| Vital Signs: Prevention: Surgery Sharply Reduces Risk of 2 Cancers For women who carry a genetic mutation that puts them in danger of developing ovarian and breast cancer, prophylactic mastectomy and oophorectomy offer protection. feeds.nytimes.com |
Natural gas may have jump-started oil eating bugs By 2010-09-16T18:03:39ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- Those oil-eating bacteria that suddenly flourished in the Gulf of Mexico following the oil spill may have gotten a jump start from natural gas, scientists say.... hosted.ap.org |
Study shows progress with stem cell alternative By MALCOLM RITTER 2010-09-30T16:06:38ZNEW YORK (AP) -- Scientists reported more progress Thursday with a method of creating stem cells without using embryos.... hosted.ap.org |
In praise of … the paradoxical mind | Editorial True breakthroughs in understanding come not from following the rulebook, but from tracking down its contradictionsMost contemporary academic work involves applying this or that established theory to this or that new context. The prospect of solid papers that tick the box for "advancing the specialist literature" easily persuades the research council to pop the cheque in the post. True breakthroughs in understanding, however, come not from following the rulebook, but from tracking down its contradictions – and then rewriting it. From Socrates (who only knew that he knew nothing) to Russell (who asked whether a barber who shaved everyone in his shop who didn't shave themselves would also have to shave himself), great minds have been drawn to paradox. The economist Maurice Allais, who died at 99 this week, asked real people to choose between different gambles, and in the process sent rational economic man into a logical tailspin from which he has never recovered. For Hegel, the lesson of history is that we never learn from history, but we can learn a good deal from internal contradictions. Allais detected them within a pyramid of debt which he rightly predicted would turn into a credit crunch. It was not just economic ideas he enjoyed testing to destruction: he devised a special pendulum which he claimed blew holes in the theory of relativity. Einstein originally devised that theory in response to contradictions in classical mechanics. He also said big problems could "not be solved at the same level of thinking" which had established them – a paradoxical prescription for paradoxical progress.guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Letters: Coming Back Stronger (1 Letter) A letter to the editor. feeds.nytimes.com |