Ten talented undergraduate students from across the United States and from Mexico City and Puerto Rico met in Washington D.C. Feb. 11-15 to report on the 2016 American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting.
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What sense is most closely associated with emotions? How much skin does a person shed in one year? Why is it difficult to remember dreams? If you often seek health factoids for articles on medical topics, The Handy Anatomy Answer Book belongs on your bookshelf. NASW member Patricia Barnes-Svarney and her husband, Thomas Svarney — co-authors of several science “Answer Books” — provide hundreds of Qs & As covering all organ systems, as well as basics of physiology.
WASHINGTON, DC (FEBRUARY 12, 2016) — Organizers of the 10th World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ2017) unveiled details of the conference at an information session held today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Announcements included the debut of a comprehensive conference website http://wcsj2017.org and the enlistment of several major sponsors, including a “Diamond Sponsor” contributing $400,000 toward the event.
In Jerry’s Vegan Women, a work of short fiction, Ben Shaberman traces the life trajectory of the title character who grows from a burger-loving sixth grader into an adult committed to animal welfare and a vegan lifestyle. In the classic tradition of the Odyssey, Jerry encounters women along the way — college classmates, animal rights activists, Humane Society volunteers, pet lovers, and others — who both inform and inspire him.
In Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder, science journalist Claudia Kalb illuminates common psychiatric disorders by exploring their effects on the lives of well-known people, including Albert Einstein (autism), Charles Darwin (social anxiety), Fyodor Dostoevsky (compulsive gambling), and Marilyn Monroe (borderline personality disorder). She drew on many sources, including letters, journals, and published medical records, and she interviewed biographers, mental health specialists, and others. Her aim: to reduce stigma surrounding mental illness.
In the Cancer Survival Guide, Charlotte Libov provides information on treatment and life after treatment for the thirteen most common cancers, including those of the lung, breast, prostate, and colon. She offers tips to help patients and families find clinical trials, cost-effective therapies, and free resources, and make sound decisions from the outset. She also includes information on prevention and early detection, including genetic tests that may enable family members to assess their risks.
The federal government has assembled a fast-track committee to encourage research into microorganisms, reflecting the recognition of their increasingly important role in human health and the Earth’s climate. Jo Handelsman, Ph.D., a Yale microbiologist and current associate director for science to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), described the initiative during her Patrusky Lecture at this year’s New Horizons in Science briefing.
Last May, when The Authors Guild launched its Fair Contract Initiative, the NASW board voted to add our name in support. As part of the initiative, last week The Authors Guild published an open letter to members of the Association of American Publishers demanding improved book-author contracts and requesting meetings with publishers to discuss “what publishers can do to ensure this business is fair and profitable for those who create the works that sustain it.” As co-signers of the letter, along with more than two dozen U.S. and foreign author groups, we urge you to learn more about the initiative and share the open letter.