science reporting
clock | December 5, 2008From PopSci: Return of the (Televised) Nerds:
The show not only delivers a healthy dose of nerd-culture references, it also offers up some legitimate scientific content, something that's pretty rare in mainstream television. How many TV nerds do you see engaging in real scientific banter? It's more than the big words and convoluted sentence structure; the dialogue actually contains scientifically sound ideas.
UCLA Professor of Physics and Astronomy David Saltzberg is the science man behind the curtain, and many of the punchlines. He also writes equations on the set's white boards. "Physicists…
clock | December 3, 2008
As you know, Anton Zuiker, David Kroll and I were on the radio earlier today, chatting for an hour with Ernie Hood of Radio In Vivo, here in Carrboro.
We discussed science communication, education, publishing, blogging, popularization, journalism, social networking, Second Life, etc. The focus was on ScienceOnline09, but we also mentioned The Open Laboratory anthologies (2006, 2007 and 2008), LabLit.com, the NCCU BRITE, Duke Health, Inside Duke Medicine, PLoS, BlogTogether, SCONC and, of course, our blogs.
Try to find an hour of peace and quiet and listen to the show here (mp3).
And then…
clock | November 24, 2008Science Communicators of North Carolina:
Connect with SCONC in a cool Co-Working Environment!
Monday, November 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Join your fellow SCONC members for a casual evening in Carrboro on Nov. 24. Headlining this month's meeting -- remotely -- will be SCONC's ambassador to Norway. Tour the area's first co-working venture (and a great place for freelance folks!) - Carrboro Creative Co-working. Details: www.carrborocoworking.com
clock | November 19, 2008And, while on the topic of "Science by press release", it struck me that announcing intentions of future research is a Good Thing. Isn't that what we are all talking about - Open Science?
If you signal in advance that you are working on something, you allow others to either move on to something else so as not to duplicate the effort, or to speed up their work in order to scoop you, or to give you a call and offer to collaborate. The second option is likely to be rare and localized in a few research fields that are hugely competitive (e.g., cancer research). The first and the third options…
clock | November 19, 2008There is an utterly confusing press release out today - Australian First: Kangaroo Genome Mapped:
Australian researchers are launching the world first detailed map of the kangaroo genome, completing the first phase of the kangaroo genomics project.
Why is it confusing?
Because we are used to seeing press officers and media botch the terms. They often use the words "map" and "sequence" interchangeably.
Mapping a genome means locating genes on chromosomes, i.e., you get to know where each gene is on each chromosome. For this, you do not need to know the sequences of any genes, and certainly…
clock | November 19, 2008Science Communicators of North Carolina:
Connect with SCONC in a cool Co-Working Environment!
Monday, November 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Join your fellow SCONC members for a casual evening in Carrboro on Nov. 24. Headlining this month's meeting -- remotely -- will be SCONC's ambassador to Norway. Tour the area's first co-working venture (and a great place for freelance folks!) - Carrboro Creative Co-working. Details: www.carrborocoworking.com
And if you can't wait five days, but only two, Carrboro Creative CoworkingOpening Party is this Friday:
We'll celebrate the opening of Carrboro Creative…
clock | November 6, 2008In today's News and Observer:
Mary H. Schweitzer, associate professor of paleontology at N.C. State University, will talk about how paleontology can help determine whether life ever existed on other planets.
She will speak at a Periodic Tables event sponsored by the Museum of Life and Science in Durham on Tuesday.
Periodic Tables is a regular program that gives adults a chance to learn and discuss the latest in science. Schweitzer will share her expertise in the field of astrobiology and explain how we can use the tools of molecular paleontology to detect biomarkers not only in fossils but…
clock | November 4, 2008The next Sigma Xi lunch pizza in RTP will be noon MONDAY, Nov. 17. Come hear Rob Dunn, assistant professor of zoology at NC State, talk about "Climate Change and the Neglected Majority." Dunn, among other things, is interested in insects and how changes in their distribution affect ecosystems.
Sigma Xi's Pizza Lunch speaker series is free and open to science journalists and science communicators of all stripes (feel free to forward this message to anyone you would like to be included). RSVPs are required to cclabby@amsci.org.
clock | October 23, 2008The W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology at North Carolina State University (which includes students, faculty and staff from Departments of Biology (formerly Zoology, my own Department), Genetics and Entomology) is a group I called home for a large chunk of my own graduate experience. Every year, on top of monthly discussion meetings for members, they organize other interesting events, including this one, coming up in two weeks:
The W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology at North Carolina State University announces its 2008 Professional Development Workshop:
Publishing and Communicating…
clock | October 6, 2008From SCONC:
Tuesday, Oct. 14
6 to 8 p.m.
SCONC monthly meeting - Whither (wither?) Science Journalism
Durham science journalist Cathy Clabby, formerly of the N&O now of American Scientist, discusses the sorry state of her craft in U.S. newspapers and magazines and shares some of the new venues that journalists are finding to publish their work. NC Biotech Center, #15 Alexander Drive, RTP. Congressional Room. Please rsvp@ncbiotech.org
clock | September 21, 2008Amy Harmon, a national correspondent covering the impact of science and technology on American life, answered questions from readers Sept. 15-19.:
Talk to the Newsroom: Amy Harmon:
Ms. Harmon, who won a Pulitzer Prize this year for her series, "The DNA Age,'' is part of a team of national reporters that focus thematically on contemporary social issues. She is interested in all the ways science and technology shape how we live. Her DNA series examines how ordinary people (including herself) are dealing with new genetic technologies that reveal perhaps more than we were ever prepared to learn…
clock | September 21, 2008The September 2007 issue of JCOM - Journal of Science Communication - (issue 3, volume 7) is online.: Next issue will be online on the 18th December 2008. There are several articles in this issue that I find interesting and bloggable.
Contents:
EDITORIAL - The better you know, the better you make your choice. The need for a scientific citizenship in the era of knowledge by Pietro Greco:
Martin W. Bauer is right, two evolutionary processes are under way. These are quite significant and, in some way, they converge into public science communication: a deep evolution of discourse is unfolding,…
awild | September 18, 2008Speaking of bad science reporting...
Not the right ant.
Nope.
Camponotus? You've gotta be kidding.
It isn't Lasius, either.
Nor Ectatomma. (And isn't that Corrie Moreau's copyrighted photo?).
clock | September 17, 2008From SCONC:
Wednesday, Sept. 17
6-7:30 p.m.
SCONC monthly meeting at BRITE
Please join us as we visit BRITE -- the Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise -- at NC Central University in Durham. (http://brite.nccu.edu) David Kroll, SCONC member, blogger and chairman of pharmaceutical science at Central, will be our host. We'll tour BRITE's 52,000 square foot laboratory and classroom facility where students train with scientific equipment and instrumentation found in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, meet some faculty, and talk about biotech drug…
awild | September 16, 2008Here's something that bugs me. Instead of emphasizing the real significance of the find, a discovery like the "Mars ant" Martialis heureka is usually condensed down to "Wow, this ant is weird!".
I've pasted below a sampling of leads:
Newly-Discovered Bizarre Ant - Boing Boing
'Ant From Mars' Discovered in Amazon Rainforest - Fox News
'Ant from Mars' found in Amazon jungle - Science News
But weirdness misses the point. We have weird ants already. The suicidal exploding Camponotus is plenty weird. So are the gliding ants, and the ants that swim. The real story here is the…
clock | September 15, 2008
First, there was the First NC Science Blogging Conference. Then, there was the Second NC Science Blogging Conference. And yes, we will have the Third one - renamed ScienceOnline'09 to better reflect the scope of the meeting: this time bigger and better than ever.
ScienceOnline'09 will be held Jan. 16-18, 2009 at the Sigma Xi Center in Research Triangle Park, NC.
Please join us for this free three-day event to explore science on the Web. Our goal is to bring together scientists, bloggers, educators, students, journalists, writers, publishers, Web developers and others to discuss,…
clock | September 13, 2008Everything about the Science in the 21st Century conference at Perimeter Institute can be found here.
clock | September 13, 2008Mimi and her husband took a trip to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, and all I got were these movies:
clock | September 12, 2008From SCONC:
Thursday, Sept. 25
11:30 a.m - 1 p.m
(Free lunch if you're early)
Lecture: "Shaking Up Computer History: Finding the Women of ENIAC"
Historian, computer programmer, telecommunications lawyer, and film producer Kathy Kleiman will speak about the women who programmed the first all-electronic programmable computer, ENIAC, over sixty years ago. Sponsored by Duke University's Office of the Provost, Office of Information Technology, Women in Science and Engineering, and RENCI.
Bryan Center, Von Canon A/B/C, Duke
clock | September 9, 2008From SCONC:
Saturday, Sept. 20
7:30 p.m.
"An Evening of Field Research and Exploration" Presentations by three National Geographic explorers discussing seals in the Juan Fernandez Islands of southern Chile; a 275-mile journey on foot through the Himalayas to the calving grounds of the Tibetan antelope; and Madagascar's endangered predator, the cat-like fossa.
Page Auditorium, Duke