scientificactivist

From the archives: (19 January 2006) Which of the following does not belong? (a) abortion (b) medical marijuana (c) physician-assisted suicide Although all three are contentious and litigious medical issues, the answer seems to be choice (b), medical marijuana, according to the U.S. Supreme Court…

After it passed in the Senate on Tuesday, Bush proved he was as stubborn as promised and vetoed HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, on Wednesday. This was another step backwards for science in the US and a clear violation of the will of the American People. What a shame.

Since January, I've been covering Oxford's animal rights movement, and the response of local scientists, primarily through the organization Pro-Test. This post from the archives describes a particularly informative Pro-Test event. (26 May 2006) On Monday, May 22nd, an audience of about 100…

I'm on vacation right now, but I had to come out of hiding for this one. HR 810 passed in the senate today, 63-37. That was enough to meet the 60 vote mark for passage, but it won't be enough (four votes short) to override the presidential veto that Bush is still promising. The future of stem…

As the Senate votes today on HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, this post from the archives describes how the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has negatively impacted some researchers. In light of these facts, it's hard to not support the passage of HR 810. (25…

As debate begins today on HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, this post from the archives describes how some states have had to find their own solutions for supporting embryonic stem cell research in the face of a ban on federal funding. Hopefully tomorrow's vote will make these…

By the time you read this, I'll already be on a bus bound for Newcastle, where I'll spend the weekend before heading off to Bergen, Norway, for some much needed relaxation. I'm going to be gone for a couple of weeks, but have no fear! I won't be here physically, but I will be here in spirit and,…

Although a given scientific paper probably has at least something fairly interesting or unique about it, most people aren't going to be too interested in reading about, for example, the structural details of the protein-protein interactions between cytoplasmic integrin tails and focal adhesion-…

This week's Nature features a news article and editorial about Francis Collins--director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute--whose new book The Language of God advocates reconciliation between science and religion. Although the status of science in America could be improved by…

When I saw this earlier today, I knew I had to write a post on it. So, even though Afarensis beat me to it, I'm going to do it anyway. I just love this article from the BBC. It sounds kind of like what an elementary school student would write if he or she was suddenly endowed with professional…

It has been announced that the highly anticipated debate and vote in the Senate on HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, will take place on July 17th and 18th (next Monday and Tuesday). This is great news, but there's a catch. Although supporters of the bill (i.e. 70% of Americans) have…

Bush's plans to veto HR 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, after it is likely passed by the Senate sometime this year have generated quite a bit of notice over the last couple of days. If it were allowed to go through, the bill would effectively overturn Bush's currently standing…

According to this week's Science magazine, there's some good news and some bad news regarding open access publishing. Which do you want first? The bad news? OK, here goes. According to a letter (free access via Sex Drugs & DNA) authored by Michael Stebbins, Erica Davis, Lucas Royland, and…

It looks like everyone has a new angle on the recent Nature science blog rankings. Now, my blogging platform, Movable Type, is claiming its own bragging rights, noting that 30 of the 50 top science blogs are "powered" by Movable Type. (I guess Movable Type's idea of empowerment is making you deal…

As you may have seen, the web is all abuzz today with news and commentary on the 150th birthday of the scientists and inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla is probably best known as the inventor of the modern radio, but he had his hands in almost every area of electronics and magnetism research in his day…

It looks like the good folks at Seed (thanks, Tim!) have fixed some of the posting problems that were plaguing ScienceBlogs over the weekend. This means that the system is no longer keeping me from, among other things, using the word "drugs" in my posts. Therefore, I'd encourage you to go back to…

This week's Ask a ScienceBlogger question is: On July 5, 1996, Dolly the sheep became the first successfully cloned mammal. Ten years on, has cloning developed the way you expected it to? In short, my answer is yes. Although the number of species of mammals cloned has increased, slowly but…

On the 29th of June, the Senate finally announced an upcoming vote on HR 810, a bill which would overturn President Bush's current prohibitions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. As I reported before, the announcement has been anticipated for some time, and many were disappointed…

Word on the street is that people have had trouble commenting on some of the ScienceBlogs. I don't think there has been any trouble here, but if you have had any issues, give me an email at scientific.activist@gmail.com so I can fix any problems. Either way, there are a few people back at Seed…

Since all of my Fantastical Fridays posts so far have been about chemistry or physics, I think it's time for a change of pace. Here's a post I wrote a couple of months ago about some more "political" science that had been in the news. (24 January 2006) Now I have an excuse for my behavior the…

Since I recently wrote about nuclear disarmament, I thought a story from this week's issue of Nature would be especially relevant. In a news piece and accompanying editorial, Nature discusses the ongoing question of how the US is going to maintain its nuclear arsenal, considering its voluntary…

Yes, it's true. I've been called a "budding Matt Drudge." In a post on the recent Nature science blog rankings, The Tech Chronicles wrote: And Nick Anthis is a budding Matt Drudge. His revelations about a NASA official who was accused of squelching interviews about global warming contributed to…

This Thursday's issue of Nature ranks the top 50 science blogs on the internet and, somewhat surprisingly, The Scientific Activist lands in the #5 spot. The top 5, with their Technorati ranks in parentheses, are as follows: Pharyngula (179) The Panda's Thumb (1,647) RealClimate (1,884) Cosmic…

The newest edition of The Tangled Bank is up at e3 Information Overload. As usual, it's a great place to go and check out what people have been writing about in the science blogosphere.

This week's Ask a ScienceBlogger question is "What are some unsung successes that have occurred as a result of using science to guide policy?" I think there are several good answers to this question, including several successes in basic science (the NIH, basic science funding), health (vaccination…

The ScienceBlogs/DonorsChoose Challenge is now officially over, and Janet Stemwedel has the results at Adventures in Ethics and Science: 195 of you made donations. Together, those donations added up to $16,097.27. You also helped 4 of the 19 challenges meet their goals, securing an additional 10…

I've been following Oxford's pro-research organization Pro-Test since its inception, and a few weeks ago I wrote a post describing its second large march through the streets of Oxford. Pro-Test has received quite a bit of well-deserved press in general, but I was recently directed to another very…

There are a number of approaches scientists take to get at the fundamental nature of life, and one of those is elucidating the chemical structures of the molecules that make life happen, particularly proteins, which are the workhorses of the cell. One of the two primary methods for determining…

Before I get started here, I have a quick announcement. Seed is seeking reader-submitted questions to ask its ScienceBloggers, so if you have a burning question (and I know you do), submit it to askablogger@seedmediagroup.com. This week's (or last week's, rather) Ask a ScienceBlogger question is "…

Yesterday, the AP released a story describing the general approval within the scientific community of the science behind Al Gore's new documentary An Inconvenient Truth The AP contacted more than 100 top climate researchers by e-mail and phone for their opinion. Among those contacted were vocal…