sheril | June 9, 2008On the political spectrum, regular readers know I'm pretty nonpartisan. Call me old fashioned, but the America I want to be a part of looks something like the vision of Marlo Thomas from 1974. I'll vote for a candidate supporting freedom, a green country, and a shining (healthy) sea. And most of all, I'd like a leader who fosters cooperation and encourages our children to grow up to fulfill their potential.
The Democratic party has chosen Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election and I'd like to welcome him to North Carolina this morning as he kicks off a two-week tour around the…
sheril | June 9, 2008Neil deGrasse Tyson is among the best science communicators of our time. I expect he wouldn't remember, but years ago when I was an undergrad fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, he encouraged me to pursue astrobiology. Eight years later, I cannot visit the Rose Center without wondering what I'd be up to today had I gone in that direction...
Needless to say, when Neil pens a NYTimes Op-Ed, I take notice. Now regardless of whether you agree with the methodology, he poses some thought-provoking questions:
If the general election were held today, Mr. Obama would win 252 electoral…
cmooney | June 5, 2008Maybe it's the bug I caught when I moved to LA. But increasingly, I've been thinking about how well science connects--or perhaps rather, fails to connect--to the entertainment industry.
It seems to me that there's evidence on both sides of this issue. Positives:
1. Hollywood made a science movie, An Inconvenient Truth, into a smash success that changed the global warming debate forever.
2. Many popular films and television shows--Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and CSI come to mind--have plotlines that are driven by science and technology.
3. There is certainly nothing virulently anti-science about…
sheril | June 5, 2008From here in DC, it's day three of Capitol Hill Oceans Week 2008. With little time to blog, the highlight from Wednesday's session on coral reefs:
Notable panelists, impressive powerpoints and a clear message: Corals are in serious trouble. Speakers were excellent, but this wasn't new information to many in the room considering coral reefs have been 'in trouble' every year of CHOW. After the discussion, scientists, hill staffers, and environmentalists proposed the typical questions. Ho hum.
Then it happened. A bright young 12-year-old girl approached the microphone. 'I've been diving…
cmooney | June 4, 2008I did my latest Science Progress column about last weekend's World Science Festival in New York, which I unfortunately could not attend, but which sounds like it was awesome. In my column, I simply had to rate the festival a success based upon how much of a splash it made, including in non-science media--places like the Colbert Report and ABC's Good Morning America.
Still, I think this coverage itself shows the dilemma of science today. For instance, although Good Morning America was very positive on the World Science Festival, something really struck me about how they summarized its purpose…
sheril | June 4, 2008My new pal Dr. Anthony Crider gave a fantastic talk at last month's AAAS Forum on Second Life and virtual worlds. Full disclosure: I was skeptical and even mildly anxious at the thought of wandering into a simulation I'd heard might rival scenes from Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut--only with vampires and uh, furries. Then I met Tony who convinced me it opens the door, errr... 'laptop', to seemingly infinite possibilities in science education! But you don't have to take my word for it--I'll let the brilliant and funny SciLands creator explain virtual worlds himself and skeptics can decide whether…
cmooney | June 3, 2008Following a Natalie Angier story about a science and humanities blending curriculum at Binghamton University, Sheril wrote in to the paper--and actually got published. Here's what she had to say:
As the product of an interdisciplinary graduate program, I cannot overemphasize the value of opportunities like Binghamton University's New Humanities Initiative.
Years after receiving my degree, I continue to inhabit the space between the sciences and humanities as a scientist at Duke working on environmental policy and as a science writer.
Experience has taught me neither field can be addressed…
sheril | June 3, 2008..back in the District for Capitol Hill Oceans Week (CHOW) 2008.
It hardly seems that a year has passed since last the marine policy crowd converged upon the nation's capitol. CHOW an annual event where we share stories of success, lessons learned, discuss impending trouble, and figure out what legislation may move. It's a week I've come to look forward to. Not only do I get the opportunity to catch up with old friends on both coasts, but we figure out how we're best able to work together.
Topics this time around include everything from the impacts of climate change to marine debris and…
sheril | June 2, 2008It seems the previous post has inspired the call for a special dedication to our distinguished boy band-loving scibling over at Gene Expression. So it's time to sport your fanny pack and get those fluorescent Reebok pumps out of the closet! Yes Razib, just for you... the premiere of New Kids On The Block in 2008:
sheril | June 2, 2008As tickets are going fast for the New Kids On The Block tour, Harrison Ford is starring as Indiana Jones in the summer's first blockbuster and a movie about Batman and the Joker nears premiere. Big hair is in and we await a President named George Bush out. There's conflict in the Middle East and a Mars Lander set to explore the red planet. Paula Abdul is driving the music industry, Madonna is topping billboard charts, and J. Crew's promoting jelly shoes as the summer's hottest accessory.
Oh. And it's 2008 this time around.
Now that I'm in my late 20's looking back at the sunset of the…
cmooney | May 31, 2008It doesn't look like much, and probably won't amount to much either. Nevertheless, the National Hurricane Center just renamed the remains of East Pacific Tropical Storm Alma--after crossing over Central America, this storm is in the Atlantic and should be called Arthur. I'm not even going to post a picture, because the cloud blob is now back over land again. But still, so it begins....
sheril | May 30, 2008From up in Juneau, Alaska, my pal Nick Bonzey at the US Forest Service thought I'd appreciate a good dose of nudibranchs, claiming 'these guys are MUCH cuter than your average sea cucumber.'
Admittedly, with photos like these from National Geographic's David Doubilet, Nick might just be onto something...
sheril | May 30, 2008Yes, there are jobs that offer women 'man sized paychecks', but I'm not encouraged looking at mean salaries in the sciences. While we ladies recently experienced a sightly higher percentage increase than the fellas, it seems to me something still doesn't add up:
sheril | May 29, 2008From the Washington Post:
NEW YORK, May 28 -- Some of the nation's leading scientists, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's top science adviser, today sharply criticized the diminished role of science in the United States and the shortage of federal funding for research, even as science becomes increasingly important to combating problems such as climate change and the global food shortage.
Sounds familiar...ScienceDebate2008 anyone?
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the city's science summit yesterday, calling science "just as exciting, just as cool, just as cutting-edge"…
sheril | May 29, 2008
Go visit AAAS for their news release on my recent panel at the 33rd Annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy.
New Media Pioneers Convey the 'Cool' of Science
[27 May 2008]
Speaking at the 2008 AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy in Washington, D.C., the speakers showed off online islands with virtual telescopes, blogs that network millions of science aficionados around the world, and media empires that include dozens of blogs and glossy publications that reveal the beauty and sexiness of science and technology.
My entire talk is now now available here and you can also…
cmooney | May 28, 2008Next week, our leaders will begin to debate legislation that would significantly curb U.S. greenhouse gas emissions--the Lieberman-Warner bill. This legislation is nothing if not moderate--not strong enough for many environmentalists, but way too strong for the likes of George W. Bush.
I've done my latest Center for American Progress column predicting how the debate is going to go, and focusing on one point in particular: Detractors of the bill are assured to cite its economic cost. But of course, those who argue in this manner all too frequently downplay the very real--and probably massive--…
sheril | May 28, 2008
Ocean acidification illustrated by David Fierstein (c) 2007 MBARI
Ocean acidification is intimately connected to our changing climate and as important as global warming. We're just not hearing about it in the news enough because the media has all but ignored the problem. So we must make the case that more scientists ought to be to be exploring the threat, educating the public as to why it matters, and implementing effective policy to mitigate the impact of excess CO2 in our oceans (and everywhere else).
My full post reviewing ocean acidification is now up over at Correlations.
cmooney | May 27, 2008Perhaps some of you already have heard of this book by David Michaels, entitled Doubt is Our Product--which is basically the most comprehensive documentation yet of the war on science being conducted by private industry. But nevertheless, I want to emphasize again that you need to check it out if you haven't already. See my review here, Science Progress's interview with Michaels here, and, if you're in D.C., a Center for American Progress event where he's speaking tomorrow that you should attend.
Basically, as the author of The Republican War on Science, even I found outrageous stories in…
sheril | May 27, 2008After a 423 million mile journey, Phoenix touched down on Mars. The first pictures have been beamed back, and so far, it's nothing like my my favorite Heinlein novel.
The immediate goals of the Phoenix mission are to study the geologic history of water, and to search for evidence that Mars may have sustained life. Continued research will be done to determine whether dormant organisms could come back to life.
We must now patiently wait for news of whether conditions on the red planet could have ever supported life. For complete coverage, visit NASA or Bad Astronomy. Of course, if…
sheril | May 23, 2008It's a rumor that has been percolating about the Hill for months... and now may be moving toward reality rapidly! Yes folks, it's time to get behind the Bush Administration on something.
It seems George W. Bush has plans to leave a 'blue legacy' and to that I say, go for it Mr. President!
No matter where you fall politically, we know our oceans are in serious peril due to overfishing, agricultural runoff, increased carbon sequestration, and a myriad of other threats. Fisheries are in dramatic decline, the pH of the marine environment is changing, and we've got ocean dead zones almost the…