Kudos to anyone who recognized the reference to Pauline Kael (she changed film criticism forever) and her book “I Lost it at the Movies.” Of course, her book title was a bit of sexual innuendo, quite risqué for an important film critic in 1965 but appropriate for a period (the 1960s) associated with a sexual revolution. (There’s more about the 1960’s sexual revolution in the US along with mention of a prior sexual revolution in…

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For anyone who’s concerned about their dental enamel, this research might prove encouraging. From a June 1, 2018 news item on Nanowerk, Researchers at Queen Mary University of London [UK][ have developed a new way to grow mineralised materials which could regenerate hard tissues such as dental enamel and bone. Enamel, located on the outer part of our teeth, is the hardest tissue in the body and enables our teeth to function for a large…

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Social and emotional learning is an unusual topic for a Café Scientifique (Vancouver) night but since it’s based on research, I guess it passed the ‘is it science?’ test. (For the record, I’m fine with including the social sciences as part of the science endeavour although I know some who are not.) From a November 6, 2018 Café Scientifique announcement (received via email), Our next café will happen on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27TH at 7:30PM in…

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One health This event at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center) is the first that I’ve seen of its kind (from a November 2, 2018 Wilson Center Science and Technology Innovation Program [STIP] announcement received via email; Note: Logistics such as date and location follow directly after), One Health in the 21st Century Workshop The  One Health in the 21st Century workshop will serve as a snapshot of government, intergovernmental organization and non-governmental…

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I’m starting to have a collection of postings related to plastic nanoparticles and aquatic life (I have a listing below). The latest originates in Singapore (from a May 31, 2018 news item on ScienceDaily), Plastic nanoparticles — these are tiny pieces of plastic less than 1 micrometre in size — could potentially contaminate food chains, and ultimately affect human health, according to a recent study by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS). They…

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This is a structural colo(u)r story, from a May 29, 2018 news item on Nanowerk, Compression therapy is a standard form of treatment for patients who suffer from venous ulcers and other conditions in which veins struggle to return blood from the lower extremities. Compression stockings and bandages, wrapped tightly around the affected limb, can help to stimulate blood flow. But there is currently no clear way to gauge whether a bandage is applying an…

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I have two art/sci (or sciart) announcements, one concerns an event and the other is a news update. Toronto’s ArtSci Salon and the Society of Literature, Science & the Arts (SLSA) 2018 Meeting How could I not have stumbled across SLSA until now? Better late than never but the 2018 meeting/conference in Toronto, Canada is the 32nd of this annual event. (sigh) Getting on to the important points, the ArtSci Salon is hosting a special…

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A May 24, 2018 news item on Nanowerk announces a technique for making sustainable electrodes (Note: A link has been removed), Carbon aerogels are ultralight, conductive materials, which are extensively investigated for applications in supercapacitor electrodes in electrical cars and cell phones. Chinese scientists have now found a way to make these electrodes sustainably. The aerogels can be obtained directly from cellulose nanofibrils, the abundant cell-wall material in wood, finds the study reported in the…

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This work comes out of Switzerland. A May 25, 2018 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) press release (also on EurekAlert) announces their fibers, EPFL scientists have found a fast and simple way to make super-elastic, multi-material, high-performance fibers. Their fibers have already been used as sensors on robotic fingers and in clothing. This breakthrough method opens the door to new kinds of smart textiles and medical implants. It’s a whole new way of thinking…

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Michael Berger has written a May 24, 2018 Nanowerk Spotlight article about some of the latest research on transparent graphene electrode technology and the brain (Note: A link has been removed), … In new work, scientists from the labs of Kuzum [Duygu Kuzum, an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, San Diego {UCSD}] and Anna Devor report a transparent graphene microelectrode neural implant that eliminates light-induced artifacts to enable…

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