science

In the realm of Global Health (and other sectors) the call for measuring changes in global health outcomes is increasingly strong. Considering the multi-millions of dollars that are spent on certain initiatives, these claims are not unfounded.

Although not a health outcome improvement per se, a recent BBC News article highlighted a major breakthrough in the field of vaccine delivery.

Oxford University scientists, in collaboration with Nova Bio-Pharma Technologies, have found a way to keep vaccines stable without refrigeration. Their research was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The research findings were published in the February Issue of Science Translational Medicine and the free abstract is available here.

Here's an upcoming event, put on in part by Ashoka and Changemakers:

Ashoka hopes that you can join us on January 24, 2010 for the kick-off of Sci Ed Innovators in New York City.  This event is bringing together a dynamic group of innovative people and organizations to plan an exciting initiative to transform the teaching of science education in the United States.

And how can we recognize it when it happens instead of just throwing it away?

That's the subject of a recent article in Wired Magazine—"Accept Defeat: The Neuroscience of Screwing Up"—which explores how usual behaviors and even our own brains tend to stand in the way of recognizing good things in unexpected results.  Writer Jonah Lehrer introduces us to Kevin Dunbar, a researcher who studies, of all things, scientists—"how they fail and how they succeed."  Though Dunbar's research focuses on scientists, the lessons are remarkably appropriate for inventors and social entrepreneurs.

Kevin Dunbar: "The problem with science, then, isn’t that most experiments fail — it’s that most failures are ignored."  Image source: Wired

Here are a few lessons from the article—How to Learn From Failure: