Science Education & Policy

El Niño is nothing new for fishers. Long before it was being used as evidence of climate change, fisheries management experts knew they would have to adjust, just like they will have to adjust this year. A new study shows how smart fisheries management overcame expected detrimental effects of coral reef fisheries impacted by the 1997/98 El Niño. The 17-year study led by Wildlife Conservation Society  fisheries scientists found that rapid implementation of fisheries restrictions countered adverse climate effects and actually increased fisheries catches, counter to predictions and findings…

Capturing an asteroid. Credit: NASA By Monica Grady, The Open University The golden age of ocean exploration had voyagers navigating new sea routes to uncharted territory. These territories were then claimed in the name of the monarchs who had financed the expeditions. All too frequently, this led to conflict between rivals, especially over lucrative trade routes, and piracy was either an occupational hazard or a perk of the job, depending on your point of view. The exploration of space can be compared with this early exploration of the Earth. There is now growing concern to ensure that the…

Credit: Khairil Zhafri, CC BY By Anita Collins, University of Canberra Recently, Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne and Arts Minister George Brandis announced $594,000 in funding for a new national music teachers mentorship program. The details have sent music educators and music education advocates into a flurry. And rightly so. Not only is this recognition that there is a problem with the delivery of music education in the Australia school system, but funding that offers an effective and sustainable solution is a watershed moment in music education in this country. Conductor…

Science can't tell us exactly when the rising oceans will swallow up the Maldives, but it can give us a good idea. Credit: Hiroyuki-H, CC BY-SA By Richard Pancost, University of Bristol and Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol Former environment minister Owen Paterson has called for the UK to scrap its climate change targets. In a speech to the Global Warming Policy Foundation, he cited “considerable uncertainty” over the impact of carbon emissions on global warming, a line that was displayed prominently in coverage by the Telegraph and the Daily Mail. Paterson is far from alone:…

Not enough tobacco company money is going into public health campaigns. Credit: REUTERS/Daniel Munoz By Nicholas Freudenberg, City University of New York The #20 Million Memorial created earlier this month by the United States Centers for Disease Control, is an online tribute to honor the 20 million spouses, mothers, fathers, children, sisters, brothers, and friends who have died of tobacco-related diseases since 1964. The memorial recognizes the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, the document that alerted Americans to the perils of tobacco. In some…

Eliminating subsidies that help low- and moderate-income people purchase coverage through government-run health insurance marketplaces would sharply boost costs for consumers and cause more than 11 million Americans to lose their health insurance, according to a new paper by the section of the RAND Corporation devoted to nationalizing health care. How is that number possible? Only 8 million people have used the new program and 74% of the sign-ups were previously insured. It's government accounting done by a think tank, in the form of a computer model they created based on static parameters…

Are awards and prizes in science a good thing? Or do they reward a tiny subpopulation of individuals at the expense of the community? On the whole I believe that awards for are a positive thing for the scientific world.  They draw attention to individuals that make a disproportionate positive difference.  In fact, I feel so strongly about this that in my field of stem cells I personally fund an annual award called the Stem Cell Person of the Year Award. This is now the third year that I have been doing this award. In the first two years of the award, the winner received not only…

Credit: EPA By Uli Beisel, Bayreuth University Despite it being nearly six months after the Ebola outbreak was confirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), we are still hearing stories of severe shortage of gloves in health facilities in West Africa. Many nurses have been asked to reuse them or merely rub their hands with chlorine after consultations. And, sadly, this is not an isolated report. Drew Hinshaw from the Wall Street Journal wrote about a heartbreaking scenario from Sergeant Kollie Town, Liberia in August: Rubber gloves were nearly as scarce as doctors in this part of rural…

If you've ever felt as though professors treat you with less than respect, you're probably not alone. Credit: Flickr, CC BY-SA By Brian Martin, University of Wollongong and Majken Jul Sørensen, University of Wollongong A female engineering student walked into her first lab class. One of the male students said, “The cookery class is in another room.” A professor was always willing to drop everything to talk with a colleague. But when one of his research assistants contacted him, he would say to come back later. A student wanted to do a survey and commented to a mathematician friend: “I think I…

Myths about the brain are common among teachers worldwide and are hampering teaching, according to new research which presented teachers in the UK, Holland, Turkey, Greece and China with seven 'neuromyths' and then asked whether they believe them to be true. Over 25% of teachers in the UK and Turkey believe a student's brain would shrink if they drank less than six to eight glasses of water a day, while 50% of those surveyed believe we only use  10% of our brains and that children are less attentive after sugary drinks and snacks. Over 70% of teachers in all countries wrongly believe a…