Once more, retractions in the news. Was Einstein's wife his unacknowledged co-author? Trashing conventional wisdom about cardiovascular disease. Fish oil may not be a panacea after all. Gum disease may not cause heart disease.
More on the limits of DNA and science writing. Dealing with complex statistical studies. The limits of Twitter as a tool for science writers. The limits of explaining why genes are not destiny. Here come the alien dinosaurs with high IQs. Chemistry lesson on the origins of chirality. The origin of life as a feedback loop: did life come from space, or was it the other way around? Robot news: Robowarriors, Robocops, Robosquirrels, and RoboBeatles
Huzzah, aspirin prevents cancer and heart disease! Maybe. These American Lies: Department of Climate Change. These American Lies: Department of Apple, Science Journals, and Science Writing.
How many neurons in the human brain, and where did the traditional number — 100 billion — come from? Ötzi-the-Iceman's genome revealed. Trying to write science for women's magazines and other mass media. New rules for statins. Heartsick about the Heartland climate change email scandal. Open sesame for Open Access. For now.
We begin 2012 with bloggers' lists of 2011 highlights. Sex, retractions, weather, videos. Also, a timeline for the tale of faster-than-light neutrinos.
Neutrinos continue to be faster than light. Perhaps. A flood of stem-cell blogging: At the American Heart Association meeting, one small trial yields positive results, another doesn't, and the media fumble coverage. Stem-cell pioneer Geron shuts down its tiny clinical trial and flees the field. Some bloggers mourn, while others jump for joy.
Asteroid 2005YU55 didn't hit Earth after all, but another one might. Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars moon probe might too. How stupid is Daylight Saving Time? Very. Updates on fraud in social science research and the reopening of the National Practitioner Data Bank.
More untrustworthy social science research, only this time outright fraud. That database of naughty docs has been restored to public view, thanks to journalism organizations. The government appears to have taken it down after pressure by one of them, a neurosurgeon with 16 malpractice complaints.
Can social science research be trusted? The Open Notebook has a birthday. Here comes the HPV vaccine again. ScienceOnline2012 registration begins next week!
