Empathy and Altruism in Rats?

A recent paper in Science discussed behavioral data in rats suggestive of empathically motivated behavior. This is a potentially very important report for two major reasons. First, a deep understanding of the mental and psychological abilities of rats, and other species, is a crucial goal for comparative psychologists, evolutionary biologists and other basic scientists. Second, … Continue reading Empathy and Altruism in Rats?

How to build a lung

Tissue engineering, a field that combines cell biology, engineering, and materials science to manufacture tissues - and more recently even whole organs - to replace those lost to injury or illness, must be one of the most exciting areas in modern medicine. Since the earliest reports about a mouse with a human ear growing on … Continue reading How to build a lung

We Need You – Debunk AR myths

We've been a little slower on our postings lately - a busy time for most of our regular contributors. So we're calling for help on one of our latest projects. We aim to expand our "Bad Science" section by scientifically challenging some of the false "facts" produced by animal rights groups. Many of these myths … Continue reading We Need You – Debunk AR myths

Breakthrough of the Year (almost!)

As the year draws to a close it’s time to reflect on an exciting year of animal research, and there seems no better place to start than with the top 10 breakthroughs of the year as selected by the prestigious scientific journal Science. Science is of course a general science magazine, and the choices reflect … Continue reading Breakthrough of the Year (almost!)

Public views on Science and Research

On July 9th, the Pew Research Center for People & the Press, in collaboration with the Americans Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) released its findings (full report) regarding the public perception of science. In this post I will reflect on some of the interesting aspects of the report. To give some context, the … Continue reading Public views on Science and Research

UCLA Pro-Test – Coverage Review Day 6

Coverage of blogs covering the UCLA Pro-Test on April 22nd

Speaking of Research in Science Magazine

Speaking of Research is going up in the world, having now made its way into the (joint) biggest Science Journal of them all (alongside Nature) - Science Magazine. You can download that SR article here. The article, in the Newsmakers section, puts Holder as this month's "mover" - reporting on his efforts to bring the … Continue reading Speaking of Research in Science Magazine

Avoiding the Side Effects of Radiotherapy

Radiation therapy has been a mainstay of cancer treatment for over a century, and in that time has saved the lives of countless patients, but at high doses can have serious side effects when it damages healthy tissue as well as killing cancer cells. A study published this week in the journal Science (1) describes … Continue reading Avoiding the Side Effects of Radiotherapy