Reality is always more complicated than you think.
Profile
Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.
Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.
Jake is joined periodically by two wonderful guest bloggers: Kara Contreary and Kate Seip. See the About Page.
DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own or those of my co-bloggers. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments we currently attend.
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Science policy:
Back in April, Kate and the other peeps at SCC hosted a panel discussion on science policy. It was co-sponsored by NYAS, and now NYAS has a podcast up of it. (The wonderful and elegant Kate hosts the whole bidness.)...
Posted on May 23, 2008 5:22 PM • 1 Comments •
Shelley Batts has this to say about the poor funding situation of late: At the Society for Neuroscience meeting last month, there was a special symposium regarding the current NIH funding situation that was supposed to be given by the...
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Posted on November 9, 2006 10:59 AM • 1 Comments •
Eugene Volokh has written an article in the Harvard Law Review arguing that abortion is constitutional. This is not shocking. The Supreme Court has made clear that abortion is constitutional. However, he is arguing -- rather than from the point...
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Posted on November 6, 2006 9:20 AM • 1 Comments •
This is completely unacceptable: The constant calls, the people frightening his children, and the demonstrations in front of his home apparently became a little too much. Dario Ringach, an associate neurobiology professor at the University of California at Los Angeles,...
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Posted on August 27, 2006 11:32 PM • 19 Comments •
In an earlier post about Bush's stem cell veto, I mentioned that I am a libertarian. One of the comments got me thinking, and I want to answer it in detail. Posted by Quitter: Libertarian? And you're a scientist? Where...
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Posted on July 20, 2006 4:09 PM • 20 Comments •
AP is reporting that Bush has indeed vetoed the stem cell bill: President Bush cast the first veto of his 5 1/2-year presidency Wednesday, saying legislation easing limits on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research "crosses a moral boundary"...
Posted on July 19, 2006 2:49 PM • 2 Comments •
We have all been talking about this to death, but I figured I would add my two cents. Ben Barres wrote an editorial in the most recent issue of Nature about the issue of gender disparity in science. He mentions...
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Posted on July 18, 2006 11:00 PM • 2 Comments •
I had wanted to avoid being an activist with this blog, but I think it is important enough when it relates to a directly scientific issue to break that rule. The Society for Neuroscience has issued a petition request via...
Posted on July 14, 2006 3:31 PM • 1 Comments •
Ronald Bailey from Reason Magazine has an article covering one of the more pernicious arguments against genetically modified foods: Long time anti-biotech activist Jeremy Rifkin has come out in favor of a biotechnology technique. Should beleaguered biotechnologists break out the...
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Posted on July 13, 2006 1:09 AM • 0 Comments •
A study in the newest PNAS seeks to quantify the efficiency and resource utilization for various types of biofuels:...
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Posted on July 10, 2006 10:49 PM • 0 Comments •
Several bloggers and columnists have been expressing skepticism as to the concept of energy independence, and I think they make some good arguments....
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Posted on July 9, 2006 10:40 PM • 1 Comments •
When you get in a conversation about pharmaceuticals, everyone always asks me: "Why can't they just give them away? Drug companies make so much money anyway. Why do we even have patents?" Well, the reason is that piracy stifles innovation....
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Posted on July 3, 2006 2:54 AM • 2 Comments •
This could be very interesting: The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider whether the Bush administration must regulate carbon dioxide to combat global warming, setting up what could be one of the court's most important decisions on the environment. The...
Posted on June 27, 2006 12:57 AM • 0 Comments •
Keith Burgess-Jackson questions in his TCS column whether we should listen to people like Noam Chomsky's opinions on politics -- a realm notably outside their stated occupational expertise. I must admit that I haven't read what Noam Chomsky's opinions are...
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Posted on June 26, 2006 11:41 AM • 1 Comments •
We have all (meaning Scienceblogs) been talking about this whole free access model for publishing papers. Nick and I even had a nice little debate about it. Not to belabor the issue to much, but this news story in Nature...
Posted on June 22, 2006 2:16 AM • 1 Comments •
Will Jake be doing all these posts from this issue of Nature? Perhaps... This issue of Nature also has an editorial related to some Asian countries' recent decision to pay researchers for publishing papers:...
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Posted on June 21, 2006 11:07 PM • 1 Comments •
I think that the Miller Amendment is well intentioned, but I have some concerns. If you don't know what the Miller Amendment is Nick is all over that. Here is my concern. How is such an amendment to be enforced?...
Posted on June 14, 2006 11:13 PM • 1 Comments •
Nick from The Scientific Activist has busted out a salient article from the archives related to the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006. I think he gives a fair treatment to the Act and its implications. As he is...
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Posted on June 12, 2006 11:18 AM • 1 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
