Author: Josh Witten

http://www.thefinchandpea.com

RegenArouse (When Supplements Work?)

Real drugs, with real physiological activities, have very real side effects. As a result, some drugs cannot be safely taken by some individuals with underlying conditions or who are taking other, incompatible medications. When “nutritional supplements” contain undisclosed drugs, potentially dangerous side effects and interactions cannot be avoided.  Individuals that cannot take a drug due to underlying risk factors may be more likely to be customers for these alternative treatments, placing them at even greater risk. To err is human. To have an undeclared drug in your supplement that happens to cause the same therapeutic effects claimed for your supplement is anything but divine.

The latest supplement to run afoul of the FDA’s “if you product contains a drug, it is a drug” rule is RegenArouse, a supplement for erectile disfunction, which was found to contain tadalafil. Continue reading “RegenArouse (When Supplements Work?)”

Spider Silk

So, hi, if you happen to be my mom, you might want to stop reading now. As the title indicates, this is a review of a book that is all about spiders. SPIDERS!!!

My mother does not like spiders. She really, really does not like spiders.

But I do[1].

I approached Leslie Brunetta and Catherine L. Craig’s Spider Silk with hope and dread. Hope that I might learn a lot more about spiders. Dread that the authors would mangle evolutionary theory with over-simplification while trying to use spider silk to teach the general public about natural selection.

One of these emotions was unnecessary and wrong. Continue reading “Spider Silk”

Gasp, Republican politicians act like Republican politicians trying to get Republican votes

I’m not sure what else we expected from the Republican primary candidates.

Do they have anything to gain offending their social conservative base on the issues of climate change and stem cells?  Integrity? Come on, this is politics.

Would you really vote for Newt Gingrich if he took the scientific consensus position on climate change or stem cells? Because, I can guarantee you that Newt’s staff is sure there are Republican primary voters that would vote for one of his opponents instead, if he did.

Until we figure out how to let Republicans know that pro-science groups might actually vote for them in numbers that will replace the votes they fear losing, I’m going to have to go with a big “I told you so”:

Being a dedicated partisan, like our ordained friend above, eliminates your ability to influence a politician’s positions in exchange for your vote. While I know the guy[3] you voted for is not like this, it is reasonable to assume that the primary incentive for politicians is votes. If your vote is already committed, there is no reason to attempt to appeal to you.

It’s hard work being a role model

It is even harder work being an effective role model. But, if you don’t go read the full article post at Boundary Vision, you won’t get to find out that our DJ, Marie-Claire, is more than just impeccable musical taste:

Real personal doubts can make it easy to dismiss potential models as special: “I could never do that. Even though he comes from the same neighbourhood and background, he’s obviously smarter/better/luckier/more hard working.” Role models that seem too successful or too perfect are difficult to relate to even if they’ve taken a difficult road to reach their success.

…but is it science?

Granted, this kid seems creative & entrepreneurial – the next generation of Maker; but why is building a marshmallow cannon science? I can think of a number of ways building and testing a marshmallow cannon could illustrate the scientific method. Successfully constructing a marshmallow cannon, however, is an engineering challenge – very suitable for a Maker Faire, but why is this a top Science Fair project?

In fairness to the marshmallow cannon, descriptions of the award-winning projects all sound like engineering or invention projects rather than exercises in the scientific method. I like gadgets and inventions, but is it small wonder that we are a scientifically illiterate society when even our Science Fairs don’t know what science is?