Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Science as Art

One of the things I love about being a neurobiologist is just how stunningly beautiful so many neural systems can be.  Truthfully, there are many of these types of images that can be found throughout biology and really in all branches of science, however, this one comes from a blog I recently discovered that appears to be dedicated to all things neurosciencey.  My thanks goes out to the Neuroimages blog, where you can see lots more like this one...

... it's a mouse retina in case you were curious.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The worst supplement ever, and no, this is not a made up news story



I don't think (or at least I hope) you don't need a scientist to tell you: "DON'T EAT THE PILLS MADE FROM DEAD BABIES!"  Similarly common sense should tell you that these "supplements" (made by microwaving dead human stillborn infants and then grinding them into powder) will almost certainly NOT increase your sexual stamina or cure whatever ails you (which I am not basing on any scientific studies, just the fact that every supplement that has ever claimed to cure everything has turned out to cure nothing).  BUT, in case you do need some science to help you determine whether or not you should go ahead and try these things anyway, the BBC reports that harmful, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been detected in confiscated samples.  Something to think about the next time you order some poorly labeled "herbal" stamina-boosting pills from the internet or tell someone that their baby is "cute enough to eat".