Every other year, the National Science Board publishes its Science and Engineering Indicators report: data points from various aspects of academia, industry, and public life that aspire to gauge the nation’s scientific strengths and weaknesses. One of the more interesting indicators is a survey given to adults and students about basic scientific questions, i.e. does…

On Framing Science, Matthew C. Nisbet anticipates putting “an end to anonymous commenting” on his blog. Matt writes that people are “more willing and likely to be uncivil” when they don’t have to face “social sanctions from others.” Other ScienceBloggers disagree. On Adventures in Ethics and Science, Dr. Free-Ride appreciates the value of a pseudonym,…

ScienceOnline 2010 will take place January 15-17, and ScienceBloggers Janet Stemwedel and Dr. Isis will co-lead a session on “online civility.” Janet sparks the discussion on Adventures in Ethics and Science, asking if civility online entails something different than it does in real life. On Bioephemera, Jessica Palmer responds that an “us/them mentality” already fosters…

Benjamin Cohen of The World’s Fair tells us he’s “moving on to Blogger Emeritus status.” I am ending my tenure here at The World’s Fair, the blog Dave and I started back in June 2006. I’ll finish up and sign off for good by the end of the month. Between now and then, I’ll be…

After nearly five years online and two years with us here at ScienceBlogs, ScienceWoman is stepping away from the fray to focus on “Peace and Joy” for 2010. This will be my last post as SciWo or ScienceWoman. I’ve come to peace with the realization that blogging as SciWo is no longer a source of…

This week, Jessica Palmer of Bioephemera posted an illuminating report on the politics that govern—and often hamper—scientific research for drug abuse treatment. In her post, Jessica points out, “research to help [cigarette] smokers quit is generally portrayed as necessary and important,” but the media, politicians, and society at large view research for treatment of other…

In the past five years, technology has played a major part in influencing the way we functions, even in the least mechanical of human behaviors–like socializing. Today, ScienceBloggers are taking a close look at how the social media explosion is affecting the world. On The Primate Diaries, Eric Michael Johnson reports on anthropologist Stefana Broadbent’s…

Should science writers and communicators drop the “technical jargon” in order to popularize science for the masses? What can major players in science culture do to maximize science’s “cool factor,” communicating important issues to the public at large? These questions were posed by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum in Unscientific America, released earlier this year,…

With summer vacation drawing to a close, many ScienceBloggers are trying to squeeze in some final summer reading before they–and their sprogs–embark on the new academic year. On Confessions of a Science Librarian, John Dupuis asks for his readers’ assistance in selecting titles and offers a few recommendations of his own. Janet Stemwedel of Adventures…

At the annual ScienceOnline conference, organized in large part by ScienceBlogger Bora Zivkovic of A Blog Around the Clock, scientists gather to talk about the changing role of the Internet in the practice and communication of science. At the 2009 event in January, panel discussions included “Social networking for scientists,” “Alternative careers: how to become…