Scientific Review

This is the way science should always work:

Here’s the short version. Dr. Hall made a mistake in the software he wrote to do something. Another scientist, Dr. Otto, saw the mistake, contacted Dr. Hall and told him about it, and the two of them worked together to confirm that it was in fact a mistake. Recognizing the error, Dr. Hall has now retracted the paper and is working to ensure that people quickly learn that the conclusions are in error. Knowing that will keep others from using Dr. Hall’s original conclusions in their own work, which means that they won’t be starting from a position that’s wrong.

And that, ladies and gents, is exactly how this thing called “science” is supposed to work.

Great post. Interesting comments too. It is not any easier for scientists (than anyone else) to admit mistakes, but scientists view advancing scientific thought as the most important factor. By exposing papers to colleagues the community’s collective effort is brought to bear on finding any weaknesses and to building on the new knowledge to advance scientific understanding further.

Related: The Future of Scholarly Publication

River Blindness Worm Develops Resistance to Drugs

River blindness resistance fears

Resistance could lead to breakouts of the infection in communities where it has been brought under control, a Canadian study in the Lancet reports. Ivermectin, used since the late 1980s, is the only drug available for the mass treatment of river blindness. Experts warned the findings highlighted the urgent need for new treatments. River blindness (onchocerciasis) is caused by a nematode worm which is transmitted by a black fly.
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He added that isolated resistance could be controlled by using insecticides or an antibiotic called doxycycline, which is effective but needs to be given every day for a long time.
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Professor Taylor’s team have recently received a large grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to search for new drugs or combinations that can have the same effect as a course of doxycycline but delivered in shorter time frame.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding a tremendous amount of important work.

Related: HHMI Provides $600 Million for Basic Biomedical Research – Bringing Eye Care to Thousands in India –

Shaw Laureates 2007

Image of the Shaw Prize Medal

The Shaw Prize awards $1 million in each of 3 areas: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences. The award was created in 2004 by Run Run Shaw who was born in China and made his money in the movie industry. According to wikipedia he has “donated billions of dollars to charity, schools and hospitals.” The prize is administered in Hong Kong and awards those “who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.”

2007 Laureates:
Astronomy: Professor Peter Goldreich of the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and the Lee A. DuBridge Professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Physics at the California Institute of Technology, USA, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in theoretical astrophysics and planetary sciences.

Life Science and Medicine: Professor Robert Lefkowitz, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Biochemistry at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, USA, for his relentless elucidation of the major receptor system that mediates the response of cells and organs to drugs and hormones.

Mathematical Sciences: Professor Robert Langlands of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and Professor Richard Taylor, Herchel Smith Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University, USA, for initiating and developing a grand unifying vision of mathematics that connects prime numbers with symmetry.

Related: Millennium Technology Prize to Dr. Shuji Nakamura – Kyoto Prize for Technology, Science and the Arts – 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Field Medal: Terence Tao

Goldwater Science Scholarships

I have mentioned previously, I work for ASEE (the curious cat blog is not associated with ASEE). At ASEE, we have started a science and engineering fellowship blog. The latest post covers the Goldwater Science Scholarships – for undergraduate students in science and math. Approximately 300 are awarded each year.

For 2007, 28 mathematics majors, 223 science and related majors, 54 engineering majors, and 12 computer science majors received awards (many of the Scholars have dual majors in a variety of mathematics, science, engineering, and computer disciplines). The one and two year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established by Public Law 99-661 on November 14, 1986. The Scholarship Program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. Applications will be available starting in September for next year. Schools nominate up to 4 students for the scholarship, see the web site for details on the application process.

Related: How to Win a Graduate Fellowship – Advice on applying for science and engineering scholarships and fellowships

Education, Entrepreneurship and Immigration

Education, Entrepreneurship and Immigration: America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs is part 2 of a study by Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering and UC Berkeley. Some interesting points from the study:

  • 52 percent of immigrant founders initially came to the United States primarily for higher education, 40 percent entered the country because of a job opportunity, 6 percent came for family reasons, and only 2 percent to start a business.
  • 91 percent of Indian founders, 35 percent of Chinese and 97 percent of Taiwanese founders completed their undergraduate degrees in their home country
  • Indian and Chinese founders graduated from a diverse set of schools in their native countries, many of which are considered
    second- or third-tier universities (only 15 percent of Indian founders were graduates of the IIT).
  • Immigrant founders of technology and engineering firms have strong backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. 75 percent had completed their highest degree in a STEM field.
  • Advanced education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is correlated with high rates of entrepreneurship and innovation. The U.S. economy depends upon these high rates of entrepreneurship and innovation to maintain its global edge.

Related: Part 1 of the study (pdf) – Engineering Education and Economic Growth – Engineers in the Workplace – S&P 500 CEOs, Engineering Graduates – Diplomacy and Science Research – USA Under-counting Engineering Graduates

High Resolution Darwin Documents

View high resolution scans of Darwin’s notes and review his thoughts and ideas. Speaking of Faith (American Public Media program) has teamed with Cambridge University Library to present a narrated tour of Darwin’s private notebooks and hand sketches with David Kohn.

Very interesting. I am not thrilled with the usability of the web application but the high resolution images are interesting and the narration is informative.

Related: Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online – Evolution in Darwin’s Finches – Classic Botanical Illustrations Presented Poorly

Singapore Students Engineer New Products

Students design products to help environment and disabled people

“Now it’s in the eighth year and we’ve had 5,000 students on the scheme. This year the quality is quite good, I’m quite happy. Some amazing ideas such as the fish scaling device and the shuttlecock launcher,” said Mr Butler. There is no limit to innovation and creativity.

An automated shuttlecock launcher, which can adjust the launching angle of shuttlecocks, came in tops in terms of design. Currently there are no mechanical shuttlecock launchers in the market. But this launcher can not only be produced at a low cost, but also help beginners execute different strokes. Another practical design is a retractable bamboo system that improves safety when drying laundry. It also comes with a plastic cover to keep out the rain. The above are just a few examples of the 52 innovations that may just find their way into our homes and lives, once these young technopreneurs find the right investors.

I like the increasing efforts to engage university students in actually creating useful innovations. It isn’t easy to actually create winning solutions but the efforts to do so I think teach many valuable lessons. Such efforts support a change to our education system to engaging students in actual engineering projects not just problem sets (for example: Educating the Engineer of 2020: NAE Report – Olin Engineering Education Experiment – Changes at MIT for Engineering Education – Educating Engineering Geeks).

Related: Engineering Student Contest Winners Design Artificial Limb – Schoofs Prize for Creativity – Re-engineered Wheelchair – Young Innovators Under 35 – Silicon Valley secret is engineering education

Self Healing Plastic

Plastic That Heals Itself

The first self-healing material was reported by the UIUC [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign] researchers six years ago, and other research groups have created different versions of such materials since then, including polymers that mend themselves repeatedly when subject to heat or pressure. But this is the first time anyone has made a material that can repair itself multiple times without any external intervention, says Nancy Sottos, materials-science and engineering professor at UIUC and one of the researchers who led the work.
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the researchers bend it and crack the polymer coating. The crack spreads down through the coating and reaches the underlying microchannel. This prompts the healing agent to “whip through the channels and into the crack,” Sottos says. There, it comes into contact with the catalyst and, in about 10 hours, becomes a polymer and fills in the crack. The system does not need any external pressure to push the healing agent into the crack. Instead, the liquid moves through the narrow channels just as water moves up a straw.