The Battle of Dunkirk, fought between 26 May and 4 June 1940, marked a turning point in World War Two. During […]
Posts Tagged ‘History’
Protons vs Photons
X-rays, first discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, are beams of photons that exhibit three intrinsic properties when passing through biological tissue. […]
You’re Never Too Old
By tradition, Nobel Laureates receive their gold medals from the King of Sweden on 10 December, the day that Alfred Nobel died […]
Coming Full Circle
On Friday 6 January 1956, Allan Cormack arrived for work at Groote Schuur Hospital, having been appointed as part-time nuclear physicist, spending […]
Celebrating BME@50
Yesterday marked an important milestone for the field of biomedical engineering (BME) in Cape Town as it celebrated its 50th […]
War: A Harmful Metaphor?
It has become commonplace to hear expressions such as “fighting the war on cancer” or even “she’s a warrior intent […]
The Emergence of CRISPR
One of the most remarkable scientific breakthroughs since the mapping of the human genome has been CRISPR, an acronym that […]
HHUS versus ABUS
Fifteen years ago, Peter Dempsey wrote a fascinating article on the history of breast ultrasound that appeared in the Journal […]
Searching for the Inner Sanctum
The double helix of deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) is one of biology’s most iconic structures, inspiring the design of staircases […]
In Search of Truth
The electrocardiogram – or ECG – fulfils the requirements for a diagnostic test: non-invasive, easy to record and reproducible. It is applied […]