SD Science Junction

*** College lectures archaic practice left over from Gutenberg Press days

I have sat through perhaps thousands of University course lectures and wondered since the first day if there couldn't be a better way to do this.  A professor or graduate assistant standing at the front of the room droning on with information that does not relate in a useful way to text material is something left over from 100s of  years ago when books were very scarce and very expensive.  That is not the case now and has not been for many years.

Right now (noon to 1PM, Jan 4, 2012) SDPB-Radio is running a program from American Radio Works titled "Don't Lecture Me".  The gist of it suggests that science and math lecture instruction is currently very ineffective uses of professors' and students' time. 

College instruction which is aimed primarily at sorting out unworthies such as that at SDSM&T prevents serious consideration of alternate instruction systems which might not waste the time and lives of 2/3 of the students who start at SDSM&T. 

If you want to get an idea of how science instruction/education must be changed if the US is not to languish in Science and technology becoming the equivalent of a third-world science country, listen to  "Don't Lecture Me". 

Systems based on scarcities of year 1440, do not make sense in 2012 and haven't made sense for many years.  Faculty administrators and professors have a cushy familiar system which benefits them primarily and their students only secondarily or thirdly or worsely {I know, but as my daughter used to say, "It could have been wuss, mommy.").

The South Dakota Board of Regents is failing nearly completely to seriously consider the time and resources of students.  The whole South Dakotahigher education system needs very fundamental re-working based on how humans actually learn.  But, don't hold your breath, this should have been obvious nearly 100 years ago.

by Doug Wiken opinion based Public Radio and enduring a score of years listening to lectures.

 

Double-Stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer (DRACO)

Some interesting news in the anti-virus world.  This appears to be very significant if it can be made to work with humans and made at a reasonable price. Read the whole article.

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer (DRACO)

Some more important research funded at least partly by what the GOP loons of the right wing fringes attack as evil big brother.

Below is the abstract of the article.  Not that I understand much of it.

Currently there are relatively few antiviral therapeutics, and most which do exist are highly pathogen-specific or have other disadvantages. We have developed a new broad-spectrum antiviral approach, dubbed Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer (DRACO) that selectively induces apoptosis in cells containing viral dsRNA, rapidly killing infected cells without harming uninfected cells. We have created DRACOs and shown that they are nontoxic in 11 mammalian cell types and effective against 15 different viruses, including dengue flavivirus, Amapari and Tacaribe arenaviruses, Guama bunyavirus, and H1N1 influenza. We have also demonstrated that DRACOs can rescue mice challenged with H1N1 influenza. DRACOs have the potential to be effective therapeutics or prophylactics for numerous clinical and priority viruses, due to the broad-spectrum sensitivity of the dsRNA detection domain, the potent activity of the apoptosis induction domain, and the novel direct linkage between the two which viruses have never encountered.

Not sure if any of this has significance for any South Dakota researchers, but I hope some find this interesting if they have missed the story so far.

**Post by Douglas Wiken with information from PLoS One originally found at DWS (Drive We Said) Forum.