cmooney | October 23, 2008My latest Science Progress column is a piece of reporting from the Innovation 2008 conference, and contemplates what will happen to science budgets in a coming era of unprecedented federal budget deficits. The answer: No one knows for sure, but it can't be good.
You can read the column here.
sheril | October 23, 2008Makeovers are popular. They're featured in magazine spreads and reality tv shows everywhere. Not a new trend either... even Hans Christian Andersen was writing about them in 1843. We like watching transformations.
That aside, when the Republican National Committee drops over $150,000 on clothes and accessories for a VP candidate and her family in two months, well, it raises some eyebrows. Including mine.
Sure it's fun to get dolled up before going on the road. Now and then I treat myself to a new top and fresh coat of nail polish before a talk. And yes, appearances matter given…
sheril | October 22, 2008About a year ago, we had an idea to make science more prominent on the campaign trail this election cycle: ScienceDebate2008 was born.
It wasn't long before a lot of folks took notice and the initiative grew rapidly. Eventually, the presidential candidates weighed in.
This week, ScienceDebate2008 co-hosted Innovation 2008 with the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota--a conference bringing together academics, policy makers, business leaders, scientists, educators, artists, students, and the public to discuss solutions to the major challenges…
sheril | October 20, 2008We're here at the University of Minnesota for Innovation 2008:
This conference, held on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota, will bring together academicians, policy makers, business leaders, scientists, educators, artists, students and the public to discuss solutions to the major challenges facing the United States revolving around science and technology policy, including innovation, energy security and sustainability, health sciences policy, and our ongoing economic competitiveness in a high-tech, highly-educated global marketplace. The goal of Innovation 2008 is to…
sheril | October 19, 2008Just in case you missed it Friday, the front page of The New York Times featured science, technology, and politics:
For decades, the United States dominated the technological revolution sweeping the globe. The nation's science and engineering skills produced vast gains in productivity and wealth, powered its military and made it the de facto world leader.
Today, the dominance is eroding. In 2002, the nation's high-technology balance of trade went south, and it never came back. By 2007, the annual gap between high-tech exports and imports had grown to $53 billion. The gap this year is…
sheril | October 16, 2008No doubt. And yet, when NC, FL, and OH appear to be shifting toward ~475 nm...
sheril | October 15, 2008Here's hoping Joe Wurzelbacher makes a cameo on this week's SNL...
I can't believe McCain brought up autism again. And earmarks for the planetarium in Chicago. And Ayers. This debate feels like we're watching the 'Greatest Hits' of the McCain campaign.
Oh and on the last question, I have to agree with Chris. There's no doubt that on science, Obama is looking very presidential.
sheril | October 15, 2008What does the Filet-O-Fish at McDonalds have in common with that imitation crabmeat in California rolls and the uh, 'healthy' ingredient in beer-battered fish-n-chips?
Pollock: poster child of sustainable seafood.
Well the pollock fishery is now possibly on the brink of collapse. Managed through the distribution of transferable quotas, fishermen take over one million tons of pollock every year and it seems those critters can't reproduce and recover as fast as they're being harvested. Go figure.
Jennifer's got more detail in her guest post at Grist:
This is why Dr. Jeremy Jackson at the…
cmooney | October 15, 2008Given their unwillingness to debate science on the campaign trail, I've been down on both McCain and Obama. However, I increasingly must acknowledge that even as McCain went and appointed an anti-science running mate and started scoring cheap political points by attacking government science projects, Obama has started to truly shine when it comes to taking science policy seriously.
Yeah, he's had scores of Nobel Laureates endorse him, but that's not my only evidence. The most impressive thing Obama has done, to my mind, is this recent letter to Ralph Cicerone, president of the National…
sheril | October 14, 2008by Philip H.
DISCLAIMER - The opinions expressed in this blog post are those of the author alone. They do NOT represent the official opinion, policy, or action of any governmental agency the author may work for or have ever worked for at the county, state or federal level. If you do not like the content or opinions, contact the author, not your Congressmen.
Sitting in the doctor's office recently I actually got to read a printed copy of the Journal of the American Medical Association. JAMA is both the prestigious place to publish medical research, and something us mere mortals rarely get…
sheril | October 13, 2008It's sure been a stormy October, but Monday's numbers are looking up. Way up. And in an odd coincidence, it's another reason to mention 1933 today.
sheril | October 13, 2008Science, New Series, Vol. 77, No. 2003, Issue Containing the Preliminary Program of the Chicago Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Associated Societies May 19, 1933, p. 464
ENTERTAINMENT FOR LADIES
Mrs. Henry Gale, chairman of the Ladies' Committee, has reported the present stage of plans for entertaining the ladies while their husbands are attending the scientific sessions. On Wednesday, there will be an automobile trip up the North Shore, luncheon and visits to two or three private gardens, with tea; on Thursday afternoon, a visit to the University of…
sheril | October 10, 2008
DNA testing has now proven that a pup carried by a female blacktip shark in a Virginia aquarium contained no genetic material from a male.
The research was reported in Friday's Journal of Fish Biology and marks the first verified case of asexual development in this lineage.
sheril | October 9, 2008This image on Wall St. is becoming all too familiar at CNN.com...as are rumors of another impending 'Great Depression'.
One year ago, the Dow closed at 14,164.53. Today's it's about to close at 8,579.19.
I'm not a financial analyst, but it's clear times are changing. And the Fed needs to act. Now.
cmooney | October 8, 2008I've now been writing for this website since October of 2007, and have delighted to watch it mature into one of the top sites for serious science policy analysis on the web. To that end, my one year anniversary column, entitled "A Year's Worth of Thinking About Science Policy," enumerates five of the recurrent themes that have emerged from the site:
1. We need a new administration that takes science much more seriously across the board--that listens to scientists, that follows recommendations and wants to restore integrity to science in the federal government.
2. We need a similar…
sheril | October 7, 2008In my final post over at NexGen, I discuss how to conserve what we have. And while there are several layers, the most obvious begins with YOU.
Because the truth is that personal decisions matter. Really. And like all those bumper stickers read, 'Think Globally, Act Locally.'
Head over and read a few steps toward energy conservation I've outlined. Remember that the future is what we make it and a lot of people, doing a lot of small things, adds up to real change.