In the fight against cancer, finding its causes are just as important as finding the cure. Epidemiologist Dr. Devra Davis explains why she thinks the war on cancer has been very misguided, and needs to change. Also: find out what scientists can learn from glowing jellyfish and fireflies. Jim Shepherd shares his new short story collection. And we hear about the life and tragic death of a Guatemalan human rights activist.
Friday's Please Explain is about laughter. To help us prepare, tell us something that always makes you laugh. Is it a joke? a person? a situation? Leave a comment here.
In the fight against cancer, finding the causes are just as important as finding the cure. Epidemiologist Dr. Devra Davis says that the war on cancer has been misguided for too long…and that it’s been led by people with ties to industries that make cancer-causing products. Dr. Davis is director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Environmental Oncology; her new book is The Secret History of the War on Cancer.
Weigh in: Have you made any lifestyle changes with the specific intent of helping to prevent cancer?
Event: Devra Davis will be speaking and signing books
Friday, November 16 at 6:30 pm
New York Academy of Sciences
250 Greenwich Street, 40th Floor (Between Barclay and Vesey Streets)
To purchase tickets, visit the NYAS website
The Secret History of the War on Cancer is available for purchase at amazon.com
15 things you can do to avoid cancer
University of Pittsburgh's Center for Environmental Oncology
Bishop Juan Gerardi was a Guatemalan human rights leader who was killed after he published a report on Guatemala’s army-led genocidal campaign in the 1980s and 90s. Francisco Goldman’s account of what happened is The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?
Event: Francisco Goldman will be speaking and signing books
Friday, November 16 at 6 pm
The Cervantes Institute
211 East 49th Street (at 3rd Avenue)
The Art of Political Murder is available for purchase at amazon.com
The stories in Jim Shepherd’s new collection, Like You’d Understand, Anyway, are set in locales as diverse as Chernobyl, 1840s Australia, and outer space.
Event: Jim Shepard will be reading with Amy Hempel and Susan Daitch, with a musical act by Elliot Sharp
Thursday, November 15 at 8 pm
Littoral Reading Series, Issue Project Room
Old American Can Factory
232 3rd Avenue, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn
To purchase tickets, call (718) 330-0313
Like You’d Understand, Anyway is available for purchase at amazon.com
Scientists have a lot to learn from fireflies and glowing jellyfish. On Underreported: a look at the science of biofluorescence, and how it could lead to revolutionary advances in brain research and even military technology. Vincent Pieribone and David Gruber are co-authors of the book Aglow in the Dark.
Aglow in the Dark is available for purchase at amazon.com
Slideshow: Biofluorescence
Read the New York Times's recent piece on biofluorescence in mice
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