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Stop eating your pet's food

Apparently people are eating their pet's food, and they're getting salmonella poisoning in return...

A scientific reference manual for US judges

Science and our legal system intersect frequently and everywhere - climate, health care, intellectual...

Rainbow connection

On the way to work this morning, I noticed people pointing out the train window and smiling. From...

Neutrinos on espresso

Maybe they stopped by Starbucks for a little faster-than-the-speed-of-light pick me up....

Becky Jungbauer

A scientist and journalist by training, I enjoy all things science, especially science-related humor. My column title is a throwback to Jane Austen's famous first line in Pride and Prejudice

Vaccine/autism Link Gets Double Shot In The Arm

Feb 12 2009 | comment(s)

Parents and advocates who believe vaccines cause autism were dealt a double blow this week. On the scientific front, a discredited 1998 study that launched the vaccine-autism debate onto the forefront made headlines, and on the legal front, a special U.S. court ruled that vaccines are not to blame for the disease.

The Love Circuit - This Is Your Brain On Romance

Feb 12 2009 | comment(s)

The Valentine's Day lovefest on this site - who says scientists aren't warm and fuzzy? - is spectacular. You can learn about the chemistry of love with Valentine's Day science for women, easy solutions for the languishing lothario (personal favorites at the moment - "Roses are red, violets are blue. You and me we will stick like clay," and "I wanna be your Viking cleaner breathing in your dust.

Tech blurbs: Large Hadron Collider update, Artificial Intelligence evolves

Feb 09 2009 | comment(s)

Wondering what's going on with the LHC, or whether AI will ever evolve? Wonder no more.

LHC decision expected Monday: A final decision on the exact date to switch it back on is expected following a meeting on Monday. CERN researchers have been in talks this week about when to re-start it, what caused the melt-down in the first place, and how to prevent future incidents. CERN hopes the machine will be up and running in time to deliver the first batch of data for experts to begin experiments by the end of the year.

Creationists, scientists call for end to fight over evolution

Feb 09 2009 | comment(s)

A letter published in the Daily Telegraph calls for an end to fighting over evolution, citing extreme elements on both sides of the fence as harmful to Darwin's "great biological achievements." The article begins:

Ahead of the 200th anniversary of the pioneering naturalist's birth on Thursday, they warn that militant atheists are turning people away from evolution by using it as a weapon with which to attack religion.

The pendulum swings again - green tea and cancer

Feb 04 2009 | comment(s)

First green tea may have anti-cancer properties. Now it turns out, according to a pre-pub in the ASH journal Blood, that polyphenols in green tea can interfere with cancer treatments.

Researchers in California wanted to determine whether multiple myeloma patients taking Velcade (bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor) and self-medicating with green tea to add to the anti-cancer fight would yield increased antitumor efficacy in MM and glioblastoma (of Ted Kennedy fame), or if it was just placebo.

Big Bong Theory - The Toke-n Bad Boy?

Feb 03 2009 | comment(s)

Kudos to Sally Jenkins at the Washington Post for the best article I've read so far on the Michael Phelps non-scandal. I thought I was going to read a humorous article about one of my favorite TV shows (The Big Bang Theory), not connecting the dots with Willie Nelson's favorite pasttime.