Many of you will already be aware of the campaign for libel reform in the UK. The UK libel laws are stifling free speech, and, with no clause for public interest, scientific discussion is being muted too.
Simon Singh's particular case (he is being sued by the British Chiropractic Association) has become the rallying point for efforts to reform UK libel laws to strike a more equitable balance between protection of reputation, and freedom of speech.
There's a note sitting on my desk as I write. It was given to me by a transition year student who just spent two weeks in my lab on a work placement. It says, "Thank you for everything, I really enjoyed myself". This sits alongside a similar note from another TY student a few weeks earlier.
In today's issue of SEED magazine there is a great article about how ordinary citizens can become scientists active in real research projects. They call it "Citizen Science".
A report on swine flu cases in the USA has just been published today by the prestigious journal PLoS Medicine. The authors conducted a statistical analysis of hospitalisation, intensive care, and fatalities resulting from the new H1N1 (swine) flu. Because those cases turning up in hospitals are only a fraction of the actual cases (these are the most extreme cases) they employed several techniques to estimate the total number of infections and from that to estimate the rates of fatality etc..
The European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) is running a competition for scientific and non-scientific cover art for the journal. This could be a great opportunity for any of you to get your work noticed. These can be scientific images (such as photographs taken down a microscope) or "non-scientific" images which are more abstract but relating to biology in some way. ... maybe you even have some photos taken in the Science Gallery that you'd like to submit??
Here is the text of the announcement calling for entries. Please feel free to pass it on.
Getting in the mood for skyping with Simon Singh at the PRISM meeting in the Science Gallery next Wednesday, and the more I learn about him the more I see what a brilliant character he is.
I just learned about this beautiful exchange that occurred a few years ago between Singh and Katie Melua via Science Gallery's own media-godess Anja (thanks!)
Great news: Simon Singh will join us via Skype for our discussion of his book "Trick or Treatment" and the issues around freedom of expression and scientific discussion at our next PRISM bookclub meeting.
There's finally some good news in the Simon Singh libel case. Singh has won his right to appeal the initial ruling in the case. The wonderfully-named judge who made today's ruling, Lord Justice Laws, said that the initial ruling risked swinging the balance of rights too far in favour of the right to reputation and against the right to free expression [quoting from this article: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2009/10/simon-singh-wins-leave-to-appeal-in-bca-libel-case/ ]
Great news: Simon Singh will join us via Skype for our discussion of his book "Trick or Treatment" and the issues around freedom of expression and scientific discussion at our next PRISM bookclub meeting.
I just found this wonderful interactive tree of life. You can play with this and explore the relationships of all life on the planet.
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