Just over a week ago there was a mass overdose of medication sold by responsible companies like Boots . Across the world people took vastly more than the recommended dose. And nothing happened. The reason? They were overdosing on homeopathic medicine. The campaign was known as 10:23 . The rather strange numbering refers to Avogadro's number . This is a number that delights chemists - it's the number of atoms in a mole of a substance. The actual number is around 6x10^23, where 10^23 is 1 with 23 zeroes after it. The reason this is of relevence to homeopathic medicine becomes clear when you realize how these medications are made. The idea of homeopathy, which has no scientific basis whatsoever, is that you treat an ailment with a poison that produces a similiar effect. But to avoid finishing off your patients, you dilute that poison with water. In fact you dilute it over and over again, so much so, that you have reduced it by more than Avagadro's number. The chances are t...

One of the questions I'm often asked is 'don't you find it difficult to just sit down and write?' or 'What about writer's block?' I don't really believe in writer's block. Once you've overcome the powerful urge to prevaricate, it's just a matter of sitting at the keyboard and getting the fingers to move. What comes out might be rubbish - but it's important to keep going. However, as I'm currently in the throws of one of those irritating hacking cough type colds that last two to three weeks and leave you feeling heady and without any brain between the ears, I have to admit that under these circumstances, writing becomes almost impossible. I can manage the blog, but getting down to a book - just stacking up in the brain the different things that need to be balanced in the mind before commencing typing - seems impossible. Often the writing job appears rather easy. Choose your own hours. Take the dog for a walk whenever you like. No commu...