Link Round-up 25th August 2014

It's another Bank Holiday Monday! Yey! This week I've found some interesting links mostly looking at gender issues in science from the gender balanceto Field's Medal winners.

1. Maryam Mirzakhani becomes the first woman to win the Fields Medal for mathematics
   Fantastic news! We finally have a female winner of the Fields Medal, which is a bit like the Nobel Prize for maths. It's just a shame that it took until 2014 for a woman to win one don't you think?
2. Arguing over whether girls can’t or won’t study science stops us fixing the problem
   An interesting article on the conversation caught my eye this week, about the argument (which I think isn't an argument at all) of whether girls aren't able to do science or just don't want to do it. It's a  really good read which suggests that we should get busy fixing the problem, rather than going on about the drivers behind it.
3. Ten myths that blame women for sexism
   Laura Bates (of Everyday Sexism) recently wrote a really great article in the Guardian addressing the 'reasons' people like to use to justify elements of sexism that we still see in society today. This is one of my favourite articles I've seen from Laura, but you should check out her other work too.
4. The heart might actually have a repair mechanism
   It's been a long held idea that heart tissue doesn't have a repair mechanism. However, a team from Vanderbilt University have observed that cells from the blood vessels in the heart can become heart muscle cells, albeit at a very slow rate. This is a fantastic and interesting piece of research, which could also indicate other ways in which heart diseases can damage the heart. Fingers crossed this knowledge might be able to be converted into medical treatments.

And finally, the results of the Hugo Awards, the premier awards in genre fiction, have been announced. Best Novel went to Ann Leckie for Ancillary Justice with the Game of Thrones episode The Rains of Castamere winning the Best Dramatic Presentation (short form) Award.

Currently Watching Doctor Who! The eleventh hour is over and the clock strikes twelve. I saw Deep Breath in the cinema on Saturday and I can't wait to see the rest of the eighth series of Doctor Who. Roll on next Saturday! 

Currently Listening to The Blinding Knife audio book. In preparation for the release of the next volume in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks being released, I'm refreshing my memory of what happened in the last book. If you hadn't ready The Black Prism or The Blinding Knife, you should!