sheril

The week, the NYTimes interviewed conservation biologist Stuart Pimm--or 'Indy Pimm' as I like to call him--who works to save endangered species and places around the world from tracking elephants in South Africa to restoring Florida's Everglades. He holds the Doris Duke professorship of…

Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the fourth-ranking House Democrat and a close friend of Mr. Obama's from Chicago, has been offered the job of chief of staff, and although he was said to be concerned about the effects on his family and giving up his influential role on Capitol Hill, many…

Obama unoffical winner in North Carolina Democrat Barack Obama is the unofficial winner in North Carolina, but the victory over Sen. John McCain won't be sealed until provisional ballots are counted and certified next month. Unofficial returns show Obama ahead by 13,746 votes. Trends over the last…

On the dawn of what some anticipate will be a new golden age for American science, we must remember the challenges ahead for President Obama. Times of change bring enormous possibilities, and in our latest post at Talking Science, we discuss opportunities in the next Administration: President Obama…

"This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon…

Memo to Mrs. Dole: Those dishonest negative campaign tactics fooled no one.

by David Lowry From the battleground state of North Carolina, I am receiving text messages and phone calls urging me to vote about every half hour. Something special is brewing here, you can taste it in the damp air as the peak fall color of red and yellow leaves negates the need for sunshine.…

fivethrirtyeight.com: Obama 349, McCain 189 NYTimes: Obama 291, McCain 163, 84 tossup CNN: Obama 291, McCain 157, 90 tossup Readers projections invited......

From the New York Times: President Bush's aides have been scrambling to change rules and regulations on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights, among others -- few for the good. Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush's case it is more like a wrecking ball.…

Nate's got the final anticipated scorecard up: Now hold on tight as election day unfolds...

Today marks our inaugural post on our newest blog over at Talking Science; a very cool non-profit founded by NPR's Ira Flatow and dedicated to creating media projects which make science 'user friendly'. We'll be contributing to the biweekly 'Intersection Edition' where we'll blog about some of our…

Ill Doctrine is a hip-hop video blog hosted by Jay Smooth, the founder of my home town's longest running hip-hop radio show, WBAI's Underground Railroad. Watch, share, spread the word, and VOTE. You matter.

Not surprisingly, the winner of yesterday's Halloween poll asking what scares you most was b) Sarah Palin as President. More unexpected was the number of emails in my inbox by this morning requesting photos of my Sarah Palin costume--inspired by the reader who sent these umm, lovely images in…

Halloween 2008 and I'm dressed as GOP vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin. I tried to find a stuffed animal fruit fly to carry around as means to distinguish myself from the other Sarah Palins wandering 9th St in Durham, but to no avail. So it goes. And now for the second annual HALLOWEEN…

Following our first talk at Beyond Belief 3, we participated in this discussion with Tony Haymet, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Naomi Oreskes was also in our session, but unable to stay for the panel. Watch for interesting comments from Jonathan Haidt, Walter…

..she releases the most ridiculous negative campaign ad in history: The commercial comparing Kay Hagan to a dog was pretty bad, but now Elizabeth Dole is accusing a Sunday school teacher of being 'godless' with a fake voice over at the end. This is not politics. It surpasses bad judgment and I'…

So, what did folks think of last night's 30-minute spot?

Despite the economy, it appears some businesses continue booming. In July, we reported that Exxon Mobil posted a net income of $11.68 billion. Well, record broken. According to CNN, its third-quarter profit was $14.83 billion: The latest quarter's net income equaled $1,865.69 per second, nearly…

I contribute to another Seed blog called 'A Vote For Science' where we recently launched our 'YouTube Challenge': Scientists and Engineers for America Action Fund and ScienceBlogs have teamed up to bring you "A Vote For Science." Here we will feature videos of scientists explaining who they are…

Yes, we've heard all about it. I've been receiving a good deal of email and indeed, would have blogged Drosophila melanogaster earlier, but it's difficult to post while traveling. As Christopher Hitchens explained, curiously it's true: last Friday, when, at a speech in Pittsburgh, Gov. Sarah Palin…

Earlier this month, we participated in Beyond Belief 3 at The Salk Institute hosted by The Science Network. It was a great chance to air some of the arguments that are developing for our new book--which, as Chad Orzel just mentioned, will be entitled Unscientific America. Here is the first of our…

Research highlighted recently in New Scientist suggests that for the fellas, 'braininess boosts likelihood of sex': To many women, a smart man will appeal because he is likely to be clever enough to keep his family afloat. But he may also pass on "good" genes to his children, say Prokosch and his…

Orcas are one of my favorite species. Extremely intelligent and exhibiting many complex behaviors, they're simply beautiful marine mammals. Seven orcas are now feared dead in Puget Sound. If true, it could be the biggest decline among the sound's population in almost a decade. Possible causes:…

Check out this TalkingScience video Ira Flatow featured during his keynote at Innovation 2008 about CERN's Large Hadron Collider:

A highlight of Innovation 2008 was the keynote address by Ira Flatow, the host and Executive Producer of Talk of the Nation: Science Friday on NPR. His weekly show features interesting and lively discussions on science, technology, health, space, and the environment and he also founded…

Makeovers 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…