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Make science more sensual
MAURO FERMARIELLO/SPL
60 SECONDS
Not feeling it TALK about dry. Have you ever thought that reading biomedical journals is like “a long journey through a colourless, flat terrain devoid of prominent features”? That’s the conclusion of a linguistic study by Raul RodriguezEsteban of Columbia University in New York and Andrey Rzhetsky at
Healthcare woes LURING health workers away from low-income countries has been likened to rape, but such economic migration may not be all bad. Michael Clemens at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC has quantified for the first time just how many African health workers have migrated to richer nations. He examined census information from the nine most popular
“Nations with a high proportion of doctors abroad also had a high number at home”
MALCOM GILSON/REX FEATURES
destinations and estimated that about 65,000 African-born physicians and 70,000 nurses were working abroad. While countries such as Mozambique and Angola had lost over 70 per cent of their health workers others, such as Niger, had lost fewer than 10 per cent. Surprisingly, countries with a high proportion of doctors abroad also had a high number at home, suggesting that strong links with developed countries might encourage more to train in the first place, for example (Human Resources for Health, DOI: 10.1186/1478-4491-6-1). Clemens argues that benefits accrue to –Bad news for the circulation– nations whose doctors have
www.newscientist.com
Comparison of Homo floresiensis fossil bones with modern ones suggests that “hobbits” from the Indonesian island of Flores were actually H. sapiens, say researchers. They think dwarf cretinism triggered by severe iodine deficiency accounts for the creatures’ small stature (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1488).
Yellow fever alert
“Using more sensory words would make biomedical papers easier to understand” the University of Chicago. They compared the occurrence of sensory words – such as those for colours and textures – in 78 journals with language used by Reuters news service, Wikipedia, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare and Walt Whitman. Whitman and Reuters came top, while the journals only managed about one-fifth of their score (The EMBO Journal, DOI: 10.1038/embor.2008.15). Rzhetsky says using more sensory words would make biomedical papers easier to understand. Peter Griffiths of the Plain English Campaign agrees: “If you get the senses involved, it tends to make things much clearer.” However, Athar Yawar, a senior editor at The Lancet, thinks that any change would require a rethink of scientific method to incorporate sensory experience as well as its usual abstract concepts.
Hobbits are cretins
The world’s supply of yellow fever vaccine is running out and more is urgently needed, the World Health Organization said last week. Recent –Will they stay or will they go?– outbreaks in Paraguay and Brazil have depleted the stockpile supplying access to the developed world. the mass vaccination campaigns But Peggy Clark of the World in African countries. Health Organization’s Health Worker Migration Policy Advisory Fair’s fair Council disagrees. “There’s no question that outmigration is An analysis of rice varieties shows negatively affecting their ability that crops bred conventionally have to provide medical care.” greater “unintentional” changes – This week, policy-makers are changes in genes not targeted during gathering in Kampala, Uganda, breeding – than crops made by to discuss how to make “ethical genetic modification. This means, the recruiting” stick. researchers suggest, that conventional plants should be treated no differently to GM crops when it comes to safety assessment (Proceedings of the A CONTROVERSIAL nuclear club National Academy of Sciences, DOI: is taking shape. The UK has signed 10.1073/pnas.0707881105). up to the Bush administration’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Sorry Galileo (GNEP) just a few months after it was rubbished as unworkable by The Vatican’s penitence over its the US National Academy of treatment of Galileo is to be set in Sciences. The UK joins several stone. A statue of the physicist will other recent recruits, including be erected in the Vatican gardens, Canada, Senegal and South Korea. near the apartment where he was Set up to keep radioactive held while awaiting trial for heresy in material away from “rogue” 1633. The pope ignited controversy in nations, the GNEP promotes January after apparently defending the nuclear energy, while restricting Inquisition’s treatment of Galileo. access to fuel and know-how. “Iran has focused minds on this,” says Lights, camera, avalanche nuclear expert Wyn Bowen of King’s College London. The first ever action shots of dust and Last week, a similar idea ice avalanches on Mars were released received a boost: Sweden offered by NASA this week. The avalanches $5 million towards a global cascaded from a 700-metre cliff near nuclear fuel bank, which would the planet’s north pole. High winds, limit production to existing a nearby “Mars-quake” or a meteorite nuclear nations. Previously, the impact may have been the trigger, US had been the only country to according to NASA. back the idea.
Joining the club
8 March 2008 | NewScientist | 7
60 SECONDS
Not feeling it TALK about dry. Have you ever thought that reading biomedical journals is like “a long journey through a colourless, flat terrain devoid of prominent features”? That’s the conclusion of a linguistic study by Raul RodriguezEsteban of Columbia University in New York and Andrey Rzhetsky at
Healthcare woes LURING health workers away from low-income countries has been likened to rape, but such economic migration may not be all bad. Michael Clemens at the Center for Global Development in Washington DC has quantified for the first time just how many African health workers have migrated to richer nations. He examined census information from the nine most popular
“Nations with a high proportion of doctors abroad also had a high number at home”
MALCOM GILSON/REX FEATURES
destinations and estimated that about 65,000 African-born physicians and 70,000 nurses were working abroad. While countries such as Mozambique and Angola had lost over 70 per cent of their health workers others, such as Niger, had lost fewer than 10 per cent. Surprisingly, countries with a high proportion of doctors abroad also had a high number at home, suggesting that strong links with developed countries might encourage more to train in the first place, for example (Human Resources for Health, DOI: 10.1186/1478-4491-6-1). Clemens argues that benefits accrue to –Bad news for the circulation– nations whose doctors have
www.newscientist.com
Comparison of Homo floresiensis fossil bones with modern ones suggests that “hobbits” from the Indonesian island of Flores were actually H. sapiens, say researchers. They think dwarf cretinism triggered by severe iodine deficiency accounts for the creatures’ small stature (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1488).
Yellow fever alert
“Using more sensory words would make biomedical papers easier to understand” the University of Chicago. They compared the occurrence of sensory words – such as those for colours and textures – in 78 journals with language used by Reuters news service, Wikipedia, Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare and Walt Whitman. Whitman and Reuters came top, while the journals only managed about one-fifth of their score (The EMBO Journal, DOI: 10.1038/embor.2008.15). Rzhetsky says using more sensory words would make biomedical papers easier to understand. Peter Griffiths of the Plain English Campaign agrees: “If you get the senses involved, it tends to make things much clearer.” However, Athar Yawar, a senior editor at The Lancet, thinks that any change would require a rethink of scientific method to incorporate sensory experience as well as its usual abstract concepts.
Hobbits are cretins
The world’s supply of yellow fever vaccine is running out and more is urgently needed, the World Health Organization said last week. Recent –Will they stay or will they go?– outbreaks in Paraguay and Brazil have depleted the stockpile supplying access to the developed world. the mass vaccination campaigns But Peggy Clark of the World in African countries. Health Organization’s Health Worker Migration Policy Advisory Fair’s fair Council disagrees. “There’s no question that outmigration is An analysis of rice varieties shows negatively affecting their ability that crops bred conventionally have to provide medical care.” greater “unintentional” changes – This week, policy-makers are changes in genes not targeted during gathering in Kampala, Uganda, breeding – than crops made by to discuss how to make “ethical genetic modification. This means, the recruiting” stick. researchers suggest, that conventional plants should be treated no differently to GM crops when it comes to safety assessment (Proceedings of the A CONTROVERSIAL nuclear club National Academy of Sciences, DOI: is taking shape. The UK has signed 10.1073/pnas.0707881105). up to the Bush administration’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Sorry Galileo (GNEP) just a few months after it was rubbished as unworkable by The Vatican’s penitence over its the US National Academy of treatment of Galileo is to be set in Sciences. The UK joins several stone. A statue of the physicist will other recent recruits, including be erected in the Vatican gardens, Canada, Senegal and South Korea. near the apartment where he was Set up to keep radioactive held while awaiting trial for heresy in material away from “rogue” 1633. The pope ignited controversy in nations, the GNEP promotes January after apparently defending the nuclear energy, while restricting Inquisition’s treatment of Galileo. access to fuel and know-how. “Iran has focused minds on this,” says Lights, camera, avalanche nuclear expert Wyn Bowen of King’s College London. The first ever action shots of dust and Last week, a similar idea ice avalanches on Mars were released received a boost: Sweden offered by NASA this week. The avalanches $5 million towards a global cascaded from a 700-metre cliff near nuclear fuel bank, which would the planet’s north pole. High winds, limit production to existing a nearby “Mars-quake” or a meteorite nuclear nations. Previously, the impact may have been the trigger, US had been the only country to according to NASA. back the idea.
Joining the club
8 March 2008 | NewScientist | 7