Eco-erotica, cleaner whisky and wild animals – more independence means a more natural environment for visitors, too
Maternal health: 10 reasons you should care about the G8 Summit
What are the G8 world leaders really going to be talking about when they gather in Ontario this week? One issue will be the health of mothers and children around the world. Here’s why you should care about the G8 Summit
Shell shut down
The most significant point of the day was, perhaps, when the driver of a red Ferrari tried – and failed – to cross the picket line.
With giant red signs reading CLOSED, banners strung from the roof and very noisy drums, activists shut down a Shell petrol station in Islington, North London for a few hours on Saturday. The point? To protest the oil company’s ongoing expansion in the Canadian tar sands, as well as its never-ending destruction of the Niger Delta in Nigeria, and its attempts to build a pipeline despite community opposition in Ireland, days before its annual general meeting.
The Ferrari driver did not understand at first that he would not be able pump any gas – one of very few motorists to make such a mistake that afternoon. Halting with his shiny red car on the driveway, it took several minutes for him to realise that he would suffer the inconvenience of having to drive several minutes down…
Medication side effects: What to expect and how to cope
The list of medication side effects can seem overwhelming. Here is a break down of the side effects of five common medications and how to cope with them
We’ve all held that long sheet of possible side effects that came with our medication and felt bewildered by the litany of conditions that could come, from swelling and weight gain to seizures and suicidal thoughts. It can be intimidating, to say the least.
“Often my patients come to me and haven’t taken their medication because they were so scared by the printouts,” says Dr. Rhonda Church, a family physician in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia and co-author of Take As Directed: Your Prescription for Safe Health Care In Canada. And even after taking their medication as prescribed, her patients frequently feel uncomfortable and nervous if they notice a new symptom.
Is it a side-effect?
“Whenever people experience anything unusual after taking a new medication often they assume that it is a side effect, when it may not…
Sonic Fire
I’m still amazed it worked. I spent all of Tuesday with Steve Mould, physics presenter, as he built a Reuben’s Tube, just days before he was to perform with it at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. And it went off without a hitch – check out the photos. Amazing.
Guerilla Science – Back For 2010
Guerilla Science is back for 2010 – new website, new logo, and a new Flickr site with all the goods.
A sublime staycation
I needed a vacation, and I got one: the great British seaside holiday. Such words conjure images of Mr Gumby sitting on a sorry-looking beach of horridly uncomfortable pebbles, his feet pathetically lapped by slate-grey, frigid water. But you’d be surprised how beautiful, colourful and spectacular this strange, wet little island can be. Joining my friends in Cornwall, near Padstow, I encountered some of the most stunning scenery I’ve ever seen in my life. There’s a reason this country is home to the word “sublime“.
Axis of Eco
I have launched an independent environmental news website, www.axisofeco.com. Have a look at the ‘About’ for a sense of the mandate. Almost all of my work will now be published there first, so please consider that my home base from now on.
Copenhagen: Unmissable
I will be embarking from London this Friday, December 11, and arriving in Copenhagen on the evening of the 12th, after more than 24 hours of trains, ferries, and reading. The decision to go was fairly last minute – I miraculously found accommodation with a friend of a friend (the city is fully booked for something ridiculous like a 100 kilometre radius), and a space on the ferry with some colleagues. It’s been an effort making the arrangements, but I realised that I simply couldn’t not go – there has never been any event like this, and quite possibly never will be ever again.
The evolution of music
I will be speaking with Cafe Scientifique and Spirit of Play in Leeds tonight, 8pm at The Wardrobe, 3 St Peter’s Square. From the poster:
“Making music is one of the weirdest things we do – and the more you think about it, the weirder music becomes. How can some compositions sound “happy”, while others “sad”? Why in the world should ordered collections of notes give us goose-bumps, or stir our hearts just like the feeling of love? How you can you explain the fact that we are undeniably drawn to gathering in dark nightclubs with complete strangers just to experience noises – or that we collectively spend more money on music than on pornography or prescription drugs every year?
And yet every human culture makes music – not all have writing, or agriculture, but all make music. Why? Could it be something that we evolved to do for a reason? Could it predate language, and might other hominids have been musical too? And could music even hold the key to what makes us human in the first place? Change the way you think about music – and science – with Guerilla Scientist Zoe Cormier”
