Science & Society

Decisive Advantage by Chris Potter in the Pittsburgh City Paper. If I had a kid who might want to go into research for a living, I'd want them to read this story. It gives some insight into what is actually involved in doing research, even though it avoids the frustrating parts of the job. The above article is a profile of a professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, Carey Morewedge. I think it is a good, well-rounded piece of science reporting. It presents the research in a way that is accessible to regular readers and uses some of this researcher's surprising…

(I recently discovered this series of entries about fixing science journalism, begun in February.  Because I just joined up, I wasn't able to add my two cents.  So I thought I'd add it now, since, hey, who couldn't use two cents?  My apologies if I repeat someone else's sentiment.) The website I log on to most is ESPN.com.  I don't know what that says about me as a scientist, but it says a lot about my interest in basketball.  I've been following the NBA since my early college days (was a Knicks fan, switched to Celtics when I realized the Knicks wouldn't be good for…

The New York Times recently published an article about bias against women and minorities in science fields (and schooling). I’ve written about this before, in my regular blog, and that was about a study from 2004. We’re not getting much better at this — or, if we are, it’s not fast enough. Consider this: The report found ample evidence of continuing cultural bias. One study of postdoctoral applicants, for example, found that women had to publish 3 more papers in prestigious journals, or 20 more in less-known publications, to be judged as productive as male applicants. And this: In a…

The United States and Russia are scheduled to sign a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) this Thursday in Prague. The previous treaty expired on 5 December 2009, making the absence of any treaty potentially more dangerous than signing one designed to be little more than face-saving. The Russians see it as a return to superpower status; the Americans have left open their development of a missile defence shield, thereby handing the Russians a reason to rip up the whole deal. We're back to the good old days! There is also liable to be some confusion as this should really be called START…

Any time a 'best science sites' list is created by someone outside the usual self-congratulatory, self-indulgent clique it's worth taking a look, namely because in this instance I found 5 terrific sites I had never heard of before.  I won't say who they are here because I don't want to play favorites but you may find one or two new ones also. These are not actually all blogs but 50 Excellent Science Blogs Anyone Can Appreciate is a list of good sites nonetheless.   Some are even terrific.   Sure, we don't do the self-promotion others do but neither does John Tierney, and that…

South Dakota Exempted From Laws of Science The South Dakota Legislature thinks that scientific laws are made up by people to suit agendas.Accordingly, they have invented some agendist stuff to make a political declaration that climate change is a myth.  Presumably, any of the good citizens of Dakota who believe this science nonsense about photographic records of ice melting must be deluded. Now, why does the sub-text remind me of the creationist / I.D. agenda? Is this what students are learning in South Dakota? How deluded will the voters be come election time…

Not long ago, I read J.R.R. Tolkien's mythopoeia masterpiece, The Silmarillion (his creation myth for the world of The Lord of the Rings). Upon finishing it, I immediately picked up Sparks of Life, a history of the spontaneous generation debates. As I was trying to wrap my head around the different theories of spontaneous generation, I felt like I was reading the same kind of book as The Silmarillion. This was a surprise, because the structure and content of the books were radically different. The best that I can understand it is to consider the mental gymnastics involved in making sense of…

I was working on a paper recently, and my boss included a editing note that got me thinking.  The topic dealt with certain circuits in the limbic network of the brain.  The note included the line: "limbic connections are very complex".   The point of the edit was to emphasize that problems in the limbic network (like seizures) are difficult to treat in part because every part of the network is connected to every other part.  Therefore, it's hard to pin down any one effect that one part has on another.  The essence of the edit is accurate.  The limbic…

Simon Singh Wins - US Law To The Rescue! The British Courts do not indulge themselves in bogus judgements - not even on April 1st. This article is genuine. A note on common law: Both the US and the UK are common law jurisdictions.  British courts will accordingly take note of US court judgements, but are not legally bound to follow them. Occasionally, a judge will recognise that UK law is insufficient alone to secure a just result.  In such circumstances the judge may be more inclined than otherwise to accept a sufficiently fair and just US ruling as providing a model and a…

Apocalyptic Sci-Fi: Dhalgren Dhalgren is an unconventional but outstanding post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel, and New York Magazine has an excellent feature piece on the book this month: Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren is—like Moby-Dick, Naked Lunch, or “Chocolate Rain”—an essential monument both to, and of, American craziness. It doesn’t just document our craziness, it documents our craziness crazily: 800 epic pages of gorgeous, profound, clumsy, rambling, violent, randy, visionary, goofy, postapocalyptic sci-fi prose poetry. The book is set in Bellona, a middle-American city struggling in the…