freelance science journalist and author
by James Bradfield Moody and Bianca Nogrady Since the industrial revolution, the tide of innovation and progress has ebbed and flowed – five waves of innovation. From milling and steam to most recently information technology, each wave starts with disruptive technologies and ends with a global depression, transforming society, economies and industry almost beyond recognition. … Continue reading The Sixth Wave … coming to a bookshop near you.
From Scientific American, July 2009 (online May 8, 2009): Mind control has been traditionally the realm of the hypnotist, but research in the field of fluorescent proteins is opening up the possibility of controlling cellular processes, gene activity and even behavior using nothing more than infrared light. Fluorescent proteins, which are compounds that can absorb … Continue reading Deep into the red
From the ABC Health and Wellbeing , 18 March 2009: David’s troubles began after a trip to the Middle East. It might have been the hefty dose of food poisoning he copped, or the fact he spent much of the trip lugging someone else’s heavy luggage. Either way, it did not come as a huge … Continue reading Web diagnosis: healthy searching
From The Australian, 4 April 2009: THEY are called “silent angels”, little girls with beautiful faces, touched by a random genetic mutation that has rendered them speechless and robbed them of their chance of a normal life. Meredith Drakes is one of these silent angels. Now 21, she cannot speak or walk, is wheelchair-bound and … Continue reading United front tracks silent menace
From The Australian, 7 March 2009: When a journalist from The New York Times asked British mountaineer George Mallory why he was planning to scale Mt Everest, the reply was simple: “Because it’s there.” I feel the same way about a drug-free childbirth. When confronted with the opinion that because modern medicine has developed the … Continue reading When push comes to scalpel
From Australian Doctor, 3 March 2009: IT should have been a routine operation: a knee arthroplasty for an elderly man that would have cost about $15,000 and kept the patient off his feet for perhaps a few weeks. There would have been some small risks of complications, but in a high- standard health care environ … Continue reading Sun, surf and sutures
From The Australian, 21 February 2009: Emerging into the cold, harsh light of the delivery room can hardly be a pleasant experience for newborns. And to add insult to injury, just as they are adapting to this new world a baby’s delicate, soft heel is assaulted with a needle and several drops of blood are … Continue reading Screening for fragile X sidelined
From Scientific American, March 2009: Even in the teeming and varied world of bacteria, Wolbachia is something of a standout. Within its insect host, the bacterium acts as a gender-bending, egg-killing, DNA-hijacking parasite that is passed down from one generation to the next via the female to her eggs. Hosted by at least one fifth … Continue reading A bug for a bug for a bug
From ABC Science, News in Science, 23 January 2009: A bacterial parasite known to cause stomach ulcers is shedding new light on ancient patterns of human migration across the Pacific region, according to an international study. In the latest edition of Science, researchers report that their study of the distribution of Helicobacter pylori genotypes has … Continue reading Gut bacteria reveals human migration
From Pathway magazine, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Winter 2008: Being a baby one hundred years ago was a pretty dicey affair. Up to one in three would not live to see their first birthday, instead falling victim to any one of a long list of diseases including smallpox, diphtheria, measles, tetanus and … Continue reading The vaccine revolution
Bianca Nogrady 