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Welcome to Signal Boost, our weekly roundup of blog posts over the past week.
Passenger pigeon centenary
1 September 2014 marked 100 years since the Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, died at Cincinatti Zoo. Grrlscientist has been marking the occasion this week with a series of posts chronicling the fate of extinct bird. What was it like to witness a huge flock of them flying overhead? How much do we know about the iconic pigeon? Plus, she looks at a new book with rare archival photographs and illustrations.
British Science Festival
The British Science Festival kicks off in Birmingham on the 6 September, and Vanessa Heggie from the H Word is hosting an event called ‘Tattoos for Time Travellers’ on Saturday evening. If you were going to go back in time, what scientific information would you have inked to give you a helping hand?
Between Susan Greenfield’s new book about ‘mind change’, and a new movie based on the tired premise of people only using 10% of their brains, it seems like we’ve run out of novel misconceptions about the brain. Always happy to help though, Dean Burnett has offered up some suggestions for new brain myths to give neurobloggers a headache.
While the EU clearly needs a robust science policy, questions abound as to whether it needs a Chief Scientific Advisor. Doug Parr explains some of the issues behind the challenges to the role.
Meet the mother and father of cognitive neuroscience. Mo Costandiprofiles intellectual powerhouses Uta and Chris Frith.
One feature throughout story of Ashya King has been his family’s wish for him to receive proton therapy. Jon Butterworth explains the physics behind the treatment, and looks at some of the challenges with the therapy.
Tripping the light therapeutic. Mo Costandi takes us on a journey through the history of psychedelic psychiatry.
100 years ago, the British Association for the Advancement of Science (now known as the BSA) held their annual meeting in Australia. This fascinating account by Becky Higgitt explains how the meeting was overshadowed by outbreak of war.
An extremely rare photograph was taken last week, of a pregnant petrel showing its egg bump mid-flight. Grrlscientist explains why there was so much excitement about the picture. Plus, here’s a roundup of new books received this week.
A study published this week reports that 40% of women with severe mental illness have been the victims of rape or attempted rape. Richard P Grant looks at the statistics behind the story.
Romain Murenzi was Rwanda’s science minister for nearly a decade. Here, he explains how a science-based development strategy after the 1994 genocide may help other developing countries.
While it might be easy to scoff at Ashya King’s parents for being scientifically illiterate, it is a poor and counterproductive form of science communication. Andrew Holding explains a failure of public engagement.
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