clock | April 15, 2007In the latest dust-up over framing science, an unfortunate frame is emerging that I want to nip in the bud, that 'appeasers' in the big culture war against religion are the same as 'framers' in the current debate, and likewise that 'anti-framers' and 'vocal atheists' are the same people. It is a result of confusion, and I want to clear it up right now.
You know that I am strongly in the Dawkins/Myers camp in the fight against religion:
Dawkins, Harris and Dennett are changing the landscape of the discourse, forming an environment in which it is possible to talk about atheism and religion on…
clock | April 15, 2007Anton just spent a few days attending the AMA's 27th Annual Medical Communications Conference, where he gave a session about medicine and healthcare blogging. And of course, he blogged about the whole conference here, here, here, here and here. Who knows, there may be more coming. I hope to see Anton next week and pick his brains some more. But you can read his impressions and follow his links for more.
clock | April 14, 2007Brilliant! Brilliant! Why didn't I think of this?
A post on Anomalous Data connects the Framing Science debate to the recent Joshua Bell experiment (check some more good bloggy reactions to it).
If you are not familiar with the story (follow the links): Joshua Bell played violin in a subway station and almost nobody stopped to listen or to give him money.
Saw Lady explains exactly why - no framing!
In the experiment/stunt, Bell deliberately played at a wrong place (in the hall where everyone walks through, not at the platform where people wait for trains), at a wrong time (morning rush hour…
clock | April 14, 2007Neurotransmission
400 words
White Souse
Vegreville
The Daily Dish (I forgot to update my links when he moved to The Atlantic)
Wombat's Waffles
The Purple Koolaid Playtime Show!
Interrobang's Internationale: The Real Interroblog
clock | April 14, 2007Matt Nisbet analyses George Will and Chris Mooney responds to some more recent discussions.
Matt talks about framing on NPR (listen here) and now they both have an article published in the Washington Post.
Also, check out some older articles by Matt and Chris, including this one on CSI and this one in CJR.
With this, I will stop adding new links to blogospheric discussion at the bottom of this post (my first - and uber-long one - on the topic) and will start with a clean slate. But you go and check them, as discussions in the comments are still going on at some of those linked blogs.…
clock | April 14, 2007
More Flight Than Fancy?:
Scientists from the universities of Exeter and Cambridge have turned a textbook example of sexual selection on its head and shown that females may be more astute at choosing a mate than previously thought. New research, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and published online on 5 April in Current Biology, shows that differences in the lengths of the long tail feathers possessed by male barn swallows are more about aerodynamics than being attractive. Female barn swallows favour mates with longer tails and the prominent male tail 'streamers' that extend beyond the tail…
clock | April 13, 2007There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go.
- Tennessee Williams
clock | April 13, 2007Truth, All the Truth, and Nothing but the Truth.
You are all familiar with the phrase. It actually figures prominently (though unspoken until now) in this whole discussion about framing science.
Nobody - absolutely nobody - ever suggests that anything but The Truth should be used when communicating science or communicating about science.
The wisdom of framing is that 'All the Truth' can be omitted, as too much information puts off the target audience in some cases, and is thus counterproductive.
The self-styled Defenders Of The Truth insist that a) 'All The Truth' should never be omitted,…
clock | April 13, 2007Tyrannosaurus Rex And Mastodon Protein Fragments Discovered, Sequenced:
Scientists have confirmed the existence of protein in soft tissue recovered from the fossil bones of a 68 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) and a half-million-year-old mastodon. Their results may change the way people think about fossil preservation and present a new method for studying diseases in which identification of proteins is important, such as cancer.
Here's a local angle to the same story.
Human-Chimp Differences Uncovered With Analysis Of Rhesus Monkey Genome:
An international consortium of…
clock | April 12, 2007Saw a sign on a restaurant that said "Breakfast, any time" - so I ordered French Toast in the Renaissance.
- Steven Wright
clock | April 12, 2007Sperm Cells Created From Human Bone Marrow:
Human bone marrow has been used to create early-stage sperm cells for the first time, a scientific step forward that will help researchers understand more about how sperm cells are created.
Gives a new meaning to the word "boner", doesn't it? OK, too late at night - I am losing all sense of what is appropriate on a science blog. Actually, the study is interesting besides its potential for humor.
clock | April 12, 2007After the Easter break, TTHT is coming back. Next edition of the Tar Heel Tavern will be hosted this weekend by Bharat of Olive Ridley Crawl (the turtle-friendly blog). Send your entries by Saturday night to: theoliveridley at gmail dot com
clock | April 12, 2007I made only a brief mention of the study when the press release first came out, but the actual paper (which is excellent) is out now. It is on PLoS so it is free for all to see: Mania-like behavior induced by disruption of CLOCK:
Circadian rhythms and the genes that make up the molecular clock have long been implicated in bipolar disorder. Genetic evidence in bipolar patients suggests that the central transcriptional activator of molecular rhythms, CLOCK, may be particularly important. However, the exact role of this gene in the development of this disorder remains unclear. Here we show that…
clock | April 12, 2007Misclassified For Centuries, Medicinal Leeches Found To Be 3 Distinct Species:
Genetic research has revealed that commercially available medicinal leeches used around the world in biomedical research and postoperative care have been misclassified for centuries. Until now, the leeches were assumed to be the species Hirudo medicinalis, but new research reveals they are actually a closely related but genetically distinct species, Hirudo verbana. The study also shows that wild European medicinal leeches are at least three distinct species, not one. "This raises the tantalizing prospect of three…
clock | April 11, 2007Died at the age of 84. One of the best of the best. One of the 2-3 people in the world whose ALL works I own and have read at least once. He'll be missed.