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On science blogs: Aggregating and thinking since 2009

How to write a blog post in an hour. Easy-peasy if you follow these rules. And leave out the interviewing. Not to mention the thinking. On Science Blogs: Aggregating and Thinking Since 2009! The state of U.S. health: Dismal. Murder by thallium. Transcranial brain stimulation for everybody, only $249.

From ScienceWriters: Scholarly pursuits

Whether we are trying to figure out how to avoid participating in a “trust fall” activity at an office team-building event or debating how much our key stakeholders trust the scientific information that they see in the media, trust is a recurring theme in our professional lives. With all of the time our community spends focusing on trust, we thought it would be worth exploring some recent research that can provide some insight into how issues of trust play out in science communication.

Wong: Environmental Legacy

NASW member Kathleen Wong and colleagues tell the story of the University of California Natural Reserve System (NRS) and its mandate to provide outdoor classrooms, protect research sites, and conserve ecosystems for the people of California. Wong, a science writer at NRS, pulled the book together in only six months.

Make your characters memorable

It's hard work to write pithy character descriptions. We struggle over what to leave in — and leave out — and whether we're being too mean to the villain or have become too close to the hero. How do we show instead of tell to create a character that no one would mistake for someone else?

On science blogs: Relations

Why 700,000 year-old horse DNA is a very big deal. Captive research chimpanzees are an endangered species. NIH is setting its research chimps free. Mostly. "Endangered" designation could affect hundreds of chimps in private research too. Rise of the blog networks. Parsing Obama's new actions on climate change. Are the debates about climate science over?

Follow WCSJ2013 proceedings online

The Eighth World Conference of Science Journalists opened today in Helsinki with about 850 registrants expected to attend. If you're not among them, you can check in via the Twitter hashtag #wcsj2013 or the conference Twitter feed. Also be sure to check the conference site for webcasts, or see Facebook and the conference program booklet.

On science blogs: Eyes right

Felicia the ferret, a heartwarming tale of particle physics in the last century. How to find fossils. How do seals breathe under sea ice? The US Supreme Court on Big Pharma's reverse protection racket, on prostitution in Congress, and more on the Myriad BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene patenting decision. What do you get when you smash galaxies together? Flights of fancy in the public relations department. Summer solstice!

From ScienceWriters: New standards to shake up science writing for kids

For many who write about science for kids, the ground is about to shift, or is already trembling. When the tremors stop, the altered landscape may hold new opportunities for science writers. The movements come in the form of nationwide initiatives to rewrite the standards for literacy, science, and mathematics.

An update on the Idea Grants program

Since its inception in 2010, more than $265,000 has been awarded in NASW's Idea Grants program. The Idea Grants program has been refunded for the coming year, and a new request for proposals will be published this summer. In the meantime, here are the winners of the inaugural ScienceSeeker Awards, funded by an Idea Grant. You can also read this list all of the Idea Grants awarded to date.

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