Sarb Johal • Apr 24, 2017 •
In this week’s Psychology Report I talked with Laurie Parma from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge in England, about Nature Buzz (iTunes / Android)- the new research application they have developed to explore the links between nature and well-being. Have a read of this conversation to understand more … Read More
Guest Work • May 10, 2016 •
By Ivy Shih, The Conversation Imagine a seasonal jab of antibodies that could neutralise the HIV virus. Such an injection could prove to be next best alternative to an HIV vaccine, which has proven elusive to date. American and German researchers have demonstrated that by injecting macaques with neutralising antibodies, they successfully shielded the monkeys from HIV infection … Read More
Marie Brown • Oct 23, 2015 •
Environment Aotearoa 2015 confirmed what many of us already knew: our natural heritage is in serious trouble.[i] Despite decades of law, policy and grass-roots conservation initiatives our biodiversity is rapidly declining because of habitat loss, fragmentation and change; pollution; impacts of invasive species; macro scale changes such as ocean acidification and a host of other negative … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Jan 08, 2015 •
Researchers in Germany and the USA have just published a paper in the journal Nature describing a new antibiotic they have called Teixobactin (1). This study is good news; the World Health Organization warned last year that cancer chemotherapy and routine surgery will soon become life-threateningly risky because of the worldwide rise in antibiotic-resistant … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Sep 22, 2014 •
“Sugarcubes” by Pallbo – Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons. There has been quite a bit of coverage of a recent Nature paper reporting a link between artificial sweeteners and high blood glucose levels (1) – an important finding if true, as high blood glucose levels are … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Jun 05, 2014 •
David van Dijk, Ohad Manor and Lucas Carey have just published a paper in Current Biology (sadly it’s behind a paywall) in which they used papers listed in PubMed by over 25,000 scientists to determine whether becoming a principal investigator (PI) is predictable. They have showed that it is (at least for the cohort who first … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Dec 16, 2013 •
This week’s Monday Micro is all about microbial adaptation, with two interesting new papers just out. The first relates to the H7N9 strain of bird flu that appeared in China earlier this year; as of the most recent WHO report there have been 137 lab confirmed cases with 45 deaths. There is currently no vaccine available against H7N9, … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Sep 30, 2013 •
I’m really excited to announce that my fireflies and NASA animation will be appearing at the 6th Imagine Science Film Festival, being held in New York , October 11th-18th. Sponsored by Google, and the journals Science and Nature, according to it’s website, the festival aims to: “transform the way science and scientists are portrayed in mainstream … Read More
Siouxsie Wiles • Aug 12, 2013 •
While all has gone a little quiet on the Fonterra botulism scare, here is something likely to get everyone in a lather. Flu experts Ron Fouchier and Yoshihiro Kawaoka*, along with 20 other scientists from all over the world, have announced studies they say are needed to better understand the pandemic threat posed by influenza a subtype H7N9 viruses. Since … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Aug 02, 2013 •
One of the cleverer and more entertaining promotions of a scientific journal I have seen in while has to be the game Eye Sci promoting Nature Publishing’s open-access journal Scientific Reports. You have until October 31st to work out the names of the 50 scientists alluded to in the picture. Read More