What is meant by the term 'placebo effect'?

By



This is from F in Science.. a collection of lol answers from science. I bought it this morning and it made me smile and I thought I would share it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Getting Women into Science, EU Directive

By
All my wonderful lady friends (I'm talking to the non sciency bods here) I need your help. Please watch the video below and leave a comment on my blog page (at the bottom of this page) letting me know what you think of the video (giving your current job - you don't need to leave your name). Does it make you want to work in science? Update 18.7.12 Thanks for all the comments! I  forwarded them on to the EU commission that produced the video. They did receive quite a response to the video from across the globe, and a few 10000 blog posts!! Here are a few reflections  - Science, a people thing  - I think this is the blog post I agreed with the most  From the Guardian - Science: it's a girl thing! A viral fiasco New Statesman Huffington Post (UK)   - they ask 'is the video sexist?' Wall Street Journal - describe it as a porn film They did take the video down, and here is the website now - http://science-girl-thing.eu/
Read more

How many papers should academics publish per year?

By
Image
Post-doctoral researchers in Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen were told this week that they need to be publishing, on average, 3.25 papers per year in order to have a competitive chance of getting a research fellowship. I always get worried when I hear exact numbers being quoted as 'what you NEED to have'. The number, apparently was determined by asking research councils that give fellowship grants what they look for. A good idea in theory, the ones that answered the request said they want (on average) 3.25 papers per year. But do the people that receive fellowships really have that record? That isn't clear. With a decrease in research council funding is more research being funded by industry? I don't know, as I don't have the numbers. I'm just speculating, but, if you are industry funded my experience has been so far that you are likely to publish less as your results will go towards things like patents and be kept internally for the company.
Read more

How to help someone that is writing up their thesis

By
Image
Writing a thesis is a lonely and it can be a very stressful time. I found it extremely difficult to keep up with friends and family. Holding normal, conversations that lasted longer than two sentences without my mind drifting away to thesis related thoughts was also a challenge. Quite a few of my close friends have gone through their thesis too and I thought it might be useful for those that haven't experienced the joys, highs and lows of thesis writing how they can help support those that are writing up. A few things that you can do to help... See if they would like to go out for food or a walk but don't get annoyed if all the said person does is talk about their thesis. Getting writers away from their computer can be a welcome distraction. Send them some nice smelly soaps/shampoo - I stopped all shopping when writing up You could also send fruit and healthy snacks. Confession time. I once spent a weekend at my desk writing up and ate all of my desk mates food becau
Read more