this in mind, Clive Thompson has written a wonderful piece in …
The other night, I was in a restaurant with my family, and my kids’ golf coach asked me what I did. I told him I was a Professor of Microbiology. Then he asked me, ‘What is that virus that kills athletes….mersa…?’ He was referring to multiple drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which I reminded him …
There is an interesting article on ArsTechnica this week by Hannibal entitled Blogging and job prospects: from the academy to the SCOTUS. The basic premise is that one’s soul is usually bared in a blog, and topics are often discussed that would never be addressed in a job interview. He quotes from an article in …
