Debunking the Zombie Apocalypse. No, parasites are not turning people into zombie cannibals. Dazzling Transit of Venus photos. In the RNA World, iron may have made RNA on steroids. Devising an elevator speech on scientific ignorance. Sexual division of labor — aka sexism — in neuroscience.
On science blogs
Transit of Venus next week, last chance until 2117! Astronomy is a dangerous profession. Measuring the solar system and exoplanet atmospheres. Chronobiology: Circadian rhythm roundup. Bioethics of amputation. Consensus on hormone therapy for menopause. How to write a book: Advice from 5 people who have done it.
First do no harm, except if you're screening for prostate cancer: the prostate-specific antigen test does more harm than good, but patients and docs say "La la la, can't hear you." Teleportation sets a new distance record; next stop, an orbiting satellite. The Heartland Institute cancels future climate-change denialist conferences and makes common cause with the birthers who deny Obama's US citizenship. The solar eclipse, in full photographic glory.
They are saying obesity is the scourge of the nation. It must be true because it's on television. Body Mass Index and weight-loss drugs. What docs should do about Fat City — and Fat Country. Evidence for the low-carb paleo diet. Evidence against the low-calorie low-fat diet. The Scienceblogging Weekly. Teleportation sets a record: 97 km. Was pornography the first cave art?
Science and politics and homosexuality. Should science writers boycott North Carolina? Current science says that same-sex marriage is good for public health and adds data to the old conjecture that rabid gay-bashing cloaks same-sex attraction. The gay caveman is exhumed. The Open Notebook presents quotes on quoting. Did dinosaur farts cause Mesozoic global warming? We don't know, but they certainly cause hot air in the media.
One of the disputed H5N1 flu virus papers is now out; the other is on the way. Two swell explainers explain that and much more. But wait, there's more in other H5N1 blog posts too. What does childhood bad behavior portend? How to read science news. Why sex robots won't eliminate sex trafficking. Twitter is terrible at prediction. NEJM 200th birthday, a medical timeline, and how the journal invented science journalism's schedule. Plus Atul Gawande's horrifically beautiful history of surgery,
Science Friday alert: Laura Newman on Warren Buffett's faulty choices about his prostate cancer. XNAs and the future of synthetic genetics: Potential applications for good and otherwise. H5N1 flu virus: The dispute about whether to publish goes on and on and on. Honk honk: Announcing the Golden Goose Awards for scientific achievement. SWINY's Bioethics Boot Camp is now at YouTube.
Once more, retractions in the news. Was Einstein's wife his unacknowledged co-author? Trashing conventional wisdom about cardiovascular disease. Fish oil may not be a panacea after all. Gum disease may not cause heart disease.
More on the limits of DNA and science writing. Dealing with complex statistical studies. The limits of Twitter as a tool for science writers. The limits of explaining why genes are not destiny. Here come the alien dinosaurs with high IQs. Chemistry lesson on the origins of chirality. The origin of life as a feedback loop: did life come from space, or was it the other way around? Robot news: Robowarriors, Robocops, Robosquirrels, and RoboBeatles
Brain mapping and debating a Connectome Project: the Brainbrawl displays science at its classiest. The Jennifer Anniston Neuron. Those mutant H5N1 flu virus papers will be published revised but not redacted. The FDA will not ban BPA, at least for now. Reading list for evolutionary economics. The Carnival of Evolution: computational trees, evolutionary trees, why humans are not apes, primate cooperation, humans and vultures as scavengers, what that new fossil foot tells us about mothering.