Facts, not Fantasy

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Today in the News (18 Jun 09)

Vaccines:
Considering that "a malaria vaccines was considered laughable five to seven years ago", I was encouraged by a sort of behind the scenes look at the research. Considering how many people die from malaria, as well as the ever expanding range of mosquito habitats.

In the effort to develop an HIV vaccines, it helps to understand the evolution of the virus. Again, it is really quite amazing to consider how inter-related so many fields are!

Autism:
Again, to dismiss the idea that the Chinese don't have a word for autism (they do), here is an article about some difficulties Chinese parents are facing. Yes, they do have a word for it, but it's not as readily discussed there as it is here.

Scientists at UC Davis have discovered a link between a neuron protein and autism. This was particularly interesting again, because now it seems that once again the link is more genetic.

Evolution:
Maybe an effort to make evolution more understandable, looking at the evolution trees of species is a great tool. The University of Texas has made a great computer program that could revolutionize this tool.

And just because science may have a fit or disagreement about a specific item within a theory does not invalidate the entire theory. That's like saying all automobiles should be discarded on account of an argument on the brands of spark plugs. So I enjoyed this quick entry about the "Red Ape" theory. More a history lesson as well as a science lesson.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please keep posts here respectful. Those that cross boundaries will be deleted, and then placed in a special place for future ridicule.