Some very exciting news via NewScientist that the first particle of dark matter has been discovered. We’ll know on the 18th Dec - when a paper will be published in Nature, whether or not it’s the one speculated will have to wait………..

A couple of favourites from college and friends working in Science (apologies in advance!)

2 Hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. 1 stops and says:
“Oh no, I’ve lost my electron!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m positive.”

A bacterium walks into a bar, and heads towards the barman.
Barman: “Oi, no bacteria allowed in here.”
Bacterium: “It’s OK, I’m Staph!”

Interesting to see the LHC is back up and running in Switzerland. There was furore last time it was started, unfortunately it was put out of use for a number of months due to an accident. Having just smashed to particles together for the first time yesterday, there seems to be less opinion around the place. We’ll put it down tot he economy and the public sector strike!

Interesting article coming from a number of sources who say the Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has flown to Serbia to visit a housewife who claims to have magical healing powers by way of utilising fluid from a placenta to massage.

Sources include the Irish Independent, The Daily Mail and other online sources. Funnily enough, Indo states that the fluid is human of origin, whereas the other sources state its horse placental fluid. You’d have to believe it was the latter and that someone in the Indo is “slightly” mistaken. RvP’s injury has come from a tackle from Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in a recent Holland v Italy match.

As Friday last (16th Oct) was officially the day Wyeth became Pfizer, we thought it presented the perfect opportunity to profile what is now one of Ireland’s largest employers. An internet search for Wyeth will bring you to the new Pfizer page (link).

Trinity Biotech plc is a public company (NASDAQ: TRIB) with manufacturing facilities in Bray, Ireland, Jamestown, New York and Carlsbad, California.
The company specialises in the development, manufacture and marketing of diagnostic products which utilise immunoassay technologies. Trinity markets over 120 products through distributors in 80 countries.

The company was formed in 1992 and attained its first full year of profit in 1997. Trinity Biotech has expanded through a combination of internal and acquisition-led growth.

Through a combination of in-house R & D and acquisitions, the company has assembled an impressive product portfolio and achieved an excellence in developing, manufacturing and marketing quality products that meet market demands. Its product range utilises immunoassay techniques, which have been employed to develop tests in five main formats. One-step rapid tests which utilise the company’s proprietary Uni-Gold™ Technology, multiple tests on Microtitre plates, Western Blot, immunofluorescence and coagulation

Schering-Plough Corporation is a pharmaceutical company founded in 1851 by Ernst Christian Friedrich Schering as Schering AG in Germany. In 1971, the Schering Corporation merged with Plough (founded by Memphis area entrepreneur Abe Plough in 1908) to form Schering Plough.

In March 2007, Schering-Plough Corp. purchased Organon International, the pharmaceutical manufacturing unit of Netherlands-based Akzo Nobel, for $14.4 billion, giving the US pharmaceutical company an array of women’s health products and numerous late-stage pipelines of experimental medicines.

One of the biggest advantages to being able to use a cell phone as a scientific tool is the ability for underdeveloped nations to have fairly easy access to the same means as those more advanced. Here are
5 applications already available for use in tandem with a cell phone.

Life Science Recruitment is a specialist scientific and healthcare recruitment company based in Dublin and is the first Irish recruitment company to develop a portfolio of industry-specific recruitment websites. Presented in an innovative periodic table format (Life Science Periodic Table), the aim is to make job-seeking in specific vertical markets more relevant, targeted and efficient for candidates.

Propofol is very short acting hypnotic agent used to induce general anesthesia and to maintain patients who are mechanically ventilated. For those of you who have undergone general anesthesia, the milky white liquid is probably the last thing you see prior to being knocked out - as once injected propofol will induce unconsciousness in around 10 seconds. Due to its ability to impair memory while under its influence and its appearance as a white liquid, propofol is jokingly called “milk of amnesia” by medical professionals. Interestingly, Michael called propofol his “milk”.

SO WHAT WENT WRONG…?