Science Process
Category archives for Science Process
Science, Racism and Political Correctness
Posted by Kevin Bonham on May 21, 2013 Two weeks ago, the Heritage Foundation (a conservative think-tank) released a position paper based largely on the academic research of one Jason Richwine. The conclusion (roughly paraphrased): Hispanic people have lower IQ’s than white people, so an overly permissive immigration policy will drag down the US economy. Ethically, this conclusion is a deep affront to…
PeerJ – the science journal we need and deserve
Posted by Kevin Bonham on February 12, 2013 I spend a lot of time thinking about the scientific method. I don’t mean that thing you learned in high school, where you make an observation, form a hypothesis, design an experiment etc etc. That’s certainly part of the scientific method, but the linear formula that freshmen are typically forced to memorize sucks the life…
The Best Argument in Favor of Open Access Science is All of Them
Posted by Kevin Bonham on August 9, 2012 While going back through blog archives and reviewing incoming links, I stumbled on this post from about a year ago from Zen Faulkes at Neuro Dojo: There are many reasons to argue for open access of scientific research. But this is not the best one: It’s your taxes that fund the research, you should have…
Leveraging Immunology Research to Treat Disease
Posted by Kevin Bonham on June 6, 2012 The vast majority of funding for biological research in the US comes from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and as a result, most of our grants are written in a way that plays up the clinical importance of our work. Some variant of the phrase, This research has implications in the treatment/prevention of [insert…
The Center for Science and Democracy
Posted by Kevin Bonham on May 23, 2012 Last week, I had the privilege of attending the launch of a new initiative from the Union of Concerned Scientists – The Center for Science and Democracy. The UCS itself was founded in the late 1960′s in response to the Cold War nuclear arms race. Graduate students and faculty at MIT decided that someone needed to advocate for “greater…
Technology and Intent
Posted by Kevin Bonham on May 12, 2012 No technology is inherently good or evil, it’s the use of that technology that determines its value. A blade can be used in surgery to save a life, or as a weapon to take one. The ballistics that enable missiles to destroy enemies also enables the launch of communication satellites and exploration of other worlds.…
Harvard Libraries join the fight for open access
Posted by Kevin Bonham on April 24, 2012 A few months ago, I wrote about the problems with academic publishing: These days, there’s an entire industry of academic publishers that have become so fully integrated into the research system that many scientists don’t realize that there’s any distinction between doing science and publishing in journals. However, these journals cost an enormous amount of…
I’m Too Sexy for Your… Virus? Or, Immunity as it Relates to Peacocks
Posted by Kevin Bonham on February 28, 2012 I know something’s amiss when my google news alert returns headlines like these: Why women who lust after Brad Pitt may just fancy his immune system It’s His Immune System That You Actually Want to Sleep With The key to male sexiness: A powerful immune system? and my personal favorite Antibodies, Not Hard Bodies: The…
Open Laboratory 2013
Posted by Kevin Bonham on February 27, 2012 If you’ve been reading science blogs for a while, you probably know about Open Laboratory. It’s a yearly anthology of the best science blog writing on the internet. And the submission form is now open (there’s a handy little badge in the left sidebar too). If you appreciate the stuff that I do here, please…
The Future of Science Publishing
Posted by Kevin Bonham on February 21, 2012 A little over 300 years ago, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a dry goods seller from Delft in Holland, learned to grind glass into lenses and fashion the best microscopes the world had ever seen. In those days, the idea of being a “scientist” as a profession was ludicrous. Natural philosophy was pastime for nobility or at…
