Nicholas Steneck: the pressures making scientists go off-piste

Nicholas Steneck is director of the Research Ethics and Integrity Program of the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, USA. In this exclusive interview to the EuroScientist, he shares his views on the pressures that influence scientists in failing to observe the strictest ethical code of conduct. To avoid such issues, he recommends introducing training to “teach new researchers about their responsibilities and about the pressures they are gonna face.” He also calls upon research leaders to stand up and promote the need for research integrity.

The Female Euroscientist: Views from Western Europe

According to legend, in 1953 when Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helix structure of DNA they rushed to a local pub called The Eagle, telling locals that they had ‘found the secret to life.’ A blue plaque now commemorates the announcement. Unfortunately it is only recently that people have recognised just how crucial their colleague Rosalind Franklin’s research was to their discovery. She died before Watson, Crick and another colleague were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1962. 

Why the naked ape really has pubic hair

The evolutionary origin of pubic hair in humans remains a diverting puzzle. Why, uniquely among the apes—and all other mammals—do we have a patch of hair in the pubic region but little elsewhere? The other great apes have less hair there than we have, so our evolution of hairlessness, evidently in parallel with our evolution of upright bipedalism, calls attention to the counterintuitive gain of pubic hair.

5 Reasons Why Mobile Technology Can Provide Better Patient Care

It doesn’t take an in-depth look at the healthcare industry today to observe a large increase in application and implementation of various technologies. From robotic surgical arms to a tablet device utilized in virtually every doctor’s visit to capture patient health data in real time, there’s no question that technology is becoming deeply entrenched in how healthcare is administered. This can create a number of substantial benefits for both patients and for medical professionals alike.

One of the largest categories of technological implementation in healthcare is that of mobile technology, or the ways that mobile smart devices and similar can be used to propel patient care. Here are a few ways that mobile technology is changing the game for healthcare provision and the patient experience.

The science and ethics of turning octopuses into ‘lab rats’

A squid whisperer might be about to help revolutionise experimental biology. Bret Grasse is one of the most renowned keepers and breeders of cephalopods, a group of animals that includes squid, cuttlefish and octopus, and his expert knowledge of these Read more […]