Monthly Archives: January 2013
Learn with Dr. Brainiac: shingles
No matter how much we know, there is always something new to learn. Here’s what I knew about shingles: – it’s related to the virus that causes chickenpox – varicella – it’s most often seen in older people (usually older than 60 years old) – it’s painful – there’s a vaccine Here’s what I now […]
Science on TV: not always doing it right
I’ve been offline for a couple of days because I took a long weekend/mini-vacation time to visit a dear friend who lives in another city. One of the things we did while chilling in the evenings was to watch some episodes of CSI: Miami from a few seasons ago. Oh, people, let me tell you: […]
What’s the deal with the flu?
Today we’re talking about the influenza virus, which we mostly just call the flu. It’s in the news, and based on the questions my mom was asking me recently about flu vaccines and my dad wanting to talk about NY Governor Cuomo’s recent declaration of a state of emergency due to the flu (Hi, Mom! […]
Dr Brainiac’s Opinionated Opinions: The Big Bang Theory
Today I want to take a minute to talk about how scientists are portrayed on the television show The Big Bang Theory: “The Egg Salad Equivalency” was probably my last episode of the show. I no longer feel like TBBT is true to my experience as a scientist, and one of the things I want […]
Hello world, again!
Thanks to Alex Wild (@Myrmecos), a lot of new people have found their way to my still very new blog. Welcome! I look forward to talking science with you. It’s cold where I am. I took this picture this summer – figured I’d share it with all of you! I wanted to let my real-time […]
Are bananas really able to protect against cancer?
Today we’re talking about what happens when something sounds awesome and scientific, but isn’t really true. And bananas! BANANAS! News source: uh, not news – a Facebook picture Image text: Full ripe banana with full dark patches on yellow skin produces a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has the ability to combat abnormal […]
Bad News Biology 