when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better. In physics we use the razor to shave away metaphysical concepts. The canonical example is Einstein’s theory of special relativity compared with Lorentz’s theory that ruler’s contract and clocks slow down when in motion through the ether. Einstein’s equations for tra...

Chaos is the disorder of a dynamical system but it is not completely unpredictable.   Researchers are convinced that locating the origin of chaos and watching it develop might allow science to predict, and perhaps counteract, outcomes. Like having a heart attack.  Writing in in the journal CHAOS, researchers say chaos models may someday help model cardiac arrhythmias (abnormal electri...

That should have been the title. // ...

As a resident of the Elysian Fields that is the Twin Cities, I have been deluged by the Favreian Circus descending upon our fair binary metro area, and I. Am. So. Over. It. The bacchanal over Number Four’s return has spread through the sports-writing world at ludicrous speed1 as has the dissolution of decades-long hatred among Vikings fans toward the former Cheesehead – hypo...

Much of the predicted future of neurotechnology is grounded in the continuing success and development of nanotechnology. This field is broad, for sure, and is even a primary target of the US Federal Government (see the NNI). A particularly critical aspect, however, considers the development of nanoparticles. A great deal of research is already underway on developing very tiny capsules that ...

Last year, several studies suggested that individuals in Canada who had previously been vaccinated against seasonal influenza faced an increased risk of pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1). Those studies have undergone further peer review and researchers writing in PLoS Medicine say their conclusions may be valid, though more research needs to be done to confirm the results. The first of the studies used an on...

Immunization against “swine flu” in 1976 might have partially protected some individuals from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, according to a new study in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Researchers found that individuals who reported receiving the 1976 vaccine mounted an enhanced immune response against both the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus and a different H1N1 flu strain ...

For some years now a small group of scientists have been pioneering a revolutionary idea; that the vertebrate immune system could have a role in the regulation of iron in the body. Now a study in the journal Immunology shows that human lymphocytes (white blood cells) actually produce hepcidin, the most important protein in the regulation of iron levels in the body. What was unexpected w...

Researchers writing in BMC Immunology suggest that the end of smallpox vaccination in the mid-20th century may have caused a loss of protection that contributed to the rapid contemporary spread of HIV. A team led by Raymond Weinstein, researcher at George Mason University, looked at the ability of white blood cells taken from people recently immunized with vaccinia to support HIV replication comp...

Bone marrow cells play a critical role in fighting respiratory viruses, making the bone marrow a potential therapeutic target, especially in people with compromised immune systems, say researchers writing in Cell Host&Microbe. They have found that during infections of the respiratory tract, cells produced by the bone marrow are instructed by proteins to migrate to the lungs to help ...