Author Archives: R Cawkwell

Hi I'm Rosemarie and I like to write. I write short stories and longer fiction, poetry and occasionally articles. I'm working on quite a few things at the minute and wouldn't mind one day actually getting published in print.

‘Special K’ metabolite may provide a new drug to treat depression

The drug ketamine (a club drug sometimes called ‘Special K’) is legally used as an animal tranquilliser and illegally used to get high. Recent work has shown it also has a antidepressant effect. Continue reading “‘Special K’ metabolite may provide a new drug to treat depression”

Comparing the research paper to the popular press: depression

Last week an old school friend shared this article about depression, on Facebook; being me I decided to find the original paper it’s based on. Luckily, there was a link to the paper in the article itself. The article was written, or published 4th May 2016, whereas the research paper was published 30th June 2016. Reading the article made me itch at it’s stupidity, mainly because they tried to hook their ‘positive outlook’ on to a meta-analysis of brain MRI data. So, today I thought I’d read through both the paper and the article and compare the two. What I learnt was that the paper is more interesting than the article, and that people will always try to use the results to support their position, even when it doesn’t.

Continue reading “Comparing the research paper to the popular press: depression”

Mumsy and the age of fossils

When we watched a programme about the evolution of life on Earth, Mumsy asked how geologists knew how old the rocks with the fossils in them were. I said ‘isotopes’, she said ‘what?’ This is my attempt to explain radiometric dating and some of it’s uses.

We’re going to have to start at the beginning, with atoms.

Continue reading “Mumsy and the age of fossils”

Review: ‘Mapping the Heavens’ by Priyamvada Natarajan

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Published by: Yale University Press

Publication Date: 26th April 2016

ISBN: 9780300204414

Format: Hardback

R.R.P : £16.99

Continue reading “Review: ‘Mapping the Heavens’ by Priyamvada Natarajan”

Review: ‘The Secret Poisoner’ by Linda Stratman

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Published By: Yale University Press

Publication Date: 22nd March 2016

ISBN: 9780300204735

R.R.P. (hardback): £20.00 (but it’s cheaper online)

Another one from netgalley.com

Continue reading “Review: ‘The Secret Poisoner’ by Linda Stratman”

Review : ‘Sister of Mine’ by Sabra Waldfogel

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Published By: Lake Union Publishing

Publication Date: 24th May 2016

ISBN: 9781503990364

Price: £3.48 (Amazon.co.uk, ebook)

Supplied by netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review

Continue reading “Review : ‘Sister of Mine’ by Sabra Waldfogel”

Update on sickness and book reviews

I am still coughing badly but I managed to sit outside for 20 minutes this morning. I’ve been struggling with breathing and stairs but at least I managed to spend most of the day awake, though I’m going to bed soon.

Book reviews: due to not being able to do much other than sleep and read I am now on my forth book and will therefore have four reviews for you to enjoy, just as soon as I can breathe properly and form coherent thoughts.

Quick post

Hi, I’m ill again, horrible cold. As soon as I’m better I’ll have three book reviews up. Until then I’m afraid I won’t be posting anything; I can only manage to stay awake for an hour at a time. I suspect this cold will be a bad one; I started coughing the same day I felt the other symptoms start. It’s a fairly reliable indicator, for me at least, that the earlier I start coughing the worse the infection will be.