Is evolution "just a theory?" Is there "proof" of climate change? Questions like those, Annalee Newitz writes, show how the public's understanding of scientific terms differs from what scientists mean: Quoting entomologist Gwen Pearson: "Things can be natural and 'organic,' but still quite dangerous. Things can be 'synthetic' and manufactured, but safe. And sometimes better choices. If you are taking insulin, odds are it's from GMO bacteria. And it's saving lives."
Science writing news
Gary Schwitzer discusses what journalists can learn from a BMJ editorial on sloppy animal tests: "If you saw the number of hyped stories about animal research that I've seen in 8 years of daily scouring of journalism, you'd know why I direct this note to journalists," he writes. "There usually aren't enough caveats. There usually isn't adequate explanation provided of how long and tortuous is the path between animal research and any human implication or application."
The Obama administration claims to be the most transparent ever, but that's news to journalists who "complain that they've been stonewalled, barred from talking to health agency staffers and experts, or required to submit questions in writing, only to get 'talking point' responses," Jenni Bergal writes in Nieman Reports. Also, the Society of Environmental Journalists complains about press restrictions at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Maria Popova unearths a passage from Canadian science writer Dan Falk's book The Science of Shakespeare, in which Falk suggests that the influence of the father of modern science is seen when the god Jupiter appears in a central character's dream in the final act of the bard's Cymbeline: "Jupiter is not alone in the scene: Just below him, we see four ghosts moving in a circle … Could the four ghosts represent the four moons of Jupiter, newly discovered by Galileo?"
Tabitha M. Powledge writes about anything but soccer, including the threats facing the three-banded armadillo, which is the official World Cup mascot, and about Brazil's progress in saving its rainforests: "It's a stunning achievement. The forecast is that clearcutting the Amazon rainforest will have stopped by 2020. In 2005, nearly 20,000 square kilometers were being cleared every year." Also, Why did so many writers believe that a computer had passed the Turing test?
The Lofty Ambitions blog offers pointers from some sources other than the usual suspects, such as this from Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato, co-authors of Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction — and Get It Published: "You must understand that how well you can write your book, indeed how good a writer you are, doesn’t initially come into play. First an editor must determine if your project is, in concept and focus, commercially viable."
He waited five months to post it, but Conor Friedersdorf, who puts out a weekly newsletter called The Best of Journalism, offers his personal list of 100-plus outstanding non-fiction stories from the past year. Categories include "The Art of the Personal Essay," "Man vs. Nature," "Sports & Leisure," "War & Peace," "Science and Beyond," and "Arts, Letters and Entertainment." Also, some observations on the list from Angela Washeck.
Summary: In Do Fathers Matter?, Paul Raeburn, a father of five, debunks myths and stereotypes of fatherhood, while highlighting the many ways fathers shape the lives of their children.
More than eight years after Twitter began, the editor of the New York Times has not yet filed his first tweet, AJR intern Mary Clare Fischer writes in an update on print journalism's slow adoption: "Newspapers across the country are paying more attention to how to motivate staff members to post articles to social media as a means to drive site traffic, especially amid print circulation declines and the dwindling relevance of the front page (and even the homepage)."