Sheril R. Kirshenbaum
sheril
Posts by this author
March 23, 2009
Today, we move to our new home at Discover Blogs: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection
While we have immensely enjoyed being a part of Scienceblogs, we've decided together that it is time to move on. Our tremendous thanks go out to Seed for hosting The Intersection since 2006 where we've…
March 23, 2009
Every now and then we plan something big and today's no exception so check back this afternoon...
March 23, 2009
As promised, photos* from last Friday with 'the Bloggerati'. Here I'm in terrific company with Misha, Bora, and Abel over lunch in Durham:
Bora and I chat with students about why we blog:
* Special thanks to Abel for sharing the images! For a terrific detailed description of the day, visit Terra…
March 20, 2009
Several readers have emailed me to comment on Michael Steele's ummmm...imaginative explanations of both global 'cooling' and Greenland:
"We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling…
March 20, 2009
Today Bora, Abel, and I visited Duke's Sanford Institute on Public Policy for the second year in a row to discuss the coverage of science, health, and policy. We chatted with a group of undergraduates about the evolution of science blogs, the emergence of blogging networks, the role of science…
March 19, 2009
'Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington.'
- Governor Bobby Jindal, February 24, 2009
If this video is any indication, both eruptions have the potential to do a lot of damage and it seems to me they're not mutually exclusive.…
March 19, 2009
..about the undersea volcano that's been erupting over the last four days in the South Pacific!
What you see is smoke, steam, and ash shooting up thousands of feet near Tonga. And while this activity poses little threat to islanders right now, the image reminds me why I'm in favor of "…
March 18, 2009
A couple weeks back, I composed a post entitled 'Science Reveals How To Lose Weight And Keep It Off'. The results weren't surprising... research out of Harvard found that calories are the most significant part of the equation. However, what really resonated with a number of readers turned out to…
March 18, 2009
Last week we told you about the NYAS Two Cultures Conference coming up on May 9, 2009 in celebration of the 50 year anniversary of C.P. Snow's famous Rede lecture. Politicians, academics, writers, and the media will converge to discuss
science and society--including keynote addresses by E.O.…
March 17, 2009
Here she is...
You've read about the controversy and now it's time to weigh in. According to Reuters, Dora will continue solving mysteries related to the environment, wildlife, and school while maintaining her sense of adventure.
As I wrote last week, I hope the middle school aged explorer…
March 17, 2009
Yesterday, we considered the meaning of scientific literacy in America... or lack thereof. So let's take this discussion one step further as it's a particularly interesting topic. According to the National Academies:
Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts…
March 16, 2009
Curiously Laura Ingraham is supposed to be someone who 'stands up for conservative women'. Yet when Meghan McCain criticized Ann Coulter, the best Ingraham could do was to make fun of the 24-year-old's body, joking that she didn't get a 'role in the Real World' because 'they don't like plus-sized…
March 16, 2009
In our forthcoming book, Unscientific America, Chris and I mention those national surveys where regularly, a large percentage of U.S. citizens fail to correctly answer basic science questions that they supposedly learned in school.
Last Friday, the latest results were released from the most…
March 13, 2009
Last year we participated in Earth Hour, an international movement demonstrating that millions of people around the world are ready to do something about climate change. Join us again on Saturday March 28, 2009 at 8:30PM (your local time):
This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world…
March 12, 2009
Every now and then The Intersection likes to pay tribute to the family that has been kicking it in Springfield for the last 20 years. Today we present Evolution... Simpsons style:
March 11, 2009
The blogosphere is buzzing over the new middle school aged Dora The Explorer because of her recently released silhouette.
Over at Packaging Girlhood, Lynn and Sharon suggest:
If the original Dora grew up, she wouldn't be a fashion icon or a shopaholic. She'd develop her map reading skills and…
March 11, 2009
I've been fascinated by the Romanovs for decades hoping that perhaps, just perhaps... Anastasia had somehow escaped. Unfortunately, new research published in PLoS ONE finally provides grim evidence of what happened to the family's youngest children in 1918:
One of the greatest mysteries for most…
March 10, 2009
The Guardian:
Human pollution is turning the seas into acid so quickly that the coming decades will recreate conditions not seen on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, scientists will warn today.
Say what?! Look, ocean acidification is a VERY real threat to our planet. That said, the seas are…
March 10, 2009
Chris and I have been hard at work planning something big... Check back at 11 for details!
March 9, 2009
I'm off to the city for a panel in recognition of International Women's Day. Given the theme, I'd like to point readers to a recent piece from The Guardian asking 'Where are the books by women with big ideas?'
Books like Freakonomics, defining significant cultural or economic trends with a punchy…
March 7, 2009
Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy posted this terrific piece that started off my Saturday with a smile. It reads like The Onion, though I also can't find the original source. Take a look and see if you agree that author Michael Haber might be onto something...
Emboldened by their success in…
March 6, 2009
On Monday, I'm delighted to be attending a panel discussion in honor of the 2009 International Women's Day celebrations! This global holiday celebrates the economic, political, and social achievements of women past, present, and future. Here in NYC, the World Policy Institute, the Women's…
March 5, 2009
In 1992, a small group of 12 and 13 year olds from the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO) raised money to attend the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This is Severn Suzuki's address to delegates.
Nearly early two decades later, her words are as relevant as ever. Are we doing any better?
March 4, 2009
Guest post by Brian Hare, Evolutionary Anthropologist at Duke University
Last month, a 200 pound male chimpanzee named Travis mauled a woman outside the home where he has been living with his owner Sandra Herold. Charla Nash was nearly killed by Travis and now has life changing wounds to her face…
March 3, 2009
I LOVE all things space--arguably more than the next girl. For years I wanted to be an astrobiologist. Infinite possibilities and the ultimate opportunity to explore the unknown. And it's no secret to readers that I adore Carl Sagan and Cosmos, which fostered a love and appreciation of science…
March 2, 2009
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling to 12-year lows after insurance company American International Group's huge quarterly loss added to worries about the financial sector and the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost almost 300…
March 2, 2009
Picture it. A bridge in Connecticut, January 2004. Having left New York at 4:30 am, I settled into my Honda hoping to reach Maine before nightfall. The first couple hours were uneventful until... suddenly the wheel locked, the brakes failed and my car spun haphazardly across three lanes to face…
February 27, 2009
Mark your calendars for the launch of ASU's new Origins Initiative on April 6, 2009. Tickets go on sale next week and the event will be broadcast live online. It looks like a terrific line up including Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker, Brian Greene, and new Director, (and Science Debate co-founder…
February 26, 2009
Well, it was a long time coming. Between the myriad of diet plans on television, magazines, online, and everywhere, someone was bound to finally come up with conclusive evidence on what works and how to make sense of all the (excuse the term) dietary diarrhea. No doubt, you've also noticed that…
February 25, 2009
Research just published in Nature links Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases. The prion protein is the receptor for amyloid-beta, the peptide that makes up Alzheimer's plaques. It's not my area, but Ed's explanation is fascinating. This could be big, so go read the details at Not Exactly…