Science Education & Policy
Officials from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have announced a new policy designed to increase data sharing among researchers whose work is funded by agency.
By October, 2010, NSF is planning to require that all grant proposals include a data management plan in the form of a two-page supplementary document. The changes are designed to address trends and needs in the modern era of data-driven science, officials say.
The new policy would require grantees to share their data within a reasonable length of time, so long as the cost is modest.
"Science is becoming data-intensive and…
The matter has indeed been discussed ad nauseam in the recent past. Blog posts, internal discussions, conferences, workshops, other blog posts, threads. But there is always the chance to add some bit of information to the soup, or -more easily- misinformation. In this case, the discussion invests mostly italian blogs, so I figured I would give you a summary here.
The topic is that of the communication of science, and more specifically, whether blogs are useful, whether they should be supported by the institutions, or at least recognized as a positive force, or rather watched with diffidence,…
The UK has a General Election looming on 6 May, thereby giving newspapers enough hot air to puff up their websites. But what should their science writers talk about during such times? With the launch of Britain's Science Party, science journalists can now also join in the ritual inflation of unlikely promises, although in science's case it is more likely a desperate attempt to be heard at all. Mark Henderson of The Times has, however, launched into this with a certain relish, without forgetting that the science reader also wants some data to bite on.
Henderson first sounds a cautious note in…
Researchers who blog are a rare and endangered species.
As far as rarity is concerned, it is easy to understand why that is so. Scientific research is a round-the-clock occupation, not your regular nine-to-five job. If a researcher has spare time, he or she is expected to invest it in doing more research: for Science is a mission, not a job! Because of that, finding the time to do outreach in a blog, broadcasting recent scientific results, or just expressing one's views is a demanding challenge, especially when one also has a family to attend to.
But scientific bloggers are also an…
Legislation introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) would require federal agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to provide online access to research no later than six months after publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
The legislation, H.R. 5037, would unlock unclassified research funded by the Department of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National…
Lego Turing Machine
I just came across a wonderful teaching aid:
Our success in implementing the Turing Machine as a physical device is exciting because the Turing Machine theoretical construct is such an iconic part of computer science. The Robotic Turing Machine is not in itself a practical machine, but it does illustrate the theoretical points made by Turing, and so could easily find application in the field of teaching. Illustrating the theory of a Turing Machine might be made easier with a physical machine at hand to aid in comprehension. Seeing a physical machine performing TM…
In Adventures in Ethics and Science, Janet Stemwedel asks some questions about peer review — its purpose and its effect — prompted by strong online criticism of a peer-reviewed paper that was published with at least some significant review comments ignored.
One particularly interesting statement that Janet makes is in the second sentence of this paragraph:
As Bora was the "editor" of the paper rather than an official referee of the paper, it’s not clear whether the journal editors overseeing the fate of this submission actually forwarded Bora’s critiques onto the author, or if they did…
Hank |
Bloggy recently crashed a meeting of The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS). What is that, you ask? Okay, I never heard of it either but their website says they are a "growing grassroots network of universities, scientific societies, science centers and museums, government agencies, advocacy groups, media, schools, educators, businesses, and industry - basically, anyone who cares about science and is concerned about national scientific literacy."
Okay, I am in. After all, since we made it fashionable, science literacy has become the new Prius. …
The public's fascination with the intricate machinery in the video for "This Too Shall Pass" by OK Go may help promote the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. This is an annual competition for students to show off their creative engineering skills in designing a complex structure to perform some mundane task. The inspiration comes from Goldberg's cartoons, which depict impractical devices for comic effect. Fans of Wallace and Gromit will also appreciate both the absurdity and ingenuity.
The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest (RGMC) brings the ideas of Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Rube Goldberg's "…
Textbooks are not mere non-fiction books. Whereas you can feel free to doubt what ispresented in a typical non-fiction book (mine excluded), textbooks are a record of the true facts and principles in a field. Textbooks, you see, should not be questioned.
Or, at least, textbooks have a knack at giving us that impression. Textbooks are, well, so heavy and substantial – they just feel true. Their typography furthers this perceptual effect; how could something in such a serious font not be true? (For example, LaTeX excels at perceptually amplifying the truth of theorems.) And not only is…