freelance science journalist and author
Here’s a slightly embarrassing confession: when I was in early highschool, I used to write essays … for fun. That’s right. I would voluntarily think of some topic and just unleash the pen. I had an itch, and social status be damned, I was going to scratch it. So here I am, nearly thirty years … Continue reading #amwriting
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 5 December 2013: Like most first-time mothers, Sheridan had certain expectations of how the birth of her first child might go. Those expectations did not include giving birth to her baby nearly six weeks before her due date. Nor did they include a panicked ambulance trip to the nearest major … Continue reading Premature birth: why do some babies come early?
From Ecos magazine, 6 November 2013: Every day, Australians flush relatively small – but significant – amounts of chemicals down the drain, many excreted from their own bodies. These micropollutants – from the diverse medicines, personal hygiene products, household cleaning agents, dietary supplements and other chemical products we now use routinely – make their way … Continue reading What’s the wash-up from this chemical life?
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 10 November 2013: Over the years, the placebo has earned an unfair reputation as an instrument of medical fakery; a white lie to convince unsuspecting patients they are being treated when in fact their treatment is nothing more than a sugar pill or surgical sleight of hand. However growing evidence … Continue reading Placebos more effective than mere sugar pills
From Clinical Psychiatry News, 23 October 2013: Longer duration of buprenorphine tapering regime is significantly associated with superior outcomes in treatment for prescription opioid addiction, a double-blind randomized trial has found. The study was published online Oct. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. “Our results suggest that a subset of [prescription opioid] abusers may respond favorably to … Continue reading Longer tapering more effective for prescription opioid addiction
From Clinical Psychiatry News, 24 October 2013: The implementation of state-based parity legislation for specialty substance use disorder treatment is associated with significant improvements in access to treatment and treatment rates, new data show. “These findings suggest that the [Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act] of 2008 and the [Affordable Care Act] of 2010 … Continue reading Parity laws appear to improve access to substance use disorder treatment
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 17 September 2013: Talk to people about the kind of death people want to avoid and almost everyone has a story to share. It may be of a grandfather diminished and ridiculed by dementia until he is incontinent, incoherent, and bed-bound; or a young friend wracked with the agony of … Continue reading Is it possible to have a good death?
From Fish magazine, September 2013: The journey of a prawn from the trawler to the table is long and complex: a story of boats, boxes, containers, planes and trucks, of fisheries, factories and supermarkets, and of fishermen, distributors and consumers. For the most part, the steps along this journey are unimportant, as long as they … Continue reading Keeping track
From ABC Health and Wellbeing, 21 August 2013: Argentine tango, tai chi and Pilates are activities you’d expect to find on offer in adult education classes, but emerging research shows these and other exercise therapies may also provide a range of benefits for people with Parkinson’s disease. Exercise therapy is emerging as a new and … Continue reading Exercise therapy for Parkinson’s disease
From ABC News in Science, 2o August 2013: Researchers have paired up a fungus and a bacteria to produce high-quality biofuel from agricultural waste materials such as corn stalks and leaves. Using the fungus Trichoderma reesei and the common bacteria Escherichia coli, US researchers were able to produce 1.88 grams of the biofuel isobutanol, per … Continue reading Microbial duo boost biofuel production
Bianca Nogrady 