New Drugs Stir Debate on Basic Rules of Clinical Trials

New Drugs Stir Debate on Basic Rules of Clinical Trials (NY Times 9-18-10)

Controlled trials have for decades been considered essential for proving a drug’s value before it can go to market. But the continuing trial of the melanoma drug, PLX4032, has ignited an anguished debate among oncologists about whether a controlled trial that measures a drug’s impact on extending life is still the best method for evaluating hundreds of genetically targeted cancer drugs being developed.

Physician, Humanize Thyself

Physician, Humanize Thyself (Wall Street Journal 9-17-10)

Can rituals like Columbia's White Coat Ceremony for new medical students help teach them compassion?

Computers set for quantum leap

Computers set for quantum leap (Financial Times 9-16-10)

A new photonic chip that works on light rather than electricity has been built by an international research team, paving the way for the production of ultra-fast quantum computers with capabilities far beyond today’s devices.

Future quantum computers will, for example, be able to pull important information out of the biggest databases almost instantaneously. As the amount of electronic data stored worldwide grows exponentially, the technology will make it easier for people to search with precision for what they want.

Why playing shoot 'em up video games helps people make decisions more quickly

Why playing shoot 'em up video games helps people make decisions more quickly (UK Daily Mail 9-14-10)

Playing fast-paced action games produces a 'heightened sensitivity' which improves not just game playing but also the ability to drive, navigate, multitask, follow a friend in a crowd or even read the small print, scientists claimed.

Scientists announce they can decode words from brain signals

Scientists announce they can decode words from brain signals” (UK Daily Mail 9-13-10)

Using sensors attached to a volunteer's brain, the scientists were able to record electrical signals generated when the person read out ten words, such as 'yes', 'no', 'hungry' and so on.

After a while, the team was able to tell which brain signals correlated with a particular word. The implication is that, one day, this technique could be used with paralysed patients and those 'locked-in' with brain damage.

Much Ado About “Nothing”: Stephen Hawking and the Self-Creating Universe

Much Ado About “Nothing”: Stephen Hawking and the Self-Creating Universe by Stephen Barr (First Things 9-9-10)

Physics scenarios and theories are merely mathematical stories. They may be fictional or describe some reality. And just as the words of a book by themselves can’t tell you whether it’s fact or fiction—let alone have the power to make the world they describe real—so with the equations of a physics scenario. As Hawking once understood, equations may turn out to be an accurate description of some reality, but cannot not confer reality on the things they describe.

The curious metaphysics of Dr. Stephen Hawking

The curious metaphysics of Dr. Stephen Hawking By Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. (9-3-10)

What’s my point? If Dr. Hawking does not believe that there is any reason to think that the universe had a beginning (from physics or philosophy), then why does he even bother to speculate about how the universe could spontaneously create itself from nothing? I am left to assume that Dr. Hawking does believe there are reasons for thinking the universe had a beginning – otherwise his contention about “the universe coming from nothing” makes no sense.

Baroness Greenfield criticises 'Taliban-like' Stephen Hawking

Baroness Greenfield criticises 'Taliban-like' Stephen Hawking (UK Telegraph 9-8-10)

Baroness Greenfield, the leading scientist, has compared Professor Stephen Hawking to the Taliban for his claim that God is not needed to explain the Universe.