We Brits tend to be a reserved lot. At least, that’s the reputation we have. But boy, we can talk. Just how much is shown by this analysis from researchers at MIT, Cornell University and University College London, with help from the BT Group in a little town you’ve probably never even heard of (Ipswich).…

An update on my take on the Arsenic story, with both positive and negative comments, is worth reading over at Carl Zimmer’s place. Science magazine has made the original paper free to view (with the lead author’s personal email address in plain sight. Eek.) Our evaluation is also free to view. And just for fun,…

See Daniel Ory describe the story behind the discovery of NPC1 biomarkers, subject of today’s news story.

Okay, I must admit the title is a bit melodramatic.  But I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this thing that is, shall we say, concerning. It all starts back in 2009, when I received some ARRA money for a couple of projects I had going in my lab. That was great, because it has allowed…

Unless you’ve been living under an arsenic-laden rock, you have probably heard the news that wasn’t news from NASA. We didn’t find alien life, and we didn’t even find a new form of life on Earth. What Felisa Wolfe-Simon and colleagues found was a type of bacterium that can grow (albeit very, very slowly) in…

Berg out as NIGMS director to support wife Jeremy Berg, who has directed the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for 7 years, is stepping down to accept a position at the University of Pittsburgh. He didn’t plan on leaving so soon, he said in a statement — but when…

The First Law of Thermodymamics: Heat is work and work is heat … The Second Law of Thermodymamics: Heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body Heat won’t pass from a cooler to a hotter You can try it if you like but you far better notter ‘Cos the cold in…

We’re pleased to be able to offer congratulations to two of our Faculty Members, who have been selected to be EMBO Young Investigators: Aurelio Teleman, FM in Developmental Biology, at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg Daniel Wilson, FM in Structural Biology, at Department of Biochemistry, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich.

Faculty Member Etienne Joly has been busy lately, evaluating everything from a classic text on evolution to the adjuvant effect of laser light. I sent him a Naturally Selected sweatshirt for other bits of material he provided for The Scientist and this blog, and here he is, wearing it (keep reading for your chance to…

Yesterday I was to meet a friend at the coffee shop. She showed up almost an hour late and in tears. I had received an email from her saying she would be 15 minutes late. It turns out that because she was running a bit late to begin with, she was in a rush. In…