updates
mmckenna | June 10, 2010A coule of days ago, I talked about the link between a potentially massive hepatitis B outbreak in West Virginia and the lack of access to primary dental care. I was mushy qualitatively descriptive, ahem, about the number of people who lack access to dental insurance.
Comes now the CDC to save the day. In a statistical brief posted today, the National Center for Health Statistics gives a concise but thorough overview of the state of dental insurance in the US. Short version: Ain't pretty.
Crude preliminary population math:
There are currently 309 million Americans.
Based on census tables…
sheril | March 23, 2009Today, we move to our new home at Discover Blogs: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection
While we have immensely enjoyed being a part of Scienceblogs, we've decided together that it is time to move on. Our tremendous thanks go out to Seed for hosting The Intersection since 2006 where we've been honored to share the network with such an esteemed community of bloggers--many of whom have become good friends.
While we're excited to join Carl, Phil, and Sean, it is a bittersweet decision as we will miss the Sb 'family' tremendously. Of course, we will never be far--the blogosphere has no…
cmooney | March 15, 2009It's been a while since I had a good string of talks lined up--it's harder, I think, to do a lot of them from the West Coast. But now I'm back east and about to embark for the first two of these four upcoming appearances; so mark them down if you're in the area. And of course, when Unscientific America comes out, we'll both be traveling up and down the country (mostly the coasts, as usual):
Lynchburg, VA
Randolph College
Annual Thayer Lecture: "The War on Science is Over. Now What?"
Monday, March 16
7:30 PM-8:30 PM
The Wimberly Recital Hall, Presser Hall
Web site
Jupiter, FL
Scripps Howard…
sheril | March 10, 2009Chris and I have been hard at work planning something big... Check back at 11 for details!
sheril | March 4, 2009Guest post by Brian Hare, Evolutionary Anthropologist at Duke University
Last month, a 200 pound male chimpanzee named Travis mauled a woman outside the home where he has been living with his owner Sandra Herold. Charla Nash was nearly killed by Travis and now has life changing wounds to her face while Travis was stabbed by his owner with a butcher knife and shot dead by the police.
Was this incidence preventable or just a freak accident? Should chimpanzees and other primates be kept as pets? What is the effect of the primate pet trade not only on the welfare of these "pets" but on their…
sheril | March 2, 2009
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tumbled Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling to 12-year lows after insurance company American International Group's huge quarterly loss added to worries about the financial sector and the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost almost 300 points, or 4.2% to end at 6763.29, its lowest point since April 25, 1997.
While I hoped this email from last September was hyperbole, today I'm less certain. The world has changed, but I remain hopeful that with the right direction, we may yet recover.
sheril | February 27, 2009Mark your calendars for the launch of ASU's new Origins Initiative on April 6, 2009. Tickets go on sale next week and the event will be broadcast live online. It looks like a terrific line up including Stephen Hawking, Steven Pinker, Brian Greene, and new Director, (and Science Debate co-founder) Lawrence Krauss.
The Origins Symposium will inaugurate the new Origins Initiative at ASU, which will be a University-wide transdisciplinary endeavor supporting research building on key areas of strength at ASU including: the origin of the universe, origins of stars and planet, the origins of life,…
sheril | February 25, 2009
Readers at The Reef Tank were interested to learn more about marine science, so I was happy for the opportunity to chat with Ava earlier this week. As I explained during our conversation, aquariums need not be detrimental to biodiversity when managed responsibly. I suspect most people enjoy the hobby because they are also fascinated by and appreciative of the marine realm... a sentiment we ought to encourage if we plan to save oceans. An excerpt of our interview:
How did you get started in marine biology and why did you pick it as your study of choice? Was it about marine biology that got…
sheril | February 19, 2009
Listen to NPR's News & Notes today for our friend Al Teich--the Director of Science and Policy Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science--will discuss science under the Obama Administration, the stimulus package, and more.
Find your local station or listen to the podcast here.
sheril | February 16, 2009All the tropics folks have a habit of going on and on about species diversity, but it turns out the poles aren't as desolate as many expected. The Census of Marine Life has just released a report documenting about 7,500 species in the Antarctic and 5,500 in the Arctic including several hundred critters possibly new to science.
Stories circulating the media call the tally 'astonishing', but I'm honestly not surprised given how little we know about these regions. The most interesting revelation... Despite the 8,000 miles between them, at least 235 species live in both polar seas. Pretty…
cmooney | February 11, 2009I'm posting this on Sheril's behalf, as she is in the hospital right now:
Dear readers and friends in and out of the blogosphere,
I am extremely appreciative for so many emails during the past week. Thanks for offering your guestrooms, travel recommendations, and road trip advice. Thank you for invitations to speak at universities along the way and participate in dinners and happy hours. I am very glad to know so many thoughtful people follow our blog and have been happy to hear from several old friends I did not realize were readers.
Last week I also began getting emails from many planning…
sheril | February 4, 2009
The Continental Divide runs north-south from Alaska to northwestern South America. It separates waters flowing into the Pacific Ocean from those flowing into the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.
We stopped in New Mexico to document traversing this natural boundary...
sheril | January 30, 2009
While in Shreveport, Louisiana also we stopped at the Science Center to stretch our legs in the gift shop. Friendly folks, but still a reminder of the unfortunate Pluto affair. About half of the solar system mobiles, puzzles, and games had the 9th planet and the other half--not so much. What's a space-loving youngster to think? Ironically, I was wearing my Vote For Pluto t-shirt... My allegiances are with the underdog.
sheril | January 30, 2009Properly driving cross country involves stopping at unusual roadside attractions and sampling every regional delicacy you find. And once the landscape gets monotonous, calling into the local pop radio station to say you'd like to fill in as their guest DJ. Props to Brad Wells on Louisiana's Star 101.9 for indulging me.
sheril | January 30, 2009The wind drowned out my commentary over the river, but watch for the train:
sheril | January 29, 2009
This morning I woke up in Mississippi. Our highlight so far was Dreamland BBQ in Birmingham, Alabama. Has anyone been there?
I also gave The Flip a try when the sun appeared in Georgia, so here goes a test run:
Tonight, it's Austin, TX.
sheril | January 28, 2009
By the time this post publishes, I'll be on the open road somewhere between the Atlantic and Pacific. I'm leaving NC a couple months to circle the states for meetings, talks, and some fun along the way. Stopping soon at UT Austin before heading west to USC where I'm looking forward to catching up with Clifford. Then up Rt. 1, and Chicago by the AAAS annual meeting for the Valentine's Day Science Of Kissing symposium. Eventually, hitting up the northeast for a few weeks before looping back to Durham. I'm bringing this dandy little camera called The Flip along for the ride, so while…
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 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...