Author archives: Invited Researcher

How snake oil got a bad name

How snake oil got a bad name

History

By Invited Researcher

During the pandemic, the pejorative term “snake-oil salesman” has been bandied about a lot. It’s been used, perhaps with a tinge of 1980s nostalgia, to describe convicted fraudster and serial opportunist Jim Bakker, whose colloidal Silver Solution required only some deft rebranding to become a specific curative for COVID-19. For this, the televangelist found himself […]

When the inhibition of the inhibitory signals results in an exacerbated response. The case of IL-13 and the COVID-19 severity.

When the inhibition of the inhibitory signals results in an exacerbated response. The case of IL-13 and the COVID-19 severity.

Biomedicine

By Invited Researcher

Author: José R. Pineda got his Ph.D. from University of Barcelona in 2006. Since 2007 he has worked for Institut Curie and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Currently he is a researcher of the UPV/EHU. He investigates the role of stem cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions. A long time ago, I […]

Assassins

Assassins

Prepared to kill

By Invited Researcher

They were not killed by delinquents who’d had a life of trauma, nor by sadists sunk in the abysses of sex. Their executioners were not barbarians inhabited by notions of genocides, nor slaves to sects that annul reason. They were not killed by the madness that cities sometimes engender. The horror was the handiwork – […]

Can consciousness be explained by quantum physics? My research takes us a step closer to finding out

Can consciousness be explained by quantum physics? My research takes us a step closer to finding out

NeurosciencePhysics

By Invited Researcher

One of the most important open questions in science is how our consciousness is established. In the 1990s, long before winning the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for his prediction of black holes, physicist Roger Penrose teamed up with anaesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff to propose an ambitious answer. They claimed that the brain’s neuronal system forms […]

Altcoins could provide a green solution to energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies

Altcoins could provide a green solution to energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies

Computer scienceEconomics

By Invited Researcher

The cryptocurrency bitcoin now uses up more electricity a year than the whole of Argentina, according to recent estimates from the University of Cambridge. That’s because the creation of a bitcoin, in a process called mining, is achieved by powerful computers that work night and day to decode and solve complex mathematical problems. The energy […]

IQ tests can’t measure it, but ‘cognitive flexibility’ is key to learning and creativity

IQ tests can’t measure it, but ‘cognitive flexibility’ is key to learning and creativity

NeurosciencePsychology

By Invited Researcher

IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology. In fact, many people have an endless fascination with the IQ scores of famous people. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have primarily relied on qualities such as creativity […]