Health NewsWhat’s in a Name? To which we call Swine Flu
Sorry Juliet, I just couldn’t resist it. But will I have resistance for the latest strain of H1N1 which has currently notched the world to a level 5 Pandemic alert. This is a result of the very quick and widespread outbreak of an unusually virulent flu which seemed to start in Mexico City. There are some pretty wild theories about the cause of this. There is even the suggestion that a team of Mexican Drug cartels in cooperation with al Qaeda released this virus. There has been a lot of information in the media regarding this flu, not all of it scientific. Either to calm their citizens or to conveniently put up trade barriers some countries have gone to great lengths. For example, Russia banned imports of all meat (including beef) not treated thermally from Mexico, Texas, California and Kansas. I want to put a little bit of science into the understanding of this current crisis.
DNA Day 2009
I volunteer with a museum which has the motto “history never sleeps”. And history has certainly not gone to sleep tracking the advances in DNA and genomics since the April 25, 1953 announcement that began “We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest.”
Below is a timeline of some major developments in DNA from 1953 to the present.
Opportunity and the prepared mind
Over the years I have heard many times the quotes that involve opportunity and the prepared mind. Sometimes the quote says “Luck is the result of …..” and sometimes the quote says “Success is the result of …..”. Regardless, it the quote always end with “the prepared mind”.
If you are looking for a movie to rent, this week a good bet is “Race for the Double Helix”. That’s a movie that shows how James Watson and Francis Crick took advantage of their opportunity to work together, brainstorm ideas and eventually come up with success. This word cluster is based on my blog from a year ago that detailed the movie “Race for the Double Helix”.
FWD: Science Lecture and Bacon
I’m going to tell you how Genome Alberta helps inspire students to an interest in science. But first, let me tell you about an email message I got yesterday. Rather close to supper I checked my email and saw the subject line FWD: Science Lecture and Bacon. Naturally, this was the first one I opened up. Turns out I was included on a list with 15 others to receive a notice for a free public lecture on Bad Astronomy that was to occur within 3 hours, and a link to a blog of bacon recipes. I immediately planned for the lecture; however, I was somewhat disappointed that there was no apparent connection to either Roger Bacon, the Franciscan monk who in the 13th century helped develop empiricism, or Francis Bacon, the 16th century politician and scientist whose legacy was the “scientific method”.
Art in Science – Science in Art
It is just before noon and people are starting to fill the foyer of the Trans Canada Tower in downtown Calgary. I’m being led down the escalator towards the door by my spouse so that we get a much closer look at ZooMoo2000, one of the artist stampede herd of wild cows through the Calgary streets. ZooMoo is now in a more permanent indoor location and I am going to look specifically at ZooMoo’s tail designed to acknowledge one of the greatest scientific achievements, the Human Genome Project. ZooMoo is made up of 18,578 glass gems representing approximately 100 creature images on the cow’s surface.
