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At the second annual Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway, 500 experts are discussing the outlook for oil and gas production in the rapidly warming Arctic. As is all too common these days, theyâll do so without the benefit of all the information that scientists worked hard to compile…
As the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, itâs clear that the U.S. is still having trouble ensuring that injured veterans get what they need â whether thatâs care for a brain injury, mental health services, or sufficient recovery time. Hereâs the news from the past week:
An Army…
By Les LeopoldÂ
If you need a quick snooze, read a US Government Accountability Office report with its carefully parsed prose. But lost in the holiday rush was a December GAO report that could keep you awake as it bashes the Bush administrationâs effort to water down the community Right to…
The Washington Post's Jeffrey H. Birnbaum observes that the site of this year's Democratic National Committee's (DNC) convention is Denver, Colorado, yet the city only has one unionized hotel. The DNC should take a page from the American Public Health Association (APHA), which adopted…
Thereâs lots of good blogging this week about what our elected (and hoping to be elected) leaders are doing â or at least talking about doing â on climate change:
David Roberts at Gristmill thinks itâs better to hold out for better federal climate legislation in 2009
Jonathan Pfeiffer at Science…
Many of us who grew up in the U.S. took water and electricity for granted, but more and more of us are bumping up against the limits of resources. Three stories in the news this past week illustrate what the difficulties are and how different parties address them.
Negotiating water use: It took…
Remember Julie MacDonald, the Department of Interior appointee with industry connections but no biology degree, who altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for endangered species? There are plenty of wildlife scientists who havenât forgotten about her or about the larger problem of…
Howard A. Heit, MD and a pain management specialist at Georgetown University offers an informed perspective on "painkiller abuse" among coal miners, in response to the Washington Post's article "A Dark Addiction."Â He writes:
"I don't believe the majority of these miners have the disease of…
The U.S. House of Representatives debated today the Supplemental Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (S-MINER, H.R. 2768) which would require, among other things, closer review of retreat mining plans, allow independent investigations (outside of MSHA) for multiple fatalities, and…
Katherine Torres of Occupational Hazards reports that Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) investigators have identified an overheated chemical reactor as the likely cause of the blast that killed four workers at T2 Laboratories in Jacksonville last month (see Celesteâs posts on the…
by Susan F. Wood, PhDÂ
We are excited to be starting up a new research project here at the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy: Scientists in Government: An Examination of their Rights and Responsibilities in Civil Society.  The goal of this initiative is…
A quick look at âChernobyl: Relationship between Number of Missing Newborn Boys and the Level of Radiation in the Czech Regionsâ by Miroslav Peterka, Renata Peterková, and ZbyneËk Likovsky´ in Environmental Health Perspectives.
As a rule, more boys than girls are born. But in November 1986 in the…
Last month, Andrew Schneider reported in the Seattle PI that the use of diacetyl-containing cooking oils could be putting professional cooks at risk for the same severe lung disease thatâs struck workers in microwave-popcorn and flavor factories. Now, Schneider brings us news that the UNITE HERE…
These are the words of Linden High School student Omar Diaz, 17, remembering his father Victor Diaz, 42 who died on December 1 at North East Linen Supply Company. Mr. Diaz and a co-worker Carlos Diaz, 41, were asphyxiated by chemical fumes while they were cleaning out a 20,000 gallon…
The front page of Sunday's Washington Post (Jan. 13) featured the blackened face of coal miner Forest Ramey, 24, but the story was not about a deadly explosion or workers trapped underground. A Dark Addiction, by the Post's Nick Miroff, gives us a…
Revere at Effect Measure addresses a troubling article, published in yesterdayâs Atlanta Journal-Constitution, about the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionâs handling of the Andrew Speaker tuberculosis case. You might remember the case, because it got a lot of media attention. Speaker was…
Big Pharma is under scrutiny in the blogosphere this week. Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on a study (published in PLoS Medicine) that finds drugmakers spend almost twice as much on marketing and promotion as they do on R&D; he also tells us who Big Pharmaâs backing for president.
Scott…
A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience last week reports a link between lead exposure and accumulation of Alzheimerâs-type plaque in the brains of primates. The National Institutes of Health-funded study examined the brain tissues of 23-year-old monkeys that had been exposed to lead for…
Congress left town last month without passing legislation that would overhaul the Consumer Product Safety Commission, whose weakness has been apparent in recent problems with toys containing lead, dangerous magnets, and a chemical that metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma…
Tomorrowâs Science Friday radio program will feature a segment on the Science Debate 2008 campaign, which calls for the presidential candidates to devote a debate to science-related issues. You can listen live online from 2 - 4pm Eastern time, or check your local NPR stationâs listings to see when…
Itâs been almost a decade since U.S. corporations, facing a consumer outcry over sweatshops, launched high-profile efforts to ensure that their products were manufactured under fair labor conditions. David Barboza of the New York Times reports that investigations by labor rights groups find…
Several months ago, I tried to get a simple question answered by NIOSH about part of its process for awarding mine safety research grants. The technical staff with whom I spoke probably knew the answer to my question, but they weren't sure whether the information could be disclosed or not.…
A frequent argument of (weak) support for alternative medicine is that, well, maybe it doesn't help much, but it couldn't hurt.
Wrong!
Aside from the usual arguments that it wastes resources, distracts people from real medical treatments, etc., there are more, real dangers. One of the hallmarks…
Remember how EPA library closures and record purges were threatening public access to important environmental information? Now Congress is requiring the agency to restore library services, reports Katherine Boyle of Greenwire:
U.S. EPA must craft plans to reopen regional libraries shuttered from a…
Science bloggers Bora Zivkovic (also known as Coturnix) and Reed Cartwright, assisted by a panel of judges, are putting together an anthology of science blog posts from the past year â and Iâm honored to report that my post âPopcorn Lung Coming to Your Kitchen? The FDA Doesnât Want to Knowâ is…
The latest issue of National Geographic includes a story on e-waste thatâs worth reading â especially if you got a new computer, TV, or other electronic gift over the holidays and now need to figure out how to get rid of the old one.
Discarded electronic goods often contain a few useful bits â…
It's been three weeks since the deadly explosion at the Jacksonville, Florida T2 laboratory which claimed the lives of four workers and injured others on and off the site. The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), along with OSHA and other agencies, is investigating the disaster and lead CSB…
It's a new year, bringing new changes. I've decided to quit Omni Brain and move on to less important things, like creating baffling and somewhat offensive art and writing more books that I won't want anyone to read. It's been fun to be here, though. I'm grateful to Steve for being a terrific co-…
There are two terrific book events scheduled for Monday January 7th, here in Washington DC. Les Leopold, author of The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi, will be in town to talk about Tony's life and legacy.
Les' book is a great read, an inspiring and…
Bloggers are summing up developments from 2007 and looking ahead to 2008:
â¢Â Adrienne Germaine at RH Reality Check presents the Top Ten Wins for Womenâs Health in 2007.
â¢Â Matt Madia at Reg Watch summarizes Regulatory Policy News for the year.
â¢Â Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog brings…