Science

Japanese university to retract Novartis study based on fabricated data

"A Japanese university is to retract a study that touted the effectiveness of a blood pressure drug made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis because it was based on fabricated data. The move was the latest chapter in a growing scandal over allegations that bogus data were used in a string of Japanese university studies for the drug Valsartan which exaggerated its effectiveness in preventing strokes and angina. On Wednesday, Tokyo's Jikei University School of Medicine said it would retract research that appeared in respected medical journal The Lancet six years ago." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapanese university to retract Novartis study based on fabricated data

Cannabis Kills MRSA, Disrupts Prion Diseases

"Marijuana is a potent antibiotic that can kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and disrupt the progression of prion diseases such as Mad Cow disease and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease — just don't expect the federal government to tell you any of this. The factoids come from TheAnswerPage.com - a medical information resource for doctors sponsored by The Massachusetts Medical Society, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine. The federal government, as directed by Congress, still maintains that cannabis is a dangerous 'schedule 1' drug with no medical use and high potential for abuse." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCannabis Kills MRSA, Disrupts Prion Diseases

Dr. Joseph Bonneau Wins NSA Award, Calls For NSA To Be Abolished

"Engineers and researchers like Bonneau have a unique and important role to play in fighting back against NSA oversteps. As Michael Hirsh noted in the Atlantic last month, tech companies have contributed enormously to wiring up Big Brother -- companies like Palantir Technologies, Eagle Alliance (of Computer Sciences Corp. and Northrup Grumman) and Booz Allen Hamilton. The only way the government gets to spy on everyone is when people who are intelligent and innovative enough to build scalable surveillance technologies decide to help them. Hopefully Bonneau’s example will inspire more cryptographers and security engineers to speak out." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDr. Joseph Bonneau Wins NSA Award, Calls For NSA To Be Abolished

MIT creates the first perfect mirror

"Physicists at MIT have created the first perfect mirror. When light hits the mirror — or indeed any other kind of wave, including acoustic and water waves – it bounces off perfectly, introducing no distortion and exactly preserving the original image (signal). While this is primarily big news for narcissistic MySpacers, these perfect mirrors could also lead to breakthroughs in solar power, lasers, fiber optic networks, or just about anything that involves the reflecting or capturing of light." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMIT creates the first perfect mirror

President of American Academy of Arts and Sciences Resigns Over Resume Fraud

"Leslie Cohen Berlowitz, the embattled president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, will officially depart her post at the end of the month, the academy has announced. Ms. Berlowitz has been on paid administrative leave since early June, following reports that she had falsely claimed, on several grant applications and other documents, to have a doctorate. In a letter sent to members, Louis W. Cabot, the chairman of the academy’s board, said that Ms. Berlowitz would resign effective July 31, without any severance. She will receive a one-time payment of $475,000." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPresident of American Academy of Arts and Sciences Resigns Over Resume Fraud

Researcher’s paper banned for containing luxury car security codes

"A British-based computer scientist has been banned from publishing an academic paper revealing the secret codes used to start luxury cars including Porsches, Audis, Bentleys and Lamborghinis as it could lead to the theft of millions of vehicles. The high court imposed an injunction on the University of Birmingham’s Flavio Garcia, who has cracked the security system by discovering the unique algorithm that allows the car to verify the identity of the ignition key. They argued that 'the public have a right to see weaknesses in security on which they rely exposed'. Otherwise, the 'industry and criminals know security is weak but the public do not'. Continue reading →

Continue ReadingResearcher’s paper banned for containing luxury car security codes

Swiss researchers make microchips that imitate the brain

"Scientists at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, together with colleagues in Germany and the United States, created electronic systems comparable to a human brain both in size, speed and energy consumption, the university said in a statement late Monday. Just like the brain, their so-called neuromorphic chips are capable of processing and reacting to information in real-time, it said. Using neuromorphic chips as artificial neurons, the researchers built networks that can perform tasks requiring short-term memory and decision-making and analytical abilities, Indiveri said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss researchers make microchips that imitate the brain

Neuroscientists discover how to implant false memories in the brain

"Scientists have implanted a false memory in the brains of mice in an experiment that they hope will shed light on the well-documented phenomenon whereby people 'remember' events or experiences that have never happened. Susumu Tonagawa, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his team encoded memories in the brains of mice by manipulating individual neurons. As the technology develops, said Chris French, 'whatever means are used to implant false memories, we need to be very aware of the ethical issues raised by such procedures – the potential for abuse of such techniques cannot be overstated.'" Continue reading →

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Experiment finds D.C. residents are the least honest Americans

"George Washington famously said he could not tell a lie, but people in the city that bears his name don’t seem to feel so conflicted. One in five in the US capital failed to drop a suggested $1 in an honor box when they helped themselves to tea at unmanned kiosks set up by Honest Tea, a beverage company. In a statement, Honest Tea said it set up 61 such kiosks around the country, including at least one in every state plus the District of Columbia, over 11 days in July. The most honest folks were in Alabama and Hawaii, where everyone paid without exception, followed by Indiana and Maine with a 99 percent honesty score." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingExperiment finds D.C. residents are the least honest Americans

‘Crack baby’ study ends with unexpected but clear result

"A social worker on TV predicted that a crack baby would grow up to 'have an IQ of perhaps 50.' A print article quoted a psychologist as saying 'crack was interfering with the central core of what it is to be human,' and yet another article predicted that crack babies were 'doomed to a life of uncertain suffering, of probable deviance, of permanent inferiority.' But the researchers consistently found no significant differences between the cocaine-exposed children and the controls. Drug use did not differ between the exposed and nonexposed participants as young adults." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Crack baby’ study ends with unexpected but clear result