I've selected a few of today's "Daily Mail" science related stories to discuss and critique with witty and possibly comic effect.
"Do Doctors See You As a GLM or Just a TBP?"
A SHOCKING news story reveals that although hospital doctors practice professional etiquette publicly, they use slang acronyms in private. These include: GLM meaning Good Looking Mom, GLL meaning Great Looking Legs and FLK meaning Funny Looking Kids. A personal favourite of mine is GROLIES meaning Guardian Readers of Low Intelligence in an Ethnic Skirt. Furthermore, the slang extends to describe their work practice and colleagues. Terms include "house red" meaning blood, "slashers" meaning surgeons and the "Freud Squad" meaning psychiatrists. This SHOCKING information was revealed by Dr Fox of a London hospital.
Whilst the story is slightly interesting it is worth applying some form of critique. First of all we should consider whether the slang terms are universal (amongst doctors) or just generalised to employees of the hospital where Dr Fox works. Chances are that not all doctors use the slang that was mentioned in the short article. It's called slang for a reason, i.e. it's not standardised or universal. Secondly, the article mentions that hospital doctors do act professional in public, so does using slang in private really matter? As a developing professional myself, I realise that most professionals have a private unprofessional outlet, considering that people have several 'selves' or roles within society. May I add that this story is as pointless as an article about what net-speak acronyms professional psychologists are using on their private Facebook accounts.
"If There's A Mouse in The House, He's Probably Singing Love Songs"
A BREAKTHROUGH piece of research from a Japanese university has found that mice innately sing the songs of their biological parents rather than their foster parents. It's probably worth noting that we don't have a precise record of the prevalence of mouse adoption, so the research has no significant practical application. Also consider the well known phrase "as quiet as a mouse", that says it all really.
"Laughter is The Best Cure"
Researchers have found that laughter is the best cure as it promotes healing by speeding up blood flow. Recent research has looked at the effects of laughter and happiness on the healing process. As a scientific speculation I'd say that it's stress relief interventions that speed up the healing process. Positive thinking and happiness are implemented into stress relief interventions and laughter is a factor of happiness. Therefore, laughter has no direct relationship with healing. The idea that stress relief interventions promotes and speeds up healing is not a new idea and it has been heavily researched by health psychologists and biopsychologists, so why report this now?!!. Besides, if laughter IS the best cure then billions of pounds and several decades have been wasted researching the healing process and developing interventions to speed it up. Surely that's nothing to laugh about.
"The Hair-Raising Truth About Straighteners"
"A third of women use them [hair straighteners] but experts say hair irons can actually make your hair go more frizzy ... and even fall out"
Firstly, the findings of the survey can't be generalised to ALL women as only a small sample of women took part in the survey, which was probably advertised in a certain magazine or on a certain website that has avid readers/visitors who have time to take part. Secondly, surely it's common sense that more or less burning your hair everyday causes some kind of damage and thirdly who are these experts exactly?
I hope you've enjoyed this whirlwind tour through todays most important science stories. I hope I've educated you in some way or another, or just made you giggle. I'll see you soon with more outrageous stories (in the correct sense of the phrase).
Jodie
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