Why Did a Leading Company Pull Out of Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

(Geron) LOS ANGELES (BP) -- In a surprising move, the company that launched the nation's first government-approved embryonic stem cell trial is halting further research due to funding -- a shift that pro-life leaders say confirms long-held doubts about the value of embryonic stem cells.

Geron, which launched the first FDA-approved embryonic stem cell trial in 2010 with much fanfare, said Nov. 14 it will stop funding its stem cell trials and move that money to cancer research, a move it said is necessary in the "current environment of capital scarcity and uncertain economic conditions."

The shift is effective immediately. MORE

11 Scientists Who Experimented on Themselves

(Laura Garrison)
Would you inject 50 hookworms under your skin for your job? Or steam in a vomit sauna for a few hours? Hopefully we non-scientists will never have to answer questions like these. But for the 11 brave souls on this list, experimenting on themselves was all in a day’s work.

1. Benjamin Franklin ....MORE

Science and Humility: Rewriting Physics?

 (Chuck Colson)
One of the most potentially exciting -- or confounding -- scientific discovery happened recently. It depends on your point of view.

The expression “physics envy” refers to the way that the social sciences try to emulate the mathematical precision and certainty of physics.
It’s easy to understand the envy: No one argues with Newton’s Laws of Motion. Physics is authoritative in ways that economics and even biology can never hope to be. But “authoritative” isn’t the same thing as “omniscient” — when it comes to studying creation, humility and an appreciation of mystery are indispensible
MORE...