About the author
Geek and nerd Joe D has in the past studied genetics, molecular and cell biology, worked in cancer research, and made contemptuous amounts of money from incompetently composed photographs. The views expressed on this weblog are not his own; rather, he stole them from you through mind invasion.e: joe at dunckley dot me dot uk
My other blog is a…
Photoblog! Check out cotch dot net for photos and stuff about photos.
Science blog! A blog about cancer cell and molecular biology, coming soon...
Cycling and transport policy blog! At War With The Motorist looks at how car-centric planning has ruined Britain's streets and given us bad public transport and cycling infrastructure.
Skepticism blog! I contribute to the group blog Lay Science on the nature of science, skepticism, and bad arguments.
Science publishing blog! It's called Journalology and it's a group blog about publishers, journals, papers and data.
Fiction blog! Where I make stuff up, coming soon...
Categories
- at war with the motorist (129)
- cotch dot net (30)
- darwin 200 (21)
- i get mail (2)
- journalology (14)
- lay science (19)
- new blogs (3)
- shit i made up (3)
- shouting at my radio (26)
- the life of steinsky (4)
- the sunday syndrome (7)
- Uncategorized (29)
Archives
Tags
bad arguments badscience biology boris johnson car dependency cell biology charles darwin china crap cycleways creationism cycle superhighways cycling darwin200 evidence-based policy evolution genetics good locations helmets infrastructure locations london mayor of london media medical genetics medicine molecular biology origin of species philosophy of science photo essays photography politics pseudoscience publishing radio 4 religion reviews road danger rural science scotland segregated cycle paths skepticism uk urban westcountryhey, look at these awesome people...
- Alice science and media
- Ben quacks and hacks
- Carmen skepticism and song writing
- Dawn feminism and foxes
- Frankie my sister keeps going around the world and telling people about it
- James science and showtunes in London
- Jenny the life of the lab scientist
- Jim bugs, drugs and antibiotic resistance
- Jo science and nerdy things around London
- Marianne cancer biology and skepticism in pubs
- Martin skeptical type
- Michelle science and politics in Cambridge
- Mo brain scans and funny behaviour
- Richard used to be a lab rat
- Sandra takes photos in London and Paris
- Scott science and culture
- Stephen structures of proteins and politics of science
Flickr
Tag Archives: helmets
AWWTM: Won’t somebody please think of the children?
In December 2005, an article of massive importance was published in the British Medical Journal. Doctors counted up the number of children being admitted to A&E with musculoskeletal injuries (breaks and sprains — many of which would have been caused … Continue reading
AWWTM: Appendix: Bad Science Bingo in the BMA’s “safe cycling” pages
This is just a crude brain dump of a post that comes after the serious series — posts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight. Sorry, I just can’t get over these extraordinary pages on the BMA’s website. … Continue reading
AWWTM: How did the BMA get bicycle helmets so wrong?
In 1958, the UK licensed a drug for treating morning sickness. It worked very well. The studies all showed that pregnant women suffering from morning sickness received much relief with the drug. Three years later it was withdrawn, but not … Continue reading
AWWTM: The BMA, the BMJ, and bicycle helmet policy
The reason I pick up the bicycle helmet theme again this week is that the BMJ is running a sidebar poll of their readers (or, more accurately, of cycling tweeters and recipients of Robert Davis’s emails ), asking whether it … Continue reading
AWWTM: Risk compensation and bicycle helmets
Some months ago I left a series on bicycle helmets hanging while I got distracted with other things. We had looked at what the best evidence for the efficacy of helmets in preventing injury in the event of a crash … Continue reading
AWWTM: Would a helmet help if hit by a car?
The doctor’s representatives BMA and the “Road Safety” charity Brake both say “yes”. The Automobile Association and the cyclists say “no”. They can’t both be right. Unless the answer is “yes and no”. Find out how that could be so, … Continue reading
AWWTM: What is a bicyclist?
A good review of a medical intervention starts by explaining the population being studied. The Cochrane review of helmets for preventing head injuries in bicyclists explains that its population is the set of bicyclists who sustained an injury that was … Continue reading
AWWTM: Headline figures
In rare events like bicyclist injuries, odds ratios can be used as an approximation of relative risk: that is, how much a medical intervention changes the risk of a specific outcome. An odds ratio of 0.3 is interpreted as a … Continue reading
AWWTM: So what’s the best evidence we have on bicycle helmets?
According to the Cochrane Collaboration — the source that most doctors will go to for their summary of the evidence — it is five studies from the 1980s and 1990s. Continue reading at At War With The Motorist…
AWWTM: Killer cures
I know a lot of you find the whole helmets thing — whether they “help” or “work” or not — tiresome and unimportant. Well tough. Bicycle helmets are a medical intervention — a special kind of medical intervention — and … Continue reading
AWWTM: Helmets and seatbelts
From At War With The Motorist today… From the World Health Organisation’s Multi-Sectoral Forum on Road Safety in China (March 2008), on driving in a country where over a quarter of a million die on the roads each year: Both … Continue reading