Nature, one of the most importants scientific journals, has decided to open part of its archives to everyone. Yes, for free. You just need to register and access will be granted from its first issue in 1869 until 1950.
Enjoy your science in the Nature archives.
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Science magazine has made public what they consider the science breakthorough of 2007. Check it out in their website.
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As stated by the authors of a recent systematic review “There is no convincing evidence that individualised herbal medicine is effective in any indication.”. What’s more, there’s a high risk of side effects and the potential for herbs to react badly with other herbs and prescription medicines.
Studies promoting the effectiveness of herbal medicines have been steadily increasing over the past 20 years, say the authors. But most clinical research has involved standard preparations or single herbal extracts rather than the individually tailored treatments favoured by herbal medicine practitioners. This suggests that they have been sponsored by manufacturers, eager to cash in on the growing market for over the counter remedies.
The current findings are based on an analysis of the available comparative clinical research (randomised controlled trials) on individually tailored herbal medicine treatments. But only three studies out of more than 1300 were randomised controlled trials of sufficient quality to draw meaningful conclusions.
Results showed that there were no statistical differences between tailored herbal medicine and placebo in either the knee osteoarthritis study or the cancer treatment study.
Authors advise that herbal medicine, which currently have no basis in science, and others over the counter remedies shouldn’t be confused with phytotherapy, which represents the scientific face of herbalism. Phytotherapy has considerable potential to benefit patients. But over the counter remedies and traditional herbal medicine can harm those who use them. Researches conclude saying that “without these distinctions, we will fail to advance our knowledge of the potential benefits of herbal treatments. More importantly, we will also fail in our foremost duty – to protect the public from treatments that cause them harm”.
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In my last post I talked about the initiative of the University of California Berkeley and their uploaded classes to YouTube. Today I’ll talk about an older initiative called OpenCourseware.
It was started by the MIT as a way to provide a new model for the dissemination of knowledge. This initiative was then followed by other universities, starting a new movement to spread scientific knowledge without the need to go to classes.
All this open educational resources finally formed the OpenCourseWare Consortium, which aims to extend the reach of this materials.
Following an OpenCourseWare doesn’t get you any diploma, you just do it because you have an interest in some field and this is a perfect way to get good information about it.
So, where to get any of this courses? Have a look at the list of participant universities, browse through the materials offered by any university… and start learning!
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Great idea from the guys of the University of California Berkeley, uploading some of their classes to YouTube. They have opened a new channel on this video service where you can find classes in diferents disciplines like chemistry, physics or biology.
Check out, for instance, this first class on Integrative Biology:
Enjoy it!
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I already wrote about climate change in a post about Al Gore’s movie, but the subject is interesting enough to do it again. I watched today a video and although it doesn’t explain anything new, there’s a good argument in it.
I don’t know if humans are the real cause of climate change, but it is quite clear that we treat our planet like a junkyard. So I think that we all should take some action and at least spread the word to provoke some thinking about it. Enjoy it.
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Interesting article titled Diluting the scientific method where we can read about how homeopathy is trying to establish itself as a real science… the truth is that it has nothing of science and a lot of scam.
Quoting the original text:
“Key to that understanding [of science] are the basic features of science, such as how scientific concepts are formulated and tested and why they typically produce a better understanding of the natural world than alternative approaches.”
“Homeopathy claims to be a form of medical practice that’s based on the principle that ‘like cures like’. Given a set of symptoms, a homeopath will identify an herb or chemical that causes similar symptoms. Following a predefined ritual, the homeopath performs a series of dilutions of that chemical that continue well beyond the point where there should be no molecules of it left—the final solution is essentially well-shaken water.”
“In the end, this overview provides a clear demonstration of tactics used by many practitioners of pseudoscience: make a large number of vaguely scientific arguments in the hope of making the desired conclusion seem inevitable.”
In fact, all pseudosciences act in the same way, they:
The article is a bit long, but it’s worth reading it.
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Have a look on some of the sicence that is being made in Europe. Also, if you are a scientist you can use AthenaWeb as a tool for science communication.
Che it out! AthenaWeb
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I’m leaving a few days to a attend a congress in Prague (Czech Republic). It’s the first time I’m going to an international congress, so I hope I won’t be overwhelmed when I present our study in the poster sessions on Monday.
The ESPEN Congress is one of the most important events in the field of clinical nutrition and metabolism in the world. The programme is extensive, so I guess I won’t have much time to do some sightseeing. Oh well, that can be the excuse to go back some day 
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