The philosophy behind The Open Notebook web site: Despite the shifting marketplace for science journalism, expert craftsmanship still matters. The ability to recognize and sell important stories, ask incisive questions about complex subjects, and tell accurate, compelling stories — on shorter deadlines and with fewer reporting and editorial resources than ever before — is more vital than ever to success.
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In the news, patient safety is often a dramatic issue. Infected blood products and a stray surgical instrument that shows up on a post-op x-ray make for riveting and disconcerting reads. But addressing the problem calls for better communication on all sides and attention to even the most mundane details patient after patient, day after day.
Even well-intentioned suggestions can lead to unintended consequences. We can all agree that wrong-site surgeries are needless and tragic.
Open access at Nature. Not, UPDATED: Still Not. UPDATED AGAIN: OK now. Journalism as Churnalism. The Sixth Extinction is coming, so take that, creationists!. Tag-team blogging about premenstrual dysphoric disorder
Since their introduction 50 years ago, lasers have gone from science fiction to everyday life. Now, laser technology is providing new alternatives to conventional methods in biomedicine, according to researchers who spoke on Feb. 19 at the 2011 AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C.
Scientists at The University of Texas Brackenridge Field Lab have been testing the control of invasive fire ants with phorid flies.
Current precautions to safeguard scientists and consumers from dangerous pathogens used in bioweapons research may be too restrictive, discouraging some researchers from staying in the field, federal officials said on Feb. 20 at the 2011 AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C.
Are science writers responsible for public skepticism about climate change? Is it OK to say extreme weather can be due to global warming? Should you trust health care web sites? Can cell phones cause brain damage?
If ancient hominids existed today, they might have a bone to pick with their vegetarian descendants. Meat gave our distant ancestors the brain power that makes higher-level decision-making—like, becoming a vegetarian—possible, according to researchers speaking on Feb. 20 at the 2011 AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C.
Speaking with a mouthful of pebbles didn’t cure the stutter of King George VI in real life or in the recent historical drama “The King’s Speech.” And today, scientists are still trying to develop effective therapies for stuttering, the focus of a session on Feb. 20 at the 2011 AAAS meeting in Washington, D.C.