UPDATED 11:37 7/21/2012, It's FDA Week! But not in a good way. FDA was revealed to have spied extensively on its scientists and also science journalists and politicians. The agency counterpunched by approving high-profile drugs for preventing HIV infection and promoting weight loss and treating myeloma and breast cancer.. It also banned BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups although there is no BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups.
Member articles
DNA studies reveal that the First Americans came from Asia in 3 main groups. And then they mingled and merged. The oldest American human remains, from Oregon, are now dated at 14,500 years ago. They are not bones. Tools from this site are different from Clovis, and maybe older. SCOTUSblog presents a tick-tock explaining how and why CNN and Fox News messed up the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision so badly. Is "Obamacare" a dirty word?
New record for retractions from a single author: 172. 13% of retractions come from anesthesiologists: Is there something in the air? The Higgs boson: Theology, epistemology, pedagogy, multimedia, and science writing. Sidebar on Jonah Lehrer, Malcolm Gladwell, and how to avoid accidental plagiarism.
CNN and Fox News declare Obamacare unconstitutional. But the US Supreme Court says the Affordable Care Act is constitutional after all, flabbergasting many. Prognostication's sorry record. The taxing politics of Obamacare; will people pay the penalty rather than buy medical insurance? Now it's up to the states, and some of them will decline to expand Medicaid. The law's impact on medical research is likely to generate ideas for science and medical writers. And in other news, more Higgs boson
The Jonah Lehrer Story: a whale of a tale of adaptive reuse gone wrong. How to make recycling your writing kosher. Did Lehrer plagiarize Malcom Gladwell, or did they both make use of William Goldman? Also: Black bears can count too, sort of. Also: Whooeee, the Higgs boson is back! And the buzz is that this time the Higgs is really real.
Gut feeling about the first papers from the Human Microbiome Project. Bacteria, fungi, etc.: Discovering the 90% of Us that is Them. Genetic manipulation of the mitochondrion: On the slippery slope to human genetic engineering? The Bonobo Genome Project is published. Next stop, World Peace?
Divisions occur when scientific findings have a direct relevance to things that affect us every day, or findings that could make significant changes in our everyday lives. As far as I know, The Heartland Institute has not posted any billboards comparing people who believe in black holes or the law of gravity with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. We accept these things because we can do so without making any changes in our daily routines.
Climate change deniers' problem is not ignorance. As an increasing body of peer-reviewed studies shows, people form their views based not only on the information they have, but also on their vested interests, their desire to fit in with their families and communities, the degree to which they trust the source of information, and how this information fits in with their values and established world views.
Where may I find information on what a good science communications plan ( or program) for a University involves? For a University-relations unit of a science-and-tech-heavy Center.
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.