Blogging community
terrasig | March 4, 2010Looking all shiny and spiffy today are our colleagues over at the blogging network hosted by Nature. After some downtime to install a new blogging platform, Movable Type 4, Nature Network blogs are back with a much more pleasing aesthetic and a more user-friendly interface.
For those readers who don't have their own blog, the publishing software behind the scenes makes a big difference in how easily (or not) you can post text, photos and multimedia, and add all sorts of widgets and personalization features. I started, for example, on Blogspot with the Blogger interface (owned by Google) but…
terrasig | February 19, 2010In our last post, we discussed a recent USPTO ruling that rejected a claim of the Pfizer patent on the erectile dysfunction drug, sildenafil (Viagra®), to a novel oral treatment for the disorder. The patent appeals panel ruled that the existence of horny goat weed, a traditional Chinese medicine used orally for impotence, was grounds for rejection of the claim.
Frequent commenter daedalus4u pulled out US Patent #6,469,012 (filed Mar 4 1996, issued Oct 22 2002) wherein the relevant claim 24 reads:
A method of treating erectile dysfunction in a male human, comprising orally administering to a…
terrasig | February 17, 2010What's wrong with this picture?:
You're looking at a screenshot of a map detailing the origins of each of the last 500 visits to Terra Sigillata. I took this shot at about 2 pm local time in Durban, South Africa, home to cognitive science blogger Michael Meadon at Ionian Enchantment. Michael is a graduate student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and I learned about him via a Twitter referral - from whom I can't recall.
Be that as it may, last week Michael put out a call last week for "Africa's science nerds":
Africa, then, needs skeptical, reasoned, and scientific voices, not only to…
terrasig | January 12, 2010For those of you following Twitter or watching the television in the university cafeteria, you'll know that the North Carolina port of Morehead City is being evacuated. Nine containers of an explosive, pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), have been punctured and there is concern of an explosion. (This report now says that of the nine containers, only one has been punctured - by a forklift operator).
Not only do I have relatives out on the barrier island but science bloggers Kevin Zelnio and Southern Fried Scientist are stationed out there at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, about…
terrasig | January 10, 2010
Next weekend at ScienceOnline2010, I'll be co-moderating a session on encouraging scientists and science trainees from underrepresented groups to participate in social media. I will be working with Damond Nollan, a social media specialist and Web Services Manager at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). Damond is the author of the aptly-titled blog, In The Mind of Damond Nollan. The whys and hows are what we hope to discuss in the outline below.
The reason for calling this the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Session stems from the fact that this conference has been held for the last four…
terrasig | December 29, 2009
In the light of the Northwest Airlines "pantsbomber" episode and America's penchant for quick but poorly-thought out theatrical responses to such incidents, some international colleagues planning to attend ScienceOnline2010 have expressed some concern about the hassles they might encounter flying into our beloved burg in two weeks.
Preliminary accounts from the RDU International Airport suggest, however, that our local TSA and customs officials have maintained reason and restraint while also keeping travelers as safe as possible:
Paul Beach, an Air Force communications officer who flew into…
terrasig | December 28, 2009
In discussing the Christmas birth of a son to ScienceBlogs launcher and science journalist Christopher Mims and his wife, I neglected to note another addition to our tribe of science, from a science blogger specifically.
ChemicalBiLOLogy blogger, Arlenna, gave birth on Christmas Eve to a beautiful girl, pictured here with Mr. Arlenna. In her brief post, "I had a baby!," Arlenna posited:
. . .whoever invented epidurals and started using them in childbirth should win the Nobel Prize.
Despite my lack of training in anesthesiology or obstetrics, I thought I might look into this a bit. I had…
terrasig | December 26, 2009The other day, author pal and PharmFamily friend Rebecca Skloot sent out a Twitter request for iPhone app suggestions for her new gadget, particularly those that might be of greatest use on her upcoming, self-supported book tour for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Let me first congratulate Ms. Skloot on ditching that CrapBerry and adopting a technology that is as superior as her book.
Rebecca got me looking at my iPhone and made me realize that, well, it sort of has that not-so-fresh feeling. I've got a few tried-and-true apps that I've shared with our Twitter followers but I even feel…
terrasig | December 25, 2009To all of our readers, celebrating today or not, we wish you all the best of what this season means to you and your family.
I particularly like the sentiments shared by my colleague, PalMD, on what Jews and Muslims are doing today in Detroit, Michigan.
I also like the sentiments so nicely expressed by Greta Christina at Alternet.org on 7 Reasons for Atheists to Celebrate the Holidays.
We also send out a big congratulations to original ScienceBlogs editor and science journalist, Christopher Mims, and his family on the birth of their beautiful son, Ike.
Gifts come in all forms. Enjoy all you…
terrasig | December 18, 2009I wanted to issue a great big thank-you to all of you who came by to comment on the 4th anniversary of this blog and share with us who you are and why you read. After a slow start, a few blog links and Twitter-prodding by my colleagues got the commenting going full bore. I intend to respond to each of you in the comment thread but it may take a couple of days.
I have been very pleasantly surprised by how many of our readers are not trained as scientists but are simply interested in science or in the scientific topics we present here. That is completely AWESOME because one of my concerns…
terrasig | December 15, 2009The Preamble
Four years ago today, I wrote my first post in the blogosphere over at the old Blogger version of Terra Sigillata. The post, entitled, "A Humble PharmBoy Begins to Sow," set out my mission to be an objective source for information on natural health remedies and drugs that come from nature, whether used as single agent prescription drugs or as botanical mixtures and supplements.
I read blogs for about six months before setting off on my own, primarily because I wanted to be sure my efforts were not redundant with others. Because I am academic and paid by a combination of federal…
terrasig | November 21, 2009At the recent U2 Academic Conference, I had the opportunity to be at the local premiere of It Might Get Loud, a much-more-than documentary of the electric guitar as told through the careers of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, U2's The Edge, and Jack White of The White Stripes and Raconteurs. For the record, I thought that White was going to be totally out of his league - while I wouldn't call him a "legend" as billed by the producers, I left being incredibly impressed with his background and breadth of abilities.
Related to the movie trailer below, I had an exchange with Toaster Sunshine, a…
terrasig | November 15, 2009
On Friday, I wrote a post about the 20th anniversary of my PhD dissertation defense and my reverence for Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cervical cancer gave rise to the first immortalized human cell line and the primary system for my work. I also alluded to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the upcoming book by Rebecca Skloot that is already garnering extensive pre-release praise.
I was, as readers have come to expect, quite a bit sentimental and reflective, with a call that we all do our part to somehow acknowledge those patients whose tissues make it possible for us scientists to do…
terrasig | November 11, 2009I was just going through my unread Twitter stream from yesterday and found a link to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled, "A Scientist's Guide to Academic Etiquette," with a tagline about scientists lacking in social skills.
Recognizing the truth in that statement, I fired up the post to the very pleasant surprise of learning that the author is none other than the Grande Dame of the science blogging community, Female Science Professor.
Female Science Professor is the pseudonym of a professor in the physical sciences at a large research university who blogs under that…
terrasig | November 9, 2009Hella HeLa!
Skloot is PWned, as it were.
I learned late last night that author Rebecca Skloot was to be featured on the cover of this week's issue of Publishers Weekly. So, I clicked on the site this morning before the coffee was even done brewing and there is our wordsmithing hero.
I know that "The Making of a Bestseller 2010" is sure to make any author nervous but my reading of the manuscript tells me that the prediction is entirely consistent with the work.
Regular readers will know that we featured Ms Skloot here last week to brainstorm about her upcoming, self-supported book tour…
terrasig | November 4, 2009Lookie what came in to my e-mail box overnight after yesterday's post about the hypotrichosis treatment, Latisse® brand of bimatoprost.
Hmm...I have a few ideas who might have sent this (no profanity, so it wasn't Comrade PhysioProf). And very interesting that this comes just a week before FDA holds an opening hearing entitled, "Promotion of FDA-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools. For your information, here's the PDF schedule courtesy of colleague John Mack - Pharma Marketing Blog and @pharmaguy. John is currently running a survey in his masthead to solicit…
terrasig | November 1, 2009Miss Cellania is the very clever 'nym of a Kentucky-based full-time blogger, radio producer, and more-than-full-time mother. She consistently puts up very imaginative and insightful content at her home blog but in her other gigs at mental_floss and Geeks Are Sexy. I love mental_floss so that's where I first learned of Miss C. (She's also been very kind to link to us on occasion despite her reputation for
During my Sunday morning leisure reading and catch-up on my Twitter feed, I came across her post from Thursday on how small towns are affected when they are the setting for blockbuster…
terrasig | October 29, 2009No, this is not the same old beaten horse.
Revere at Effect Measure, one/some of the best public health writers on the web, has written a splendid piece on the difference between the two types of blogging in response to the denial of his registration at the Knight Science Journalism Tracker. Revere has intended to comment on their coverage of the Brownlee and Lenzer cover article on swine flu at The Atlantic.
I was going to pick out some excerpts but the whole post is so clearly written and important in its entire context that I refer you to read it in its entirety.
I don't believe that I…
terrasig | October 28, 2009Just a quick follow-up from our last two posts about Amy Wallace's article, "An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All," in Wired magazine about vaccine developer Dr Paul Offit and the anti-vaccination movement:
Wired has now compiled Wallace's tweets from the last two days into blog-readable narrative.
Only a week after Wired published "An Epidemic of Fear", we've received more reader responses than any other story in memory. Journalist Amy Wallace has received hundreds of messages, weighing in on all sides of the issue, and posted some of those comments on…
terrasig | October 26, 2009While working on a science-rich post and writing an exam, something came across Twitter that is, well, too good to just be seen only on Twitter.
Fullsteam is the name of the plow-to-pint Southern microbrewery in Durham, NC, no-longer-in-planning-but-not-quite-done and I have written about the tweeter several times. The imagination behind brewing a beer with sweet potatoes (it's awesome, btw) or kudzu comes from the very same mind that burped into his iPhone for the benefit of shared education with his daughters.
The result:
I use Google voice search all the time and have been very…