Infectious Thoughts

The NZ Herald “alternative relaxation and therapies” series revisited

Siouxsie Wiles • Mar 01, 2012

• Alternative medicine,
• alternative therapies,
• Charles Anderson,
• Hirudotherapy,
• Jann Bellamy,
• NZ Herald,
• Pawtect,
• science based medicine,
• sunday star times

Back in January Jann Bellamy who blogs over at Science Based Medicine had the (mis)fortune of being in our fine country during the week the NZ Herald chose to run their series on ‘alternative relaxation and remedies”. She has written a fine piece giving her take on the series*. You might remember many of us got a little peeved … Read More

From fireflies to space invaders

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 14, 2012

• ATP,
• bioluminescence,
• fireflies,
• NASA

Following on from the animation we made showing how fireflies are helping fight superbugs, Luke Harris and I have collaborated on another video. This one links fireflies and NASA. Enjoy! … Read More

‘Flu’ flight triggers mild panic

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 13, 2012

• air new zealand,
• Close Up,
• Flu,
• H3N2,
• Influenza,
• Japan

This morning Auckland airport was apparently on alert after an Air New Zealand flight landed from Japan with a quarter of its passengers reportedly suffering from flu-like symptoms. According to this report, officials were alerted by the Captain just before they landed. This story is quite interesting on a number of fronts. Japan is currently experiencing a nationwide … Read More

The return of sanatoria?

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 07, 2012

• antibiotic resistance,
• MDR-TB,
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
• sanatoria,
• TB,
• TDR-TB,
• tuberculosis,
• XDR-TB

In the pre-antibiotic era, the gold standard treatment for the lung disease tuberculosis (TB) was plenty of rest and fresh air. Facilities to house TB patients, known as sanatoria, sprang up in Europe and North America in the late 19th century, usually up mountains or in isolated forests. Although no controlled studies have established the effectiveness of any … Read More

What do scientists look like?

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 05, 2012

• Allie Wilkinson,
• perceptions,
• photos,
• scientists

Allie Wilkinson, a freelance environmental journalist has started a fantastic website: This is what a scientist looks like. The project was developed to challenge the stereotypical perception of what scientists are. Submissions are welcomed so I urge all scientists out there to submit a photo and contribute to this brilliant project. Read More

Journalists vs scientists

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 03, 2012

• Charlie Anderson,
• journalists,
• Margo White,
• NZ Listener,
• Pawtect,
• science communication

The fantastic Ed Yong has this brilliant schematic of what journalists and scientists think of each other. I was really pleased to have recently had a couple of fantastic interactions with journalists. First was being interviewed by Margo White for her column in the NZ Listener magazine about my research. The resulting article is … Read More

Academic publishing – are the winds of change starting to blow?

Siouxsie Wiles • Feb 02, 2012

• academic publishing,
• arsenic,
• Elsevier,
• F1000 Research,
• Jarrett Byrnes,
• open access,
• Rosie Redfield,
• scifund

Ages ago I wrote about the academic publishing model we biologists are subjected to*. Finally it seems as though the winds of change are beginning to blow. Here’s hoping a gale develops. Currently doing the rounds is a site where academics can pledge to take a stand against the giant publishing house Elsevier. The objections are: 1. They … Read More

Why I refuse to be a spectator

Siouxsie Wiles • Jan 19, 2012

• Alternative medicine,
• Ayurveda,
• Herald

Last weeks series in the NZ Herald on ‘alternative relaxation and remedies’ got quite of few of us peeved here at Sciblogs. I can’t speak for everyone but I’ll tell you why I objected. Because I strongly feel that articles like that do readers a potentially life-threatening disservice. Let me explain. Over five days we were introduced to a … Read More

NZ Herald’s Alternative Therapies week: Letter to the Editor

Siouxsie Wiles • Jan 11, 2012

• Hirudotherapy,
• leech therapy,
• Lincoln Tan,
• Medhi Jaffari,
• NZ Herald

This week the NZ Herald is running a series on “alternative relaxation and therapies”. They promise: Tuesday: Greek leech therapy Wednesday: Korean jimjjilbang Thursday: Indian ayurveda Friday: Thai yoga massage Saturday: Japanese ganbanyoku So starting with the little suckers… Lincoln Tan tells us all about leech therapy and introduces ‘Dr’ Medhi Jaffari who … Read More

Suppressing superflu recipe: NSABB say sort of….

Siouxsie Wiles • Dec 21, 2011

• bird flu,
• H5N1,
• Nature,
• NSABB,
• Science

As the first molecular evidence emerges that the H5N1 ‘bird flu’ virus from human patients matches that of environmental samples taken from live bird markets in China, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosafety has given its advice on publication of recipe for making a ‘weaponised’ (ferretised?) H5N1 strain. And the recommendation is? That the … Read More