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Svec: Balance, Our Most Delicate Sense

The physical skill required to walk a tightrope differs little from that required to walk across a room, Carol Svec writes in Balance: A Dizzying Journey Through the Science of Our Most Delicate Sense. The body’s balance systems, Svec reports, integrate signals from the inner ear, eyes, and sensory nerves to enable us to stand up without toppling over, maneuver snaky mountain passes, and relish roller coaster rides. To research her book, Svec talked with scientists, clinicians, and individuals with balance disorders. She also gamely explored a tumbling room, swaying hallway, and menacingly named “Vominator.”

NASW Internship Fair at AAAS 2018

NASW student members looking for great internships — or news and science organizations looking for top interns — should plan to attend the 2018 NASW Internship Fair.

Slate announced for mid-term Board election

The Nominating Committee was asked to present an official slate of three candidates to fill a mid-term vacancy on the NASW Board. Use the "read more" link for details on the candidates and the election process.

From ScienceWriters: Why I rent office space

Science writer Mary Roach describes her transition from a home office to a series of rented spaces shared with other writers. "I spent 10 years working out of my home and much prefer having an outside office to go to."

Pendergrast: Memory Warp; Repressed Memory Epidemic

In the 1990s, many families were torn asunder by allegations by a family member of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse, evoked by what came to be recognized as harmful forms of psychotherapy. The notion of repressed memory, though widely discredited, has resurfaced recently “like a bloated corpse,” Mark Pendergrast writes. In two new books, Memory Warp, for general audiences, and The Repressed Memory Epidemic, a textbook, Pendergrast provides a contemporary perspective, along with recommendations for individuals and families, therapists, legislators, child protective agencies, and lawyers.

Volunteer opportunities, a special welcome, and more

A special thanks and welcome to NASW's new treasurer, Alexandra Witze. The Board voted to have Alex, a contributing correspondent for Nature and Science News magazines and first elected to the Board last year, fill the mid-term opening in the treasurer position created when former treasurer Robert Frederick departed last month to pursue a political run.

From ScienceWriters: Free tax advice from the IRS comes with a price

Taxpayers who make mistakes on their 1040 forms are subject to stiff penalties and interest charges, all nondeductible. Are taxpayers excused from those assessments if they're able to show their reliance on information in the IRS's own publications? Only in whatever kind of life is yet to come.

Rehmeyer: Through the Shadowlands

“Something is really, really wrong with me,” Julie Rehmeyer realized. Once an avid biker, she staggered when she walked. Everyday chores exhausted her. Some physicians she consulted dismissed or trivialized her complaints. The diagnosis, slow in coming, was chronic fatigue syndrome. The treatment options she was offered proved costly and useless. In Through the Shadowlands, Rehmeyer chronicles her decade-long struggle to cope with a poorly characterized illness, until an unconventional treatment brought the relief that had long eluded her.

Eleanor Spicer Rice: Common Ants

Ants outnumber humans by a ratio of one million to one. You may think of them as party-crashers at your picnic or invaders in your kitchen, but Eleanor Spicer Rice finds them beguiling, and wants you to learn more about the societies beneath our feet. Follow them home. Track their highways. Learn about a nifty science project, the School of Ants, and view close-up photos of ant life in Dr. Eleanor’s Book of Common Ants. Also check out her three companion books, Dr. Eleanor’s Book of Common Ants of California, Chicago, and New York City.

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