Go East, Botstein: It[base ']s Back to Undergrads for Stanford Guru [GenomeWeb]

I have spoken with David Botstein and my wife knows Pat Brown. I am glad to see that undergraduate teaching is an important area for someone with David's background and I hope that this provides an opportunity for Pat to get more recognition outside the field.  11:42:47 PM    

Risk of breast cancer drops after HRT discontinued [Reuters Health eLine]

I wonder how the presence of breast cancer was determined? And at what size? There is evidence that HRT makes breast cancer more noticeable at smaller sizes with mammograms. Some reports indicate that those taking HRT may have more breast cancer but it is much more survivable than thos woman who get breast cancer when not taking HRT. Science by press release is not a way to learn but that is how most news reports are written up.  11:30:28 PM    

In the New Yorker's. book section, actual intelligent discussion of science fiction--and why Michael Crichton's work isn't, in a significant sense, SF. [Crichton... [Electrolite]

This is spot on. Crichton is like riding a roller coaster. It is a lot of fun and very scary while you are on it. Then it ends and you get off, pretty much in the same shape as when you started. The best science fiction takes the premise to a logical conclusion, with results that can have effects on much more than the few people populating the story. I loved that Andromeda strain up to the point that it just vanished. Boy, were we lucky. I felt a little cheated, as if the bowl of eyeballs turned out to be peeled grapes from a Halloween fun house.  11:21:39 PM