Google's autocomplete under fire over 'defamatory' searches

Google’s autocomplete function, which has yielded some eye-opening insights into the most commonly searched word
combinations (the first suggestion that pops up when you type ‘Vladimir Putin r’ is ‘Vladimir Putin riding a bear’, ahead of ‘Vladimir Putin Russia’ - which the strongman president might actually be quite pleased about), has come under fire again.

Putin on a bear is piquing web users' interest (spotted by @JosephStash)

A German federal court has told Google to make sure that search terms generated by autocomplete are not offensive or defamatory, after an unnamed businessman launched a legal action when Google.de linked him with ‘scientology’ and ‘fraud’.

Media law for Twitter users - will they heed it?

The BBC published a feature today on the categories of law that Twitter users not versed in that journalism staple McNae’s are coming unstuck on, covering the rules on matters like libel, not naming sexual offence victims and contempt of court.

Knowing about media law, previously the preserve mainly of journalists, is a must for anyone who uses social media, writes blogs or posts any material online – which covers a pretty large section of the public.

Anyone who falls into this rather wide bracket, who might think "but why should I bother knowing the law, I won’t get done because I'm not a journalist and so it doesn’t apply to me", should bear in mind that pleading ignorance isn't a defence. Five minutes reading the feature would therefore be time well spent.

Quantum biology – the ‘weird physics’ within?

Weird science: photosynthesis appears to use 'superposition'. Image by linh.ngan

Could quantum mechanics, the branch of physics which covers phenomenon like being in two places at once, be more commonplace than we think - even playing a pivotal role in nature?

That’s the thinking behind quantum biology, which is being described as a “tentative, even speculative discipline”, but also one that could have wide-ranging implications.

FOI requests reveal hospital blunders

Surgeons operating on the wrong side of the body, swabs left inside patients after surgery and the wrong implant being used were among the blunders happening at NHS health services across England last year, freedom of information requests have revealed.

Following FOI requests I made to primary care trusts (PCTs) across England, the figures revealed that at least 6,000 serious untoward incidents (SUIs), which include cases of patients acquiring MRSA in hospital and confidential information leaks, and more than 100 'never events', defined as very serious yet avoidable incidents, occurred during 2011, and these are broken down by PCT.

Never events are serious incidents in healthcare settings which are largely preventable and should therefore never happen, and these fall into 25 categories, such as wrong site surgery, wrong implant/prosthesis, retained foreign object post-operation, and falls from unrestricted windows.

According to my results, the four most common types of never event in 2011 were retained swabs post operation, wrong implant/prosthesis, wrong site surgeries, and misplaced naso- or orogastric tubes, which can cause death if these tubes – used to feed or administer medicines by transferring liquids directly to the stomach – are accidentally placed in the patient’s lung instead.

These never events included:

· A wrong site intervention, where a patient at an ophthalmology clinic had an eye procedure performed on his right eye instead of his left eye (reported by NHS West Essex)

· As an incision was made, surgery theatre staff noticed that the operation had started on the wrong side of the body (reported by NHS North West London)

Could an 'exercise Oyster card' boost fitness?

Exercise points meant prizes for half the workers taking part in the study

If your employer offered you financial rewards for hitting the gym or walking to work, would you do more exercise? This is the question researchers were trying to answer when they carried out a study to see what effect an innovative physical activity ‘loyalty card’ had on workers’ exercise levels.

The study used the loyalty card and a tracking system, with the same technology as London's Oyster cards, to see whether workers who were offered shopping vouchers as an incentive to do physical activity were more likely to do more exercise than their colleagues who weren’t offered incentives.

How many science stories should local newspapers have?

Scientific Surrey: the county is home to pioneering science firms like SSTL

When, or rather if (given declining circulation), you pick up a copy of your local newspaper, how many articles would you expect to see about science?

To a large extent, that depends on the area you live in. If your paper covers a sleepy rural village, chances are that you wouldn’t expect many – maybe some  stories about environmental issues or, if there’s a lot of agriculture in the vicinity, a few on vaccines for livestock diseases perhaps.

But if your local paper’s patch covers at least one university with a strong science department, and maybe a technology park, then you’d be right in expecting considerably more coverage. But how much more? How many stories should local newspapers be devoting to science?

Tired to death: the science of sleep deprivation

Many people don’t get enough shut-eye each night – there’s just not enough hours in the day to get everything done sometimes, and sleep ends up suffering.

But when it comes to sleep deprivation – we’re talking several days without a wink of sleep – what happens to the body when denied a basic biological need that no amount of coffee can solve?

Video: Exhibition Road Show 2012

I filmed this video at the Exhibition Road Show 2012, a nine-day free festival of art, music, science, literature and acrobatics on Exhibition Road, London, near the Science Museum.

Bubble science: from treating cancer to making champagne taste better

The first thing that often springs to mind when you mention bubbles are those pots of soapy liquid with a bubble-blower toy you had as a kid (or as an adult - you're never too old for these things).

But bubbles also play a key role in many areas of science, from scanning for tumours to potentially delivering drugs around the body to target specific areas, and making champagne taste that little bit better.

The science of laughing – and why social media decays relationships

For the LOLs: texts aren't enough to keep a relationship going, say scientists

Using Twitter or Facebook to keep in touch is fine – just don’t expect those relationships to last if that is the only contact you have.

So said scientists at the Royal Society’s annual Summer Science Exhibition, who chatted to visitors about the science of laughing, spotting a real laugh from a fake one, and how social media is changing the nature of our interactions.

Dr Anna Machin, one of the researchers manning the ‘LOL! The science and art of laughter’ exhibit, explained that relying on text-based social media such as Twitter to keep a relationship going is set to end in failure. This is because brain chemicals called endorphins, which are released through experiences such as laughter and pleasure, and which produce a feeling of well-being, occur more when you see someone face-to-face.