Went to see WALL·E last week. It's brilliant. The best thing I can say about is: that about 3 hours after seeing it, I suddenly remembered that it's supposed to be a kids film (I've been watching a lot of Ghost in the Shell recently, so animation does not equate with kids film in my head)
Went to a treetop adventure place over the weekend. Part of a chain called Go Ape. Seriously good fun. A couple of hours of Rope ladders, treetop bridges, zip lines, and Tarzan swings into cargo netting. It really deserves a better write up, but I don't have time right now.
 Icon love! Seen here, based on these T-shirts. I hate the cost of transatlantic shipping.
Science is like a good friend: sometimes it tells you things you don't want to hear. From Charlie Brooker's TV rants seen at ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) andrewducker's
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| 2008-07-02 12:55 |
| Lies, damned lies, and bloody lies. |
| Public |
 annoyed |
| blood, radio4, science |
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I caught last night's file on four. It was an interesting discussion on recent theories involving the use of stored red blood cells.
IIRC They tend to be stored for between 10 to 30 days before being given to someone. Scientist know the cells change slightly with storage. For instance they become less flexible, so cannot fit down the smallest capillaries as easily. They can take up to a day to recover.
A lot of blood goes to people who've lost red cells through traumatic accidents, surgery, complications in birth, and haematology (leukaemia, chemotherapy, bone marrow transfers, etc.), and no-one disputes this saves lives. But some goes to people who read as anaemic on charts, or as a precaution during elective surgery, and the debate was around the benefits to this group, and the length of storage of blood.
Ben Goldacre would have liked it, as there was lots of discussions of methodology, and statistical evidence.
Both main participants were in favour of funding a proper randomized controlled trial, but disagreed on the validity of the retrospective study that had already been taken place. This study had found that people who receive older blood are more likely to have complications than people who hadn't
Participant 1 said that the retrospective study wasn't valid as the patients weren't randomised, and generally sicker people who receive blood in the first place. This would only affect the 10% who didn't fall trauma/surgery/birth/haematology group. So we should continue current practice while further evidence is gathered.
Participant 2 said that 30% of blood goes to people who haven't lost it in trauma/surgery/birth. And that they had taken account of the effects of the level of illness properly in their study, so we should stop storing blood for as long.
I don't have time to go through all the literature myself, but I know who I trust more at the moment. The scientist who didn't spin the statistics by leaving out haematology patients, and deflecting the question ("Yes, but the research is important because...") when confronted on it.
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When a bus driver turn off the engine at a random stop, it usually means someone's got on without paying. If someone staggers upstairs swaying, you can guess who it was. Especially if they're muttering that the driver is a "dirty foreigner" under their breath.
But the daft part was that he had the broadest Irish accent I've heard since Brad Pitt in Snatch, and the driver had a Cockney accent.
Mini linkdump! Apprentice Fan pays five grand to watch episode, from overseas, via mobile broadband. The Mars Probe has a twitter!Via the Evil Mad Scientist{edit} major_clanger points out a series of ever more nifty photos from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
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| 2008-05-12 13:57 |
| Democracy in a in a 0.1 molar solution of acid. |
| Public |
 pleased |
| me, political, science |
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I did it. If it's a very slow news day, you can see me in a labcoat, and an Science. It works bitches. t-shirt, crouching down behind an MP, trying to make sure the stem cell billboard doesn't blow away.
In other Democracy related news:
Number of tourists taking pictures of Parliament from Waterloo Bridge; 3
Number of tourists taking pictures of the London Eye from Waterloo Bridge; 10
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I'm tempted to give the old Lab coat an Iron over the weekend, and attend this protest in support of the Second Reading of Human Fertility and Embryology Bill.
I'm in favour of what I've heard of the bill.
It's not my biggest concern politically, but I don't have any plans, and I do work nearby, and own a lab coat.
The only question is would wearing Mad Science goggles hurt the cause?
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amused
geeky