Alan Johnson became Alan Sugar today uttering the phase "you're fired!" at Professor David Nutt. What could he have done so badly to warrant this? He based his opinion on, dare I say it, scientific evidence before it goes through the New Labour washing machine on full spin. Alan Johnson said: I cannot have public confusion between scientific advice and policy and have therefore lost confidence in ...

The BBC struggled this morning with the Royal Chemistry Society’s Report claiming that modern science students at 16 do not have anything like the mathematical and scientific grounding their parents and grandparents had if they studied the O level syllabus. They accepted the evidence that the brightest modern

It is their doom-laden political outlook that really convinces greens the world is ending, not scientific evidence.

MPs have launched a bruising attack on the government's chief scientist for failing to challenge ministers over their policies on homeopathy and cannabis. Professor John Beddington, who replaced Sir David King as chief scientific adviser last January, has defended the government's stance on alternative medicine and drugs classification, despite there being a lack of scientific evidence t...

Bad Science by Dr Ben Goldacre There are not many books on Amazon that get 25 unsolicited reviews from the general public within a few weeks of publication, and none (to my knowledge) that get a consistent 5 star rating from all the reviewers. Bad Science is by Dr Ben Goldacre, well known to Guardian readers for his regular column, and also within the medical blogosphere for his leading blog of th...

Anyone who’s passionate about science, as I am, cannot help but be seriously concerned by the growing extent to which anti-scientific ideas, and the groups and organisations that promote them, are increasingly creeping into public life and attracting mainstream political support. While it’s easy to ridicule the purveyors of anti-scientific ideas when they’re to be found

Liberal Conspiracy has a good article up from Unity in response to the Schools Minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry's comments on the lack of schoolgirls opting to study sciences. He points out that science is science and that there really is no such thing as the 'girl-friendly' science that the Minister would like schools to teach. The scientific method is important and that requires a certain degree of r...

European policymakers face a difficult choice when authorising new technologies such as GMOs, as they often find themselves caught between conflicting expert safety advice and calls to respect the precautionary principle when scientific evidence is insufficient.

Did you know that it is illegal for actors to urinate on each other on film? A few weeks ago, we looked at the vexed issue of female ejaculation. Like most doctors, Dr Crippen did not encounter this phenomenon at medical school and is sceptical. New Scientist has been taking another look at the controversy. First they look at some science and some myths:  Six things science has revealed abou...

TheLancet.com has been completely rebuilt, providing a smooth and speedy online environment for busy clinicians to access the latest medical evidence.