269 posts · 212,407 views
I am a freelance science writer based in Cambridge, England, I trained as a chemist and am a chartered member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Currently, I write for several magazines and websites on science, technology and medicine, covering everything from astronomy to zoology, by way of biomedicine, nanotechnology and browser wars.
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- December 2, 2011
- 03:15 AM
- 164 views
Testing times for Scotch whisky
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Is your Scotch strong enough? A new lab-on-chip device has been developed by researchers in Scotland which could be used for quality control and regulatory testing of whisky and other spirits to ensure that you get full, 40%, strength liquor. The same chip can also demonstrate the providence of the drink to ensure that if [...]Testing times for Scotch whisky is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Ashok, P., Praveen, B., & Dholakia, K. (2011) Near infrared spectroscopic analysis of single malt Scotch whisky on an optofluidic chip. Optics Express, 19(23), 22982. DOI: 10.1364/OE.19.022982
- December 1, 2011
- 11:30 AM
- 164 views
The privacy payoff
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
What aspects of online privacy do we worry about most? Seemingly, there are three major concerns: The first is that on the internet, data about us is collected permanently, of which we then lose control. Secondly, we are often poorly informed about how the data we provide is going to be used. Thirdly, handing over [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkThe privacy payoff
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Irene Pollach, & Horst Treiblmaier. (2011) The influence of privacy concerns on perceptions of web personalisation. Int. J. Web Science, 1(1/2), 3-20. info:/
- December 1, 2011
- 11:30 AM
- 128 views
Serially successful doctors fail
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Success-chasing may not only lead doctors to make flawed decisions in diagnosing and treating patients, but it can also distort the thinking of other high-stakes decision makers, such as military and political strategists, stock market investors, and venture capitalists. An fMRI study of physicians suggests that physicians seen to pay most attention to failures as well [...]Serially successful doctors fail is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Downar, J., Bhatt, M., & Montague, P. (2011) Neural Correlates of Effective Learning in Experienced Medical Decision-Makers. PLoS ONE, 6(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0027768
- November 30, 2011
- 11:30 AM
- 113 views
Pills, thrills and polymorphs
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Almost any skilled organic chemist could create novel variations on the solid form, polymorphs, of small molecules currently used as pharmaceuticals. This represents a problem for manufacturers of generic drugs because big pharma attempts to extend the patent lifespan of its well-known products by adding such polymorphs to the patent. Prasad Vure of Indian generics [...]Pills, thrills and polymorphs is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Prasad Vure. (2011) Polymorph patents; how strong they are really?. Int. J. Intellectual Property Management, 4(4), 297-306. info:/
- November 22, 2011
- 11:30 AM
- 172 views
22 website quality markers
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
Many factors affect the web experience and perception of the quality of a website. Writing in the rather appropriately named International Journal of Information Quality, Jaikrit Kandari of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and colleagues there and at The University of Texas at Arlington, have outlined 21 factors that could be used as a framework [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech Talk22 website quality markers
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Jaikrit Kandari, Erick C. Jones, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, & Ram R. Bishu. (2011) Information quality on the World Wide Web: development of a framework. Int. J. Information Quality, 2(4), 324-343. info:/
- August 23, 2011
- 01:14 PM
- 406 views
Dissonant teaching changes environmental minds
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
There are many educational and ethical issues regarding the environment and environmentalism that are generally not addressed, especially when it comes to teaching non-science students. Independent environmental services professional and college professor Chyrisse P. Tabone, who is based in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida has spent several years attempting to find a way to remedy this situation. [...]Dissonant teaching changes environmental minds is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Tabone, C. (2011) Controversial issues in an environmental science course: how do students respond?. Interdisciplinary Environmental Review, 12(3), 191. DOI: 10.1504/IER.2011.041818
- August 16, 2011
- 11:32 AM
- 501 views
Top 73 idea portals
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
Since the 1990s companies and other organizations have created so-called “idea portals” for their customers and employees. These websites are aimed at gleaning new ideas and feedback for new products and services, new features and ways to improve processes. They are to all intents and purposes the online equivalent of the “suggestion box”. In recent [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkTop 73 idea portals
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Jan Finzen, Maximilien Kintz, & Stefan Kobes. (2011) A comparative study of publicly accessible web-based idea portals. Int. J. Technology Marketing, 6(1), 85-98. info:/
- August 12, 2011
- 09:55 AM
- 528 views
Billions upon billions
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Back in the day, we Brits had big billions. A billion was a million millions. Obviously, the “bi” doubling up the “illion” from million. What else would it be? Well…of course…the Americans wanted to talk bigger still and so made their billion a mere 1000 million. Back then, it was hard to be a millionaire [...]Billions upon billions is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Anon. (1992) Billion bites the dust. Nature, 358(6381), 2-2. DOI: 10.1038/358002b0
- August 8, 2011
- 11:44 AM
- 396 views
Moving pictures for motoring molecules
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Researchers in Japan have used high-speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) to shoot an action movie of the biological molecular motor ATPase. ATPase, an enzyme embedded in cell membranes, produces the cellular fuel molecule ATP. the enzyme has two rotating components, but until now only X-ray crystallography and similar “still” imaging techniques had been used to [...]Moving pictures for motoring molecules is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Takayuki Uchihashi, Ryota Iino, Toshio Ando, & Hiroyuki Noji. (2011) High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy Reveals Rotary Catalysis of Rotorless F1-ATPase. Science, 755-758. info:/
- August 4, 2011
- 11:45 AM
- 494 views
Can YouTube save us from climate change?
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
New media has rapidly become the mechanism by which information is spread quickly in many walks of life from alerting the public to local traffic incidents, terrorist attacks, earthquakes and celebrity deaths. The likes of Twitter and Facebook have become the first responders to almost every event the world over as well as creating the [...]Can YouTube save us from climate change? is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Tina Askanius, & Julie Uldam. (2011) Online social media for radical politics: climate change activism on YouTube. Int. J. Electronic Governance, 4(1/2), 69-84. info:/
- July 28, 2011
- 11:00 AM
- 579 views
The music industry is fluxed
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
The music industry is in flux, has been for at least a decade since the heady days of Napster and Kazaa. A lot of things have changed, the old model of consumers draining their bank accounts to simply consume plastic disks is essentially defunct. File sharing really has put paid to that, but perhaps not [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkThe music industry is fluxed
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Vishal Midha, Punit Ahluwalia, & and Jerald Hughes. (2011) A new revenue model: a different approach to reduce music piracy. Int. J. Electronic Finance, 5(3), 249-260. info:/
- July 25, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 453 views
The myth of the recreational workplace
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
Google has decided to wind down its “labs”, the section of its operations from whence the experimental, developmental applications, such as GMail, Buzz, Wave and, of course, Google+ emerged. They are planning to do it gently, and some labs such as those for GMail and Calendar will persist, but this could be the end of [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkThe myth of the recreational workplace
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Torkild Thanem, Sara Värlander, & Stephen Cummings. (2011) Open space . Int. J. Work Organisation and Emotion, 4(1), 78-98. info:/
- July 21, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 540 views
It’s not what you know…
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
It’s not what you know, but who you know. It is something of a cliché, but in a world where the social context of knowledge is becoming increasingly important. Think Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Mendeley etc. The data, the information, seems only relevant if we have some kind of peer review, the “+1″, “like”, or “thumbs-up” [...]It’s not what you know… is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Eoin Whelan. (2011) It’s who you know not what you know: a social network analysis approach to talent management. European J. International Management, 5(5), 484-500. info:/
- July 13, 2011
- 04:51 AM
- 514 views
More pretty, ugly people
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
On Monday I posted a Youtube clip revealing a weird perception phenomenon in which even the prettiest girl seems to appear, fleetingly, as if she were an ogre or a troll. Take a look at the ugly pretty girl phenomenon here. I’m never satisfied to simply echo what others have said, so contacted co-discoverer of [...]More pretty, ugly people is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Caputo, G. (2010) Strange-face-in-the-mirror illusion. Perception, 39(7), 1007-1008. DOI: 10.1068/p6466
- July 11, 2011
- 06:38 AM
- 455 views
Ugly, pretty girls
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
This is just plain odd. An accidental discovery. But, why does it happen? The phenomenon is known as “flashed face distortion effect” and is described in a research paper thus: “We describe a novel face distortion effect resulting from the fast-paced presentation of eye-aligned faces. When cycling through the faces on a computer screen, each [...]Ugly, pretty girls is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Tangen, J. M., Murphy, S.,, & Thompson, M. B. (2011) Flashed face distortion effect: Grotesque faces from relative spaces. Perception. info:/10.1068/p6968
- July 8, 2011
- 12:18 PM
- 661 views
Blame the environment for your bad habits
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Live fast, die young. You’re a long time gone. Sleep when you’re dead. The hedonists mantras. Lifestyle choices whether in terms of food consumption, alcohol and drugs or sexual activity are down to the individual. Nannying by governments, who have their own mantras: Smoking Kills, Know your limits, Get your five-a-day, Use protection, etc, all [...]Blame the environment for your bad habits is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Claudio Ricciardi. (2011) Induced harmful lifestyles and healthy choices. Int. J. Environ. Health, 5(3), 262-273. info:/
- July 6, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 628 views
Don’t get hooked by a phish
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
We’ve all had them, emails supposedly from our bank, or an alert from PayPal, perhaps a purported update from Amazon, they sometimes look seriously suspicious, other times you might not be so sure. The grammar and spelling are rarely perfect, they address you as “Dear Subscriber” rather than by name and the worst of all [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkDon’t get hooked by a phish
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Dharmendra Choukse, Umesh Kumar Singh, & Dimitris Kanellopoulos. (2011) An intelligent anti-phishing solution: password-transaction secure window. Int. J. Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, 3(3), 279-292. info:/
- July 1, 2011
- 03:10 AM
- 539 views
Scanning for juvenile delinquency
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
Scanning for juvenile delinquency – Impulsiveness in youth is not a criminal offence, although if it reaches into the realm of delinquency it can quickly become so. Researchers in the US are using functional magnetic resonance imaging to see whether the brains of young offenders differ in some behavioural way from those of non-criminals. Seemingly, [...]Scanning for juvenile delinquency is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Shannon, B., Raichle, M., Snyder, A., Fair, D., Mills, K., Zhang, D., Bache, K., Calhoun, V., Nigg, J., Nagel, B.... (2011) Premotor functional connectivity predicts impulsivity in juvenile offenders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108241108
- June 16, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 472 views
Sharing on the global scale
by sciencebase in Sciencebase Science Blog
There are obvious differences in quality of life in terms of food availability, access to fresh water, disease prevalence and medicine across many parts of the world. Until recently, the notion of the Third World had a far greater poignancy than the politically correct term “developing world”. While labelling the poorer nations as somehow separate [...]Sharing on the global scale is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog
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Prem S. Bindraban, & Rudy Rabbinge. (2011) European food and agricultural strategy for 21st century. Int. J. Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 9(1/2), 80-101. info:/
- June 14, 2011
- 12:00 PM
- 654 views
Where in the world? Finding geotagged photos
by David Bradley in Sciencetext
Geotagging is de rigueur on most web 2.0 sites these days, location-based social networking tools such as FourSquare, Facebook Places, Gowalla coupled to a GPS-enabled smart phone or other devices are obligatory for the technorati, while countless uploads from millions of digital cameras automatically add a place, or geotag, to your photos opening up a [...]Post from: David Bradley's Sciencetext Tech TalkWhere in the world? Finding geotagged photos
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Davide Carboni, Valentina Marotto, & Pietro Zanarini. (2011) Visualisation of geo-tagged pictures in the web. Int. J. Web Eng. Technol., 6(3), 220-242. info:/
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