AN INTRIGUING aerial phenomenon last week gave a good indication of the poor standard of science knowledge among broadcast news crews. Late on Friday night, a strange fireball soared across the skies of northern England, Scotland, and Ireland. It wasn’t a bird, it wasn’t a plane, and it probably wasn’t Superman either.
But just what was it? Early news bulletins carried reports of meteor showers, implying that there was an ongoing display of some sort. There wasn’t. The actual event lasted perhaps 30 seconds and was certainly spectacular, and it may have been a meteor, but a meteor shower is a very different thing.
It’s inevitable, of course, that early reports of unknown phenomena will be a little inaccurate. That’s the way news works, and as facts emerge the story should evolve to create something resembling the truth – the first rough draft of history which is the role of all journalism.
By the next morning, the bulletins were still carrying reports of meteor showers, but by now they had wheeled in the experts to make sense of it. Sadly, none of these experts appeared to have witnessed the phenomenon, and so their testimony was faintly ridiculous.
One such pundit, from Jodrell Bank, opined that it was probably a piece of ‘space junk’ rather than a meteor. Had he seen the thing, as I did, he would immediately have realised that this could not be the case. The fireball was travelling westwards as it entered the atmosphere, and satellites almost always orbit eastwards. Nevertheless, while the story remained on the news agenda, it was now labelled as ‘probably space junk’.
Which is just about my assessment of the coverage of this unusual event.
Readers will notice a lot of microscopy stories in this week’s newsletter, the result of our trip to the European Microscopy Congress. More next week, plus the usual mix of the latest laboratory products and services.
I hope you find the LabHomepage website, and this weekly newsletter, useful. Comments and feedback are always welcome: news@labhomepage.com Please help us build our circulation base by forwarding this to any friends that might like it, and suggest they subscribe at http://eepurl.com/itOV2
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Russ Swan
editor, LabHomepage.com
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Latest top stories: 27 September 2012
1. New microscope is half price of old model
THE NEW entry-level inverted microscope from Olympus, the IX53, promises improved performance and a modular, ‘future-proof’ configuration, yet it costs only about half the price…
http://labhomepage.com/2621/microscope/new-microscope-is-half-price-of-old-model/
2. The right questions to ask about pipette calibration
WHEN developing a pipette calibration programme for your laboratory, there are many questions that need to be asked and decisions to be made, write Ann Lenhardt and…
http://labhomepage.com/2666/pipette/the-right-questions-to-ask-about-pipette-calibration/
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LEICA Microsystems says it is once again at the forefront of the confocal microscope market with the launch of the Leica TCS SP8, successor to the SP5…
http://labhomepage.com/2651/microscope/leica-claims-fastest-true-confocal-scanner/
4. Nanochromatography to boost proteomics research
SAID to be the world’s first liquid chromatography system that integrates nano LC and micro LC on the same platform, the Eksigent Ekspert nanoLC 400 from AB Sciex claims a range of…
http://labhomepage.com/2588/proteomics/nanochromatography-to-boost-proteomics-research/
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GENEVAC has launched a new website to expound the benefits of its Rocket high speed evaporation system over alternative rotary evaporators when drying natural product….
http://labhomepage.com/2612/evaporation/rocket-beats-rotary-when-evaporating-natural-products/
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A NEW customisation service for the development of unique multi-analyte toxicology control material has been launched by Randox Toxiciology. Reference materials play a crucial…
7. Fixed-speed pumps now offer enhanced flow rates
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http://labhomepage.com/2601/liquid-handling/fixed-speed-pumps-now-offer-enhanced-flow-rates/
8. SEEC microscopy for real-time biomolecular recognition monitoring
RESEARCHERS at Chalmers University, Sweden, have applied surface-enhanced ellipsometric contrast (SEEC) microscopy for time-resolved, label-free visualisation of biomolecular…
9. Metrology software captures images ten times quicker
OLYMPUS has released an updated version of its Lext OLS4000 confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) software. Compatible with 64-bit Windows 7, Lext 2.2 allows users to capture…
http://labhomepage.com/2592/microscope/metrology-software-captures-images-ten-times-quicker/
10. Scanning electron microscope promises ‘incredible imaging’
SEEN in Europe for the first time at EMC2012 in Manchester, the Hitachi SU3500 variable pressure scanning electron microscope (VP-SEM) will deliver levels of performance previously unseen in…