science journalism

Apr 5 2013
- On science blogs
On science blogs: BRAIN-y

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

The Brain Activity Map (BAM) is now Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN). Obama proposes to spend $100 million in 2014 on developing neuroscience technologies, studying model animals, and planning for future neuroscience research. There are skeptics. The recent budget cuts are hitting both scientific research and patient care. Saint Jane Goodall has done some naughty things in her new book, but the media are reluctant to call it plagiarism.
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Mar 29 2013
- On science blogs
On science blogs: Immortality

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks goes on and on. Is consent all relative? The HeLa genome is not really Henrietta Lacks's genome. HeLa cells are not good models for human cells either. What can an anonymous public genome reveal? Journalists are also clueless about genomic ethical issues, apparently.
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Feb 22 2013
- On science blogs
On science blogs: The human brain, journalism, Darwin's finches

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

The moral of the Jonah Lehrer story: Science writing is impossible because of the human brain. Nevertheless, lobbying for the Brain Activity Map. The Darwin finch genome project. Obamacare news: the Republicans are bringing us socialized medicine.
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Feb 15 2013
- On science blogs
On science blogs: The Return of Jonah Lehrer

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

As you probably know, Jonah Lehrer again. Lehrer gave a Fat Tuesday talk explaining away his plagiarism and other sins against science journalism. The reviews were terrible. The Knight Foundation paid him $20,000 for the talk. The reviews were terrible for that, too.
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Feb 1 2013
- On science blogs
On science blogs: H5N1 flu virus & dead ferrets

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

Research on the bird flu H5N1 and its possible person-to-person transmission will resume. But what about those dead ferrets? Saturn and its moons via upgoerfive. Blog posts from ScienceOnline2013 have begun to trickle in. And yes, there will be #SciO13 video. Eventually.
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Jan 11 2013
- On science blogs
On science blogs: Get the lead out

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

So it wasn't the end of the world after all. Up next: Comet ISON. We'll see. The many medical developments of 2012. Contraception and Obamacare. Cardiology news. Teleportation and quantum computing on the way. Right after Comet ISON. Lead, the criminal element. So get the lead out. Blogging advice for the new year. Do we need a new policy on blogging comments?
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- 1025 reads
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- 2012
- 2013
- astronomy
- C. difficile
- cardiology
- comet
- contraception
- crime
- dermatology
- heart
- infection
- Ison
- lead
- medical research
- medicine
- Obamacare
- pediatrics
- science blogging
- science journalism
- science writing
- women's health
Dec 7 2012
- On science blogs
On science blogs: Lost in Space

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

Organic compounds on Mars! But Curiosity's carbon find might have come from Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, NASA announces another Mars rover for 2020. The National Academy of Sciences says NASA is lost in space and it's all Obama's fault. Meanwhile, in inner space, the backlash against brain porn goes mainstream.
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Nov 30 2012
- On science blogs
On science blogs this week: Backpedal

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

A NASA scientist calls new Martian data "one for the history books." So does that mean Life on Mars? Heavens no, says NASA. It was all just a misunderstanding. Tune in Monday to find out. Meanwhile, Elon Musk wants to send millions of people to Mars. How? Perhaps reusable rockets. Have they found the gene that makes us human? Oh, c'mon. You know perfectly well that no single gene makes us human.
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- blogging
- Curiosity
- Elon Musk
- epigenetics
- genetics
- Homo sapiens
- Mars
- microRNA
- NASA
- science blogging
- science journalism
- science writing
Nov 16 2012
- On science blogs
On science blogs this week: Spyfall

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

Spyfall: Finding a way to bring science to the David Petraeus-Paula Broadwell-Jill Kelley-John Allen-Frederick Humphries II-CIA-FBI-Pentagon-Gmail scandal. Lessons for digital privacy: There isn't any. If only Petraeus had known about oxytocin and the evolutionary trend toward monogamy. An oxytocin variant in C. elegans. A vegetative patient speaks, in a manner of speaking. The people speak too, and vote for legal marijuana. The result: more research and more work for science writers.
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- C. elegans
- cannabis
- CIA
- coma
- David Petraeus
- FBI
- marijuana
- monogamy
- oxytocin
- Paula Broadwell
- science journalism
- science writing
- vegetative state
Nov 2 2012
- On science blogs
On science blogs this week: The Climate

Written by Tabitha M. Powledge Blog

Hurricane Sandy and the science of weather. There's no way to know if human-caused global warming made Sandy worse--but humans are definitely responsible for the degree of devastation . Links to many Sandy photos. Sandy killed thousands of lab mice and rats but gave life to birders. Sandy, Presidential politics, and suddenly climate change is an election issue at last. The politics of health care and the Nate Silver backlash. Yes, it's yet more on Jonah Lehrer.
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