Euphemistic congress

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 Comment

Everybody knows that it is perfectly acceptable to say anything you like about religion. Anything. Go on, try it. Nobody will care one way or the other. After all, for as long as the history of human civilization has been recorded, it has been characterized by nothing other than back-to-back episodes of pacifistic religious tolerance, featuring heart-warming collaboration across religions and between atheists and believers. I’m pretty sure about all of this. In fact, having racked my brain, I can think of absolutely no controversies at all. None whatsoever. Uh huh.

So when scientists investigate religion, they can proceed in the knowledge that everything they discover will be greeted by believer and atheist alike as representing little more than benign, banal, and dispassionate trivia. That’s why scientists never need to pussyfoot around the subject, or to give any thought to how they might choose their words in order to avoid causing offence.

But maybe things are changing.  Continue reading →

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Posted in Academic publishing, Daily Mail, LiveScience.com, Los Angeles Times, Psychology, Religion, Research design, Surveys, Time Magazine

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Aside: More on the science of college exams

Posted on April 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

Yesterday I drew attention to a study claiming that students who bring water into exams get better grades. I made the point that at this time of year the media are often keen to report ‘science news’ that can be framed in ways that make it relevant to college students and their assessment. However, sometimes the framing process can be somewhat perverse. Here’s an example I blogged about last year. Have a look at this video of a mouse swimming through a water maze:

Doesn’t look much like any college student I know. Looks pretty much like a mouse. And yet, when researchers at the University of Bristol published a review of how such laboratory tests show the way histone modifications and DNA (de-) methylation help stimulate the expression of neuroplasticity-related genes involved in stress-related learning and memory processes — all of this in rodents, remember — the world’s media ran with stories like this:

And they were correct to do so, of course. That is, if you take it that college students are pretty much the same thing as rodents. And that college exams are pretty much the equivalent to being forced to swim through a water maze as if your life depended on it.

You can read the full details in this blog post. Happy studying!

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Posted in Animal studies, Daily Telegraph, Education, Genetics, Naive optimism, Science, Stress, Water

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Water on the brain

Posted on April 23, 2012 | 2 Comments

It’s coming up to that time of year again (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least). The daylight creeps longer into the evening hours, leaves on tree and shrub begin to glow in clouds of verdant splendour, migrating birds return to seek climactic asylum in our precinct of the ecosystem…and the mood on college campuses (and in many high schools) becomes afflicted by a shared anxiety. Yes, we are approaching Examination Season.

Another sign of Examination Season is the emergence of news stories in the mainstream media concerning Examination Season. Many such stories relate to the latest scientific finding that is somehow relevant to students and their exams. I suppose one reason for this is that most jobbing scientists work on or near college campuses, so their awareness of Exam Season is high. But the sheer availability of a huge population with bespoke occupational stressors might make research just a little too easy sometimes.

Consider this story, widely reported in the media the other day: “Taking water into exams could boost grades“, the Daily Telegraph declared. In what way, you ask? Well, according to the Daily Mail:

…one theory is that information flows more freely between brain cells when they are well hydrated.

Yeah, that’s how it works. In fact, that’s why we have grade inflation. Because of all the water in students’ brains.

Continue reading →

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Posted in ABS-CBN, Asia News International, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Education, Irish Independent, Times of India, Today on Sunday, Toronto Star, Water

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If it smells right, do it/him/her

Posted on April 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Smell anyone nice lately? Did it make you feel a little, you know, frisky? (That’s another word for romantic, kids.) Well, you are not alone. In fact, the entire rest of the human race is with you on that one. And what’s more, we have evolution to thank for it. Because according to some theories (and, in fairness, to some interesting research studies), natural selection has favoured the evolution of human mate selection through smell. Basically, we have evolved an “if-it-smells-right-do-it” kind of instinct.

This is because the person who smells nicest to you will likely have the best immune system for you. Not only will they live longer with you, but because you and he/she will be so compatible, your offspring will have super-duper-healthy immune systems as a result. Such is the power of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. Or at least that’s the theory.

Journalists often like to write about these types of theories. In fact, if any theory involves evolution and sex (not an entirely unheard of combination, I grant you), then the media are likely to get interested sooner or later. And who can blame them? It is certainly intriguing. I think readers will genuinely be interested in explanations of their own sexual urges that somehow invoke our troglodyte ancestry. But given that most people’s understanding of cavemen and their sex lives owes no little debt to, well, the way Fred Flintstone used to look at Wilma, such theories (and associated research) can pose difficulties for reporters.

Today’s Irish Examiner did quite a good job of navigating these difficulties. But then I would say that, wouldn’t I? After all, I myself was quoted at length throughout the piece. Ker-tish! You can read all about it here. Continue reading →

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Posted in Evolution, Genetics, Health, Immunity, Irish Examiner, Newspapers & Magazines, Psychology, Sex

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Homeopathy, vaccination, autism: Together again

Posted on April 13, 2012 | 3 Comments

As you can see above, this here blog caught the attention of the Irish Times yesterday, with founder skeptic Paul O’Donoghue using it as the hook for his latest column in the science section. [Greetings, Irish Times readers! By the way, here's some stuff just for you. And here's some more.] O’Donoghue was referring to my recent post on homoeopathy which looked at the claims made in the latest awareness campaign by the Irish Society of Homeopaths. For what it’s worth, you can read my entire archive of homeopathy-related posts by clicking here.

But the main point of yesterday’s Irish Times article was to draw attention to a particularly disturbing manifestation of homeopathy’s by now almost endearing dilutions-of-grandeur problem; namely, CEASE therapy, an approach that claims to use homeopathy to create “a very effective way to treat autism with amazing results“.

One corollary of the CEASE approach is the oft-cited and oft-refuted claim that MMR vaccinations cause autism. Now this issue is just so darned convoluted, it is difficult to deal with adequately in a short blog post. Further, it has been dealt with extensively just about everywhere else (summary: there is a vast amount of research evidence showing that MMR vaccination does not cause autism in any way, shape, or form).

But I think some points are worth recording because they are overlooked with surprising frequency whenever this debate comes up. Here are four in particular that I feel should be given more prominence: Continue reading →

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Posted in Alternative/Complementary Medicine, Autism, Health, Homeopathy, Irish Times, Newspapers & Magazines, Pharmaceuticals, Skepticism, Vaccination

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