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Software

Can we meet on next Tuesday at 2 pm?

Answering this question always takes me 30 seconds – looking for my mobile and doing some pen strokes OR starting Outlook on the laptop and clicking to the desired week (BTW Sunbird is still in version 0.5). Finally I found a solution that gives me a chance for a response within 3 seconds. Continue reading Can we meet on next Tuesday at 2 pm? →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 14.01.2026
Joke, Philosophy

Wer heilt hat recht

This is a German quote – frequently used in the context of alternative medicine – “who heals is right”.

The history of the qutotation is unclear; maybe it is a modification of the Latin “extra ecclesiam salus non est” .

In todays English “the doctor’s always right” (or “might is right”?)

Anyway it is utter nonsense as (1) a healer wants to be successful and not rightful (2) healing (at least on a few occasions) is no proof for the right treatment only fo the good outcome.

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 14.01.2026
Genetics

When controls are no controls

So far in epidemiology case – control studies are defined by an approach where

… the past histories of patients (the cases) suffering from the condition of interest are compared to the past histories of persons (the controls) who do not have the condition of interest, but who otherwise resemble the cases in such particulars as age and sex ….

I usually explain controls as non-cases in the same overall environment Continue reading When controls are no controls →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 14.01.2026
Joke, Philosophy

Click chains

That seems a usual phenomenon now: I am reading an interesting article (at Edge), want to know more about an author (Fitch) and end at a storming website at University of Tübingen (recording new German words). German linguistics seem to merge day after day with English linguistics.
neueworte.png

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 14.01.2026
Genetics

1% decoded

Nature web focus today reports an overview of the four year project Encode (ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements) that tried to identify all functional elements in 1% of the human genome. In addition, there are 28 companion papers in the June 2007 issue of Genome Research. The Nature issue includes a pull-out poster featuring a screenshot of the UCSC Genome Browser.
I am still in the process of reading all the GWA studies, so don´t expect any intelligent remarks. The main point seems to be that the majority of the human genome is being transcribed which is in sharp contrast to the textbooks (Strachan/Read IInd ed, p142 says that only ~3% of the nuclear genome is being transcribed). Using gene centric SNP panels in some of the GWAs therefore have not been such a good idea, yea, yea.

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 14.01.2026
Uncategorized

Karl Drais

190 years ago, today on 12th June 1817, Karl Drais presented to the world his running machine (“Laufrad”, “Velociped” – as he called it, “Draisine” – as others called it). As I believe it is the first bicycle (bi – cycle) and therefore one of the most advanced inventions ever made. It is an invention that I need 2 hours every day and an invention that could cure many of the problems discussed now at G8 conference in Heiligendamm. Continue reading Karl Drais →

 

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Philosophy

Too much checking on the facts has ruined many a good news story

So far I naively quoted others – “only to better express myself” (Michele de Montaigne). This will, however, change now after having read “The Quote Verifier – who said what, where and when” by Ralph Keyes. He nicely explains in the foreword that the misattribution process is not random Continue reading Too much checking on the facts has ruined many a good news story →

 

CC-BY-NC Science Surf accessed 14.01.2026