"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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

Recently there has been an outbreak of polio in Nigeria caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus, VDPV. This outbreak is not unusual except that it is the largest so far caused by VDPV. The first outbreak caused by VDPV was in the Dominican Republic/Haiti in 2001. But the Nigeria outbreak is of ...