cmooney | January 27, 2009You can watch it here. Tons of funny stuff in Colbert's segment on science, which starts roughly at 6:15 and runs to roughly 10:45. I was on for about three minutes, and was instructed: "No monkey business. No evolution."
Of course, even though Colbert plays a rightwinger who thinks with his gut rather than his head and doesn't trust book learning, the truth is that his show features a ton of science content and, indeed, is doing vastly more than most other parts of the media to improve the role of science in our culture.
I was thrilled to be on.
sheril | January 26, 2009While Chris is overhead somewhere flying to New York, I want to remind readers to tune in and watch him on The Colbert Report tonight! He'll be discussing the 'war on science' and how the Obama administration can fix it.
And for those who just can't wait until then, here's Chris on The Daily Show to tide you over:
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The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Chris Mooney
Barack Obama InterviewJohn McCain Interview
Sarah Palin VideoFunny Election Video
sheril | January 26, 2009
Four hundred years ago, my hometown sure looked different to Henry Hudson...
This image from the New York Times provides interesting perspective on how times--and culture--have changed in Manhattan.
sheril | January 25, 2009Sb has a new guy who calls himself SciencePunk (aka 'Frank Swain'). He's from the UK and claims a history of 'making zines, being a filthy scenester, stage-managing burlesque shows, climbing buildings, hanging out with strippers, arguing the toss and generally being a force for good.'
I haven't followed his stuff, but the way this reads, we'll either get on like old friends from Gilman Street or fight like hipsters for the last pair of black rimmed glasses. So welcome to the Sb blogosphere Swain. As for our online relationship, only time will tell...
But for now, this goes out to you:
sheril | January 24, 2009
In two days, my favorite co-blogger will be appearing on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report to discuss the 'war on science' and how the Obama administration can fix it. With the nation abuzz over the stimulus package, melting ice shelves, and new cabinet appointments, it's a timely subject, no?
Chris has already shared some ideas at Slate.com and during his recent Bloggingheads diavlog with Carl Zimmer. It's also a topic and we explore comprehensively in Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future.
So with a lot more to come, tune in Monday night!
sheril | January 24, 2009
DeSmogBlog will be putting out a book and it sounds like the publisher is ready for a title. Our co-blogger there, Richard Littlemore is taking suggestions and I encourage Intersection readers to add your ideas to the mix...
Head over to provide feedback on the titles already being considered, vote, rewrite, or submit your own contenders. The three top possibilities win one of the great climate science books from the DSB library.
Here's the list so far*:
Climate of Change
A look into the world of global warming science and it's opposition
Climate of Denial
Climate Science Fiction
Exposing…
sheril | January 23, 2009Science bloggers are still abuzz over Wednesday's discussion of women in academia and now Razib (one of my very favorite sciblings) has taken the topic one step further. He collected data on the mean number of hours worked last week broken down by sex and compared that with the number of children per individual. I always enjoy reading Razib's amusing analyses (and justified reason to link great flicks from the 80s):
As you can see, the more children women have, the fewer hours they
worked last week (on average). Women are primary care givers, no
surprise. On the other hand, you can see a…
sheril | January 23, 2009
As we've announced, our new book due out this Spring will be entitled Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future.
We're in the final stages of editing the manuscript and will be able to say more about its content very soon, but for now, we're excited that we can finally show you the cover...
sheril | January 22, 2009Today the House Committee on Ways and Means passed H.R. 598 by vote 24 to 13. The legislation includes:
Investment Tax Credit Refundability. For alternative energy property put into service in 2009 and 2010, companies may apply for a cash grant equal to the value of the investment tax credit from the Department of Energy. DOE must make these grant payments within 60 days of receipt of the application and may not in its discretion deny any such applications that qualify for the credit. Companies may apply for the payments through September 30, 2011. The amount of the ITCs equal 30% of the…
sheril | January 22, 2009The Antarctic Wilkins Ice Shelf hangs by a thread. Its thinnest point is now reported at 500 metres wide and it could go at any time according to David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey. This will be the tenth shelf lost because of a warmer planet.
Look folks, the 'debate' on climate change is over and we cannot afford to sit idly by while 'observing the effects' (an analogy to Nero comes to mind). In the name of national security, it's past time to move beyond lip service by making plans to adapt and prepare ourselves.
sheril | January 22, 2009
My post yesterday on women in the academic workforce not only sparked some great comments, but also several interesting emails. One in particular got me thinking and with the author's permission, I have decided to pose his concern to readers:
Sheril,
Your piece this morning is closely related to my current situation and I'm not sure how to navigate these waters. I am a 3rd year PhD student in fisheries science at a public university in New England, the lone male in our cohort and very sensitive to the challenges facing women in academia through the awesome women sharing my office. None of…
cmooney | January 21, 2009My latest Science Progress column is a response to Seed's interview with the outgoing science adviser. All I can say is wow, Dr. Marburger, you really don't get it, and maybe you never will.
Either way, we Bush administration science critics remain entirely unimpressed with your inability to even properly characterize (much less answer) our arguments. And that wind of change that you might feel around you right now--we're part of it. You're not.
You can read the full column here.
sheril | January 21, 2009As Natalie Angier rightly points out, women are making tremendous strides in science and engineering earning 40 percent of U.S. doctorates in 2006 (up from eight percent 50 years ago). But we've still got a long way to go in terms of leveling the playing field after graduation.
Angier references a recent survey of 160,000 Ph.D. recipients that found 70 percent of male tenured professors were married with children while only 44 percent of their female counterparts were. Further, twelve years or more after receiving doctorates, tenured women were more than "twice as likely as tenured men to be…
sheril | January 20, 2009
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and
nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from
every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of
civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger
and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall
someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the
world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that
America must play its role in…
sheril | January 20, 2009
With inauguration day in mind, there is no doubt President Obama has made excellent choices for his science and energy team, but as I wrote over at DeSmog, do not declare victory quite yet... There are also signs that the administration could falter when it comes to dealing with global warming in the strongest possible fashion. In particular, other high level picks suggest there may be serious impending battles in the White House over climate policy. Here is an excerpt:
While global warming may be the world's greatest threat, the climate in Washington, DC is probably tepid at best…
sheril | January 19, 2009Saturday at ScienceOnline '09, Seed's
family in attendance gathered for a group portrait. Ghostly images are
the pseudonymous among us, but you can spot your resident blogger
peering up from the middle. See how many other SciBlings you recognize:
sheril | January 19, 2009It was a long, hard, and tumultuous battle, but the clash of the titans that began here at The Intersection--that will go down in science blogging history as the Great Marine Invertebrate Wars--has ended. And yes readers, our own fighting echinoderm has emerged victorious!
The final showdown happened this weekend when Jason of Cephalopodcast brought [pins of] the inverts to ScienceOnline'09 so attendees could take sides by declaring allegiances. And those poor squiggly cephalopods didn't stand a chance... It was literally a blowout as echinoderm fever took the blogging conference by storm…
sheril | January 18, 2009From the New York Times:
Sea level rise fueled by global warming threatens the barrier islands and coastal wetlands of the Middle Atlantic States, a federal report warned on Friday.
The report, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Geological Survey and other agencies, is one of a series examining the potential effects of a rising sea level on the nation's coasts.
The rise in sea level is accelerating, the report said, because warmer water occupies more space and because of runoff from melting inland glaciers and ice sheets. The Middle Atlantic States are…
cmooney | January 17, 2009You can watch here, and here's the embedded video:
Topics discussed:
Chris's optimism vs. Carl's skepticism on Obama's science policy
Weighing the costs of environmental regulation
Stop the presses! Did NASA just discover life on Mars?
The Sanjay Gupta controversy
Carl predicts artificial life in 2009
The future for science writing
Again, the whole thing is here.