Andrina Simengwa, like any ordinary 23-year old basketball fan, loves to watch Vince Carter soar into the air, rotate 360º, and thunderously dunk a basketball into the hoop. Andrina, however, is in fact an extraordinary individual who leads an anything but ordinary life. She resides in the town of Lilongwe in the sub-Saharan African nation of Malawi, and is presently employed by the United Nations Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (herein referred to simply as the Global Fund). As an advocate with the Global Fund, she recently spent a few months in Canada promoting youth awareness about…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From textbook
A CHEMIST RESPONDS TO “A SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT.”
(A review and/or rebuttal to “A Scientific Experiment” by Jaime J. Weinman, Issue One, Part II) Well, it’s a good thing that science experiments on webpages aren’t subject to the traditional anonymous peer review process. It they were, Jaime would probably get a reply something like this: “Dear Mr. Weinman, “We regret that we cannot accept your manuscript for publication in its current, or likely any, form. The reviewers have pointed out a number of glaring deficiencies and omissions, briefly summarized below. “Although your scientific curiosity is to be applauded, your experimental methodology seems exceedingly limited, and lacks many important…
KNOWLEDGE INC.: INTEGRITY FOR SALE IN PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH
Introduction The last half of the 20th century has witnessed enormous breakthroughs in the life sciences. We have found a way to eradicate polio and smallpox, developed the means to transplant a fully-functional artificial heart, engineered CT scan technology that can peer into the human body, and sequenced the entire human genome (essentially the blueprint of life) just to name a few. These and countless other advancements, some would argue, are nothing short of miracles; miracles that have immensely transformed our quality of life as well as the society we live in. More and more people are beginning to believe…
DANCE WITH ME SEYMOUR: G.M.O. TESTING & ANAMCHARA
Her darkened complexion and calloused hands reveal a great affinity to working the land. Once I discovered her wrestling with a piece of wire mesh to build a domed cover for her lettuce stock. Sweet faced and kind – you trust her on sight. Long before she became an organic farmer, Cathy McKeown traveled to Madras, in the South of India, where she met T.C. Singh, a botanist at Annamalai University. A trip meant to emulate the spiritual meanderings of John, Paul, George, and Ringo…Singh’s work would forever change the life of this native West Virginian. Singh’s work revolved around…
DANCE WITH ME SEYMOUR: G.M.O. TESTING & ANAMCHARA
Her darkened complexion and calloused hands reveal a great affinity to working the land. Once I discovered her wrestling with a piece of wire mesh to build a domed cover for her lettuce stock. Sweet faced and kind – you trust her on sight. Long before she became an organic farmer, Cathy McKeown traveled to Madras, in the South of India, where she met T.C. Singh, a botanist at Annamalai University. A trip meant to emulate the spiritual meanderings of John, Paul, George, and Ringo…Singh’s work would forever change the life of this native West Virginian. Singh’s work revolved around…
THE KYOTO PROTOCOL F.A.Q (POOLE REMIX)
(this is one of many FAQ files found at Terry) There is a general consensus that global warming is underway, but what should we do about it? The Kyoto Protocol has proven to be a hotbed of contention amongst scientists, policymakers, environmentalists and industry. Is it an exciting and groundbreaking development in the fight against global warming and the broader problem of climate change, or an ineffective and economically harmful attempt to win political kudos? What is the Kyoto Protocol and how is it supposed to address global warming? The Kyoto Protocol, an international and legally binding agreement to reduce…
CLIMATE MODELING F.A.Q. (BANKS REMIX)
(this is one of many FAQ files found at Terry) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its third assessment report back in 2001. The report concluded that the panel of prominent scientists expected the earth’s average temperature to rise from anywhere between 1.4 to 5.8% by 2100. This is a significant conclusion, even at the lower level of the scale, not only for the future havoc this would wreak on the earth’s biosphere but as well the political and economic influence such a statement could have in the here and now. So where do these numbers come from? What…
HIV/AIDS F.A.Q. (RIVERS-BOWERMAN REMIX)
(this is one of many FAQ files found at Terry) What is HIV/AIDS? Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks white blood cells known as T4 (CD4) lymphocytes . The function of the T4 cells is to determine if foreign matter such as bacteria or viruses has entered the human body . Upon interaction with a bacterial or viral cell, a T4 cell will alert the immune system to its presence . The immune system responds by attacking and eliminating the foreign matter and any infected cells using an array of white blood cells (both B and T…
G.M.O. F.A.Q. (MEHRABADI REMIX)
(this is one of many FAQ files found at Terry) What are genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? GMOs are plants and animals which have been genetically altered under laboratory conditions by the insertion of genes from other organisms into their natural genetic makeup. Why should I be concerned about GMOs? To understand the debate surrounding GMOs, we must first understand the problems associated with the world’s food supply. According to the United Nations (UN), the number of hungry people in the world rose to an astounding 852 million in 2002, an increase of 18 million since the mid-1990s. The harmful effects…