worldsfair | September 20, 2007
Specific details are here, but basically, my facility is hosting two workshops for the scientific community (around the latter half of February 2008). One is a 5 day session that focuses on a myriad of molecular techniques, and incorporates both a practical hands-on portion, as well as the all important biochemical (as in what the hell is going on?) angle. Not to toot our own horns, but we've garnered consistently excellent reviews, and I would say that if you're the practicing scientist (and on occasion engineer, statistician, computer scientist, lawyer) who wants a course to get up to…
worldsfair | September 18, 2007
One of the first things that a newborn experiences is not necessarily the warmth and scent of the mother's embrace, but rather a series of pokes and pricks to ascertain health and mental alertness. It therefore seems to me that a natural progression of this trend is to incorporate the highest medical predictive technology into an infant's normal surroundings. In other words, it seems obvious to me that sooner or later everyone will have their own molecular genetics lab in their household - most likely adjoining the kitchen.
But, of course, with this new standard of living, steps must be…
bcohen | September 14, 2007
This post was written by guest blogger Wyatt Galusky.*
Epilogue: Further Hauntings
To prove that, in some very profound way, I remain myself haunted by the thoughts I engaged here earlier -- on mystery, monsters, and ghosts -- I thought it prudent (somehow) to offer an epilogue. This comes in the form of two novels I have recently read: Measuring the World, by Daniel Kehlmann and Spook Country, by William Gibson.
I was made aware of Measuring the World by Ben, one of the curators of this here menagerie. It looks back at the differing efforts of explorer Alexander von Humboldt and…
worldsfair | September 13, 2007Lately, I've been thinking a lot about good old 0.7%. This is the hallmark figure suggested by Pearson as a target for foreign aid to developing nations. In other words, the main idea is that wealthy nations do something nice and set aside about 0.7% of the gross domestic product, so that the sorts of things that the UN Millennium Development Goals are focused on, can be proactively tackled.
Problem is, that not many countries actually do this, and this is why you have people like Bono and Bob Geldof all in an uproar, etc, etc, etc. For example, the United States puts aside approximately…
worldsfair | September 12, 2007Specifically, this pretty one:
Very nicely done biography of Charles Darwin, presented in the children's book genre, that also happens to be pretty enough for the coffee table (more info about the book here).
Basically, the SCQ is hoping to give away a science themed hardcopy children's book each month. All you have to do is submit something - anything really. For you bloggers out there, a post that you're particularly proud of would also work. (more details about this can be found here)
bcohen | September 12, 2007Part 1 | 2 | 3
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Part III, our final installment with Shobita Parthasarathy, author of Building Genetic Medicine, follows below. All entries in the author-meets-bloggers series can be found here.
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WF: I cut you off at the end of the last Part. Here, I'll let you continue with the connection between women's health movements and the rise of BRCA testing.
SP: When BRCA testing came on the horizon, US and British advocates behaved somewhat differently. In the US, NBCC and other advocacy groups were (and continue to be) skeptical about the technology. They felt that the technology was still…
bcohen | September 11, 2007Part 1 | 2 | 3
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"Dendrogram showing 18 tumors from BRCA1 mutation carriers (black branches) and two tumors from BRCA2 mutation carriers (yellow branches)" (source).
Part II with Shobita Parthasarathy, author of Building Genetic Medicine, follows below. All entries in the author-meets-bloggers series can be found here.
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WF: You've developed this intriguing approach, looking at technologies as architectures. Can you explain that a bit?
SP: I argue that technologies have specific architectures, which include their components and how they are fitted together. What appears to be the same…
worldsfair | September 10, 2007It is with great regret that I report on the demoralizing state of corn culture. Over the last decade, this once mighty cereal grass has succumbed to the stigma of repeated negative public perceptions. Arguably, this unfortunate downward spiral was instigated by the advent of agricultural genetic manipulation, and specifically with the development of the Bt corn product.
Originally created as a corn variety with genes for a "bitchin' toxin," this plant was special, containing its own built-in pesticide, thereby granting a new era of efficiency in crop management. However, Monsanto, the…
bcohen | September 10, 2007Part 1 | 2 | 3
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The World's Fair sits down with Shobita Parthasarathy, author of Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, Technology, and the Comparative Politics of Health Care (MIT Press, 2007), Assistant Professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and Co-Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the University of Michigan.
Shobita Parthasarathy's research focuses on the comparative politics of science and technology in the United States and abroad, with a focus on issues related to genetics and biotechnology. She is particularly interested in…
bcohen | September 7, 2007
While doing some background research on democracy, science, and environmental policy, I found myself reviewing some of the thousands of public comments offered for the 2007 Farm Bill we've referenced at this site several times (here's one, on science). Interesting Stuff.
Farm Bill legislation has been in the works for a few years, with public hearings across the nation and opportunities for input into the process by farmers, farm associations, environmental groups, and agro-business all the while. It was passed by the House this Summer and is now being debated in the Senate.
When I first…
worldsfair | September 5, 2007
Isn't this pretty?
O.K. so lately, I've been immersed in revamping a website for a pretty high profile interdisciplinary project at my institution. It's essentially related to all of those lectures I was playing around with (here, here, and here). In any event, all of this tweaking has led to (lo and behold) the website becoming what is essentially a blog...
One of the things we found out, is that in the student circles (at least it would appear at UBC), we ultimately got the impression that very few students were into this blogging thing. This, I found pretty surprising - I mean, it…
worldsfair | September 5, 2007
The other night I had the privilege to check out Crowded House at a smallish venue. It was great - I highly recommend any serious music lover to check out Neil Finn and the boys. They are really one of the best live acts around, and for pure melodic prowess, Neil is definitely one of the best around.
Anyway, a couple of their songs had Climate Change appropriate titles (like Four Seasons in One Day, or "Weather with You"), so for fun, I'd thought I'd check out my iTunes library and run through "globally relevant" titles that I have.
Who'd a thought, it be such a downer.
Let's see, I had:
"…
worldsfair | September 4, 2007So... the SCQ is back from its summer hiatus, and needs to get rid of a 30G 5th generation video iPod. Sort of like this one:
And it actually couldn't be easier to win. Here are the details:
After a much need hiatus over the summer, the SCQ is back for it's third volume. We thought we would begin by making a few announcements, tantamount to the giving away of free stuff. First on the agenda is a oh-so-pretty white 30G video iPod we still have in our possession. Essentially, when Mike won our last contest, he elected to choose the Amazon gift card option, leaving us with this fine piece of…
worldsfair | August 31, 2007First up, an apology for the lack of posting of late. As the school term approaches, things have been more hectic than ever, and so... well... you how it is with prioritizing and all. Nevertheless, once next week rolls around, I should be back with some degree of regularity (i.e. still busy, but at least there's some order to the chaos).
Second up - check this out:
Anyway, this is to say that the Science Creative Quarterly's FILTER section is now being looked after by Timon Buys, author of many a great piece at the SCQ. In case, you're unaware of what the FILTER is all about, it's…
bcohen | August 29, 2007
This post was written by guest blogger Wyatt Galusky.*
It is in homage to David Ng's Police post of yore that I invoke this album cover to inaugurate the final installment of this three-part post on mystery, the unknown, and the remainder, all loosely filtered through quotes by Theodor Adorno.
The term "ghost in the machine" originates with the philosopher Gilbert Rile, who used it to mock the mind-body dualism of Rene Descartes (who claimed that the physical body was guided by the nonmaterial mind through the pineal gland).
For my purposes, I want to talk less about any vestiges of…
bcohen | August 29, 2007Part 1 | 2 | 3
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Part III, our final installment with Lizzie Grossman, author of High Tech Trash, follows below. All entries in the author-meets-bloggers series can be found here.
WF: Speaking of China, Environmental Science and Technology has been reporting a lot lately about the effects the dismantling of electronics has on workers and local populations. This is especially so because of exposure to flame retardants in the gadgets. Is this information actually new? What do you see coming out of these new studies? Will any of this change the business of electronics recycling in China?
EG…
bcohen | August 28, 2007Part 1 | 2 | 3
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Part II with Lizzie Grossman, author of High Tech Trash, follows below. All entries in the author-meets-bloggers series can be found here.
WF: At least once a month, someone's invoking Thomas Friedman to say new information technologies have made the world 'flat' and national borders meaningless. That perspective has always seemed naïve and superficial. (As a friend of mine points out, just because five people in a town have internet access doesn't mean the world is suddenly flat.) At best, I'd say the world is lumpy. Does your story about electronics manufacturing,…
bcohen | August 27, 2007
It's Franz-Xaver Messerschmidt's The Yawner (model), circa 1778-1783
Did it make you yawn?
We'll take a tally.
bcohen | August 27, 2007Part 1 | 2 | 3
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World's Fair note: This new author-meets-blogger series of posts was written by guest blogger and new father Jody Roberts, author of previous posts on endocrine disruption and organic farming research.
On behalf of The World's Fair, Roberts recently sat down with Elizabeth (Lizzie) Grossman, independent journalist, to talk about her book High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxins, and Human Health.
High Tech Trash has been well reviewed and well received. All the while, as we were making reference to it in a post on "What We Waste," Grossman was contributing to…
bcohen | August 24, 2007I'm not one to publish new empirical research at a blog, but this is a good chance to do so.
As it happens, whilst scrambling to put together syllabi for the new semester, one finds the need to take a break at some point during the week. I thought an investigation into the frequent query, "Why Is It How Come There Are Never Any Women Published in The New Yorker's Shouts and Murmurs Section?" would be in order.
The bad news is, my well-deserved break from work didn't last very long. It turns out that by searching the well-indexed set of New Yorker DVDs one can find quite easily and…