Anti-vaccine sentiment will not be easily eradicatedSince the first vaccination – against smallpox – debate about vaccine safety has ragedThu Mar 09 2017 - 05:00
Eugenics and the outer limits of good breedingIt hasn’t gone away, you know: Victorian junk science has its race-baiting adherentsThu Feb 09 2017 - 05:30
When the government invaded our kitchensGovernments have a long history of interest in their citizens’ dietsThu Jan 12 2017 - 01:00
The up and down history of thermometersA string of less successful devices came before the hermetically sealed thermometer we know todayWed Dec 07 2016 - 18:00
Sci fi and literature: how well have writers predicted the future?HSTM Network Ireland is holding a conference at DCU on the history of the futureThu Nov 10 2016 - 01:00
The Challenger disaster: a tragedy that knocked faith in space explorationWhen Nasa’s shuttle exploded in 1986, killing seven, it put manned space travel in doubtThu Oct 13 2016 - 00:00
Tunnel vision: a plot to link Ireland and Britain ran deepVarious schemes were drafted in the 19th century to build a tunnel, but insurmountable obstacles scuppered eachThu Sept 08 2016 - 01:00
Is pesticide the answer to the Zika outbreak?The chequered history of chemical quick fixes suggests that extreme caution should be takenThu Aug 18 2016 - 10:46
Is the Irish climate a blessing in disguise?Old theories that hot climates make people weak and fearful have proven remarkably durableSun Jul 10 2016 - 08:00
When Dublin did a roaring trade in lionsThe Royal Zoological Society of Ireland bred lions from the 1850s, principally for zoos and circuses abroadThu Jun 09 2016 - 07:11
What the Irish chemistry set did during the Great WarSeveral Irish scientists contributed to explosive research during the first World WarSun May 08 2016 - 06:00
Scientists are . . . unkempt, ageing and boring?The image people have of a ‘scientist’ has changed since the 1950s, but some stereotypes are stubbornly persistentSun Apr 10 2016 - 06:00
Diseases are symptoms of changes in societyYou probably think you know what a disease is: it makes you sick. But that’s not exactly how it worksThu Mar 10 2016 - 01:00
The electricity between Mark Twain and Nikola TeslaFRIENDSHIP WEEK: Twain was hugely interested in technology and struck up a friendship with the scientistThu Feb 11 2016 - 01:00
Climate change and Europeans go way backAt least as far back as the 17th century, Europeans believed that they could change climatesThu Jan 14 2016 - 01:00
William Thomson: the crucial Irish link in the telegraph chainWhen a plan to run a cable linking Europe and North America hit trouble, Thomson stepped inThu Dec 10 2015 - 01:00
Rinderpest: the plague that wreaked devastation on farmersThe isolation and slaughter of cattle are still routine responses to outbreaksThu Nov 12 2015 - 01:00
How an Irish duo saw through the Eozoön layerTwo scientists in Galway challenged the discovery of an ancient ‘fossil’ in Canada in 1864 but were ignoredThu Oct 08 2015 - 01:00
Need help ‘opening the bowels’? Just ask Nicholas CulpeperThe physician’s 1649 book, A Physical Directory, explained the properties and effects of natural substancesThu Sept 10 2015 - 06:00
The digging that got to the roots of potato blightOne lesson not learned from the Famine was that a monoculture is particularly vulnerable to diseaseThu Aug 13 2015 - 01:00
The Grubbs: 19th-century Irish stargazersThe Grubb family pioneered telescope manufacturing in the early 19th century from their Dublin baseThu Jul 09 2015 - 03:00
Animal intelligence: a controversial scienceIn the 19th century, George Romanes was pilloried for suggesting that the most intelligent animals could learn to form abstract ideasThu Jun 11 2015 - 02:00
Charles Cameron: a zoonotic pioneer in a Dublin full of animals and diseaseBefore Robert Koch established ‘the germ theory’, a Dublin doctor was examining the possibility of disease passing to humans via diseased meatThu May 14 2015 - 03:00
