Mike the Mad Biologist
Archives for January, 2009
Tell the Public Why Evolution Matters to Your Research
Posted by Mike on January 27, 2009 If you’re an evolutionary biologist, try to find the time to do this:
To Restore Science to Its Rightful Place, We Need to Redefine Elitism
Posted by Mike on January 27, 2009 Our Benevolent Seed Overlords ask “What is science’s rightful place?” which refers to a line from Obama’s inaugural address where he vowed to “restore science to its rightful place.” Since ScienceBlogling Jake discussed the importance of basing policy on evidence–as well as correctly recognizing that the method we use to solve problems does not shed…
Loyal Bushie and Global Warming Denialist Burrows into NSF
Posted by Mike on January 26, 2009 And you thought the War on Science was over. Bush appointee Kathie Olsen, who was the deputy director of NSF, and who couldn’t give a straight answer to Senator John McCain when asked about human influences on global warming, might have been “burrowed” into the NSF:
NSF Funding to Be Doubled?
Posted by Mike on January 26, 2009 According to the text of HR1 (pdf), NSF will be getting an additional $2.5 billion as part of the ‘stimulus’* package. From HR1 (pp. 54-55):
Sunday Links
Posted by Mike on January 25, 2009 Heckuva week. Science first:
Richard Besser to Be Acting CDC Director
Posted by Mike on January 25, 2009 I doubt he’ll become the new director–although I think he would be a very good choice–but, until the CDC gets a new director, Richard Besser is the Acting CDC Director:
Good for Eric Holder
Posted by Mike on January 25, 2009 I’m becoming more enthusiatic about Eric Holder as Attorney General. It’s nice to see some clarity about waterboarding–that is, partial drowning interrogation. From Steve Benen:
MRSA ST398: It’s All Tara’s Fault…
Posted by Mike on January 24, 2009 I’m kidding, but ScienceBlogling Tara Smith has co-authored a PLoS One article about the emergence of the MRSA strain ST398 in Iowan pork farms. Pig farms are a tremendous reservoir of bacteria: as far as I can tell, there are about six pigs for every person in Iowa.
Why Jay Rosen Is Wrong: It’s Not Biased Journalism, but Bad Journalism
Posted by Mike on January 23, 2009 A few days ago, I discussed the ‘doughnut model’ of journalistic bias that Jay Rosen described. Thinking about it some more, both Rosen and I got it wrong. Ultimately, the problem isn’t that certain views and policies are ruled out of the political discourse (although that is a real problem). The problem is that the…
Thursday Links
Posted by Mike on January 22, 2009 Here are some links for you. Science goes first: