Scalpel-less surgery on the Scientific American

My latest article has been featured on the Scientific American’s “Incubator” blog, highlighting the work of young, up and coming science journalists.

Check out the SciAm page here – http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/incubator/2012/04/13/khalils-picks-13-april-2012/

You can read the original article on Elements here – www.elements-science.co.uk/2012/04/scalpel-less-surgery-beam-or-blade/

Now off to work on some more material for Purse String Theory as I’m being left behind by my superhuman colleagues, Adam and Lisa!

Latest articles on Elements

It’s been a while…

However, I have been keeping busy and here are a couple of links to my most recent articles on Elements:

My profile of the Maggie’s Cancer Support Centres, including photos of their stunning buildings – here

An introduction to the fascinating BioDigital Human, where you can perform all sorts of online anatomy – here

More on the way, including scalpel-less surgery, and there a few other articles that haven’t gone up but I’ll leave them for another day!

The doctrine of double effect

Having to put down a pet can be an incredibly difficult decision. The animal may be in extreme pain and, as much as you might love the pet, you know that the compassionate thing to do is to trust a trained veterinarian’s decision to end their suffering. Would you be prepared to let a doctor make the same decision for a grandparent?

The doctrine of double effect is a justification used by doctors in cases where they administer drugs to a patient, with the intent of alleviating distressing symptoms, in the knowledge that doing so may shorten, or in fact end, the life of that person.

Video games rivalling superfoods

Playing video games on a regular basis may improve the creativity of children.This is according to new research into the long-term effects of video game usage, which shows violent games are as beneficial as their non-violent counterparts in boosting kids’ creativity.

In fact, video games might surpass the claims of many superfoods when this is coupled with evidence that games can improve eyesight, brain power and driving skills, and may even strengthen familial bonds.

Does anti-virus software really protect internet users?

Internet users in the UK are “overly reliant” on anti-virus software.This is according to Dr Richard Clayton from the University of Cambridge, who was speaking at yesterday’s House of Lords select committee meeting on science and technology. He advised the committee that there was a real need for greater education of the public on safe practice when online.

Countdown to 7 Billion

On October 31st a child will be born to take the Global population to seven billion.

This is according to a report from the UN, although estimates of the exact date vary from a few days to anything up to ten years.

Why Do Wolves Howl?

The association of wolves with the moon stretches back through the ages, and can be found in fairytales and mythology from many civilisations. Lycanthropy, the transformation of human to werewolf, is dictated by the lunar cycle. In Norse mythology there rode a pair of wolves whose eternal pursuit of the sun and moon brought about day and night. Is there a genuine link though? Does the archetypal image of a lone wolf silhouetted against a full moon, howling into the night, reside with the stories of old or is there a fundamental connection?