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On science blogs this week: Writing underwriting

No better place to commence this new column on science writing for science writers than with some optimism about clearing up our profession's cloudy future. Literally cloudy, according to Dot Earth's Andrew Revkin, who discusses what he calls "cloud financing" of investigative work by science journalists. Revkin's example is a Nov. 9 New York Times piece by Lindsey Hoshaw on vast trash heaps in the ocean.

Access to federal scientists

On his first day in office in January, President Barack Obama went to work for science writers as he issued a directive on transparency and access to government information. The new president issued an Executive Memo on "Openness and Transparency," reversing a Bush-era rule that favored secrecy over disclosure for requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

NASW, other groups protest FDA interview policy

In keeping with our commitment to transparency and free exchange of information, NASW has joined with the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ), the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and others in urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to rescind a policy that currently requires notification and official approval before FDA officials are allowed to speak with journalists.

Climate change and the carbon cycle: Surprises from the new "dismal science"

Kevin Gurney, an associate professor at Purdue University, showed high-resolution animated graphics of the past, present and future of climate change at CASW's 2009 New Horizons in Science briefing at the University of Texas at Austin. Unfortunately, his pictures suggest that carbon emissions may soon look a lot worse.

Doc talks whistle blowing and future genome-based drug treatments

Self-described as a science writer and the Bush Administration's worst nightmare, physician Bruce M. Psaty told CASW conference attendees what it is like to blow the whistle on the Federal Drug Administration's drug approval process.

Determining soldiers' vulnerability to PTSD and anxiety disorders

Imagine a team of researchers in the U.S. able to remotely track a deployed soldier's reactions to combat stress in Iraq with the accuracy to determine susceptibility to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the ability to administer quick preventative treatments. That is just one of the potential implications of Michael Telch and his team's research at the University of Texas at Austin in collaboration with 184 volunteer soldiers from Fort Hood.

Tapping into rich veins of information

Unmask plagiarism in PubMed by flagging similar texts. Assess disease risk by finding repeated DNA segments. These are just two applications for new analytical tools from the lab of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center computational biologist Harold "Skip" Garner.

If you build it, will they come?

So you finally got around to building a website to showcase your science writing business. Only it just sits there — nobody ever visits or calls. What to do?

What does your stuff say about you?

You have entered a college student's room. As your eyes scan from left to right, you are shocked to see a neatly made bed, folded laundry, and books not only in the bookcase, but alphabetically arranged. Even the slippers — slippers! — have been placed at a right angle to the bed. Ah, but there it is, sitting in a corner, a beautiful, bright blue bong inside a plastic crate.

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