science

Clinical trials of integrative medicine: testing whether magic works?

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You might perhaps be wondering what the term “integrative medicine” actually means, well if curious and you asked, you would get distinctly different answers. For those that support the concept you will be advised that “it treats the “whole person,” focuses on wellness and health rather than on treating disease, and emphasizes the patient-physician relationship“, however … Read more

Who actually owned the copyright to a picture

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Above is a fabulous picture of a grinning female macaque – so who actually owns the copyright for this? Is it the person who owns the camera, or the person who borrowed the camera and took the picture? In this case, because it is in dispute … the answer is supposedly nobody and so it is claimed … Read more

Catching up with the MARS Curiosity rover

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While in the US I had the privilege of listening to Nagin Cox from the mission operations team for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) – NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover. Who? OK, first a bit of background on her … Nagin graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering and a BA in Psychology … Read more

Modifying the lyrics in Nine Million Bicycles … again?

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I recall attending a talk by science writer Simon Singh in which amongst other fascinating things, he explained that Katie Melua, the jazz/blues singer and songwriter, had a single “Nine Million Bicycles” where the lyrics were as follows: We are 12 billion light years from the edge, that’s a guess, no one can ever say it’s true, but … Read more

How do believers cope with evidence that conflicts with the belief?

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A rather obvious example of evidence that conflicts with a belief is perhaps the availability of fossil evidence that reveals to us how early humans emerged and evolved. So how do those that truly believe that a god made us exactly as we are, cope with the rather obvious evidence that clearly demonstrates that the belief … Read more

Egypt deploying fake bomb detector as a cure for AIDS

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Things in Egypt are really not turning out well at all, the revolution may have offered hope, but then a bunch of religious lunatics hijacked it all and proceeded to impose their specific religious ideals by force upon the population. The Military responded and they in turn grabbed power, and so we are once again back … Read more