cmooney | October 9, 2007Disclaimer: This series of posts is not an endorsement of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. Rather, we are paying attention to Hillary because she has gone farther than any other candidate thus far in injecting science policy issues into the presidential race--and promising, if elected, to address the kinds of problems highlighted in The Republican War on Science and by The Union of Concerned Scientists and other organizations. We sincerely hope other candidates of both parties will follow Hillary's lead. And we already know, thanks to Bora's intrepid reporting, that John Edwards…
sheril | October 9, 2007Politics aside, one aspect of Hillary's speech last Friday really resonated with me. She describes the feeling of looking up at the night sky for Sputnik as a young girl:
And my memory of that, of peering into the sky in our backyard in a suburb of Chicago, I don't think we ever saw it although my friends claim that they had seen it, was so exciting that somehow we were connected to what that meant. And it was not only a thrill for a young girl, but it really did start me thinking.
I expect many of us have experienced that very same rush as children because we humans are born naturally…
cmooney | October 9, 2007I'm planning one or more additional Hillary posts today...as, I believe, is Sheril...but first, some updates.
As I mentioned yesterday, my Seed cover story, entitled "Dr. President"--or, on the cover, "Can Science Save the American Dream?"--is now up. This is an unapologetically idealistic manifesto about what kind of leadership we should have, what kind of leadership we deserve to have, in this country. As I put it:
"Indeed, a new president should embrace the language and values of science not out of idealism, but rather as the highest form of pragmatism. Policies work best when the best…
cmooney | October 8, 2007Without necessarily intending to, in her speech last week Hillary Clinton demonstrated just how irrelevant some criticisms of the "framing science" thesis have been.
Consider: Hillary is a politician, and she wants to deliver a message about science--a vastly complex subject with many diverse aspects. So what does she do? Well, duh, she frames. She pares down complexity, and emphasizes only those aspects of science that are tailored to resonate with her core audience. For a politician speaking about science, it could scarcely be otherwise.
Not only is there nothing wrong with Hillary's use…
sheril | October 8, 2007I've already explained I'm nonpartisan. I support R's and D's across the Hill for a myriad of reasons. That said, I've been observing firsthand the way funding for innovative scientific research has been repeatedly cut throughout the current administration's reign. In 2002, I spent months preparing a proposal for the 2002 EPA STAR Fellowship application (the only federally-funded graduate fellowships dedicated to environmental research), only to learn funding had been suspended after submitting my project. I've watched friends struggle to find grants to make it through another semester…
cmooney | October 8, 2007So: Sheril and I have decided to do something special this week.
You see, as the author of a recent Seed cover story on how the presidential candidates need to demonstrate scientific leadership, I was pleasantly surprised to find Hillary Clinton seize this very issue last week, with an inspiring speech and the release of a detailed list of policy proposals. Both bear further analysis...and that's what we're going to be doing here this week. Point by point, if you will.
True, Sheril is still allowed to blog about other stuff, and so am I. But as we swing into full campaign season, we couldn't…
sheril | October 6, 2007New life forms in a test tube might not be science fiction anymore now that Craig Venter has created a synthetic chromosome... but breakthrough or threat to humanity?
This article in the Guardian hints at both potential for solutions to climate change and new weapons for bio-terrorism. Sounds like a topic we'll be hearing more about with regard to political oversight on this kind of research akin to stem cell research and attack of the clones.
Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of…
cmooney | October 5, 2007
On the fifty year anniversary of Sputnik yesterday, the Center for American Progress launched "Science Progress," a new web and print publication dedicated to science policy. The editor in chief is Jonathan Moreno, a Senior Fellow at CAP and the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor and Professor of Medical Ethics and the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. His introductory essay is here. It includes a mission statement:
Science Progress proceeds from the propositions that scientific inquiry is among the finest expressions of human excellence, that it is a…
sheril | October 5, 2007Kicking off your holiday weekend with some lighter fare for Friday. (And as to my thoughts on Columbus and his day.. another time). The Health Section of Tuesday's Science Times featured this article about research out of Michigan State University on 'Friends With Benefits' (or in science speak FWB). Here are the dramatic findings from the abstract in Archives of Sexual Behavior:
'Friends with benefits (FWB) refers to "friends" who have sex. Study 1 (N = 125) investigated the prevalence of these relationships and why individuals engaged in this relationship. Results indicated that 60% of…
cmooney | October 4, 2007From conservative science writer Michael Fumento we note the following series of compliments and high praises:
Chris Mooney is a left-wing writer who specializes in injecting politics into practically any scientific subject you can name. Mooney could make a case that there would be no cavities but for conservatives and the GOP. His latest book is called Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle over Global Warming.
But as Steve McIntyre, the guy who put egg all over the face of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies for overstating U.S. global warming, notes and shows in charts: "…
sheril | October 4, 2007As readers know, I'd like to see sound policy in place to protect Florida manatees. Check out what Jennifer and the good folks over at Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project just made using footage from her internship at the Florida Marine Research Institute:
Not for the sqeamish among us, but the message is spot on. And you can bet when the notorious Randy Olson's involved, it's gotta be good...
Email Governor Charlie Crist and tell him not to downlist the Florida manatee.
cmooney | October 4, 2007
[Words heard round the world on October 4, 1957: "Beep. Beep."]
Fifty years ago today, the Soviet launch of Sputnik changed the United States forever--propelling science to the center of policymaking and launching a tradition of well-informed governance that, unfortunately, has since been in a woeful decline.
Luckily at least one presidential candidate wants to do something about it: Hillary Clinton, who will be giving a speech today on science policymaking at the Carnegie Institution. According to the AP she plans to unveil the following proposals:
_ Expand human and robotic space…
sheril | October 3, 2007Today's the day! Check out my new blog CORRELATIONS - a collaboration between WIRED Science and PBS. My first post is up introducing myself and foreshadowing some upcoming topics I'll be taking on alongside a very interesting mix of scientists and media experts.
And please do let me know what you think... Suggestions for topics, site feedback, and your ideas are welcome and encouraged on both open threads in comments!
cmooney | October 3, 2007Listen up, y'all: Nisbet has just teamed up with Dietram Scheufele, a colleague from UW-Madison, to pen a lengthy cover story for The Scientist that fleshes out the now uncontroversial framing science argument. Furthermore, Scientist editor Richard Gallagher strongly endorses the argument in his accompanying editorial:
Those opposed to framing, in addition to a wistful longing to have science truly understood, also hold a sincere concern. They fear that framing taints science, that it is spin, rhetoric, or propaganda, and that the discussion of science has to stand above such base activity.…
cmooney | October 2, 2007So: If there's one thing I never tire of doing....it's beating up on George W. Bush's record on global warming--which usually involves exposing the ridiculous lies and deceptions the administration has cooked up over the past six years so as to misrepresent either a) the science; or b) what the president/administration has said about the science.
And here comes my latest thrashing: Entitled "Beating Around the Bush," it's now up at DeSmogBlog. Money quote:
Many others will tell you that even if Bush now accepts the science, he isn't contributing helpfully to the policy mess anyway with his…
cmooney | October 2, 2007
...either that, or Greenpeace is much more clever than M. Night Shyamalan.
Hmm...given these two possibilities, I think the choice is an obvious one.
P.S.: Michael Crichton would have had us believe that aliens cause global warming. Nonsense. Don't listen to him. The aliens were always on our side.
sheril | October 2, 2007[DISCLAIMER: I expect Chris may not like what I'm about to compose because we both generally support the Center for American Progress. Still, you bet I'll speak up when they publish something downright irresponsible - even with the best intentions. That said, readers: What follows in no way reflects the opinions of Chris Mooney. And to my favorite co-blogger: Although I expect you're going feel I'm too hard on CAP, we both know you didn't bring me on board to agree on everything.] So here goes...
As stated above, until last week I thought the Center for American Progress was alright. I…
cmooney | October 2, 2007 Yesterday I did an interview with comedian/radio host Faith Salie of the new NPR show "Fair Game" about my Seed cover story calling for a science president in 2008.
Listen here.
It's a good fun conversation--especially when we talk about how to equip the candidates with hi tech science devices, as in the title above.
sheril | October 1, 2007Over at Jennifer's place, check out Carnival of the Blue V. As my west coast marine counterpart explains, it's a synthesis of the best ocean-related blogging. This month is definitely an interesting mix and includes my contribution on global warming's effects on sea turtles.
And keep watch here at The Intersection throughout October for some exciting new surprises. [Oh and hey, Chris, what was that you were saying about our traffic in August? It occurs to me today, that record no longer stands.]
cmooney | October 1, 2007
[The rapidly intensifying Hurricane Lorenzo makes landfall.]
I've done my latest Daily Green "Storm Pundit" post, about how this hurricane season is in some ways a lion, in others a lamb. Excerpt:
In short, not even a third of the named storms have attained hurricane strength this year, whereas over the previous four years, something much closer to a half have become at least this strong. (Note, however, that this year's Tropical Storm Karen may be upgraded to hurricane status in post-season reanalysis.) One reason for the relative quietude is that despite La Nina conditions in the Pacific…