Science & Society

In December 2008 CNN announced that it was closing down its whole science and technology production team and moving the environmental agenda into their general news. It was as if the news world had just lost a continent, prompting four of the world's leading science and environmental journalism groups to pen their first ever joint letter of protest. "In wielding this axe, your network has lost an experienced and highly regarded group of science journalists at a time when science coverage could not be more important in our national and international discourse." Nevertheless, the axe fell. One…

David Brin (author of The Postman) is interviewed this week as part of Nature's ongoing series of interviews with science writers: Brin got his PhD in physics and then left research to write science fiction: For every Steven King, there are a dozen guys like me who make a good living. For every David Brin, there are a dozen authors who have managed to make it their day job. For each of them, there are a dozen more for whom writing is a terrific supplement. His thoughts on getting the science right: Scientists are very happy to consult with an author for the grand fee of pizza and beer. So…

The New Cosmetic Surgery Journalism Prize will be awarded by DDr. Heinrich for outstanding reporting on New Cosmetic Surgery techniques. That's right, journalists. You can win a prize from a cosmetic surgery company if you simply write about the techniques used by their cosmetic surgery company.   Sure, it's like being a public relations flack but since it's a prize rather than a paid puff piece you won't feel dirty. They want your contribution to be be well-researched and include general legal disclaimers and information, like that cosmetic surgery is not actually taught in public…

In a column in Nature, Colin Macilwain suggests that bad science reporting is due in part to its relatively low cost: Propped up by the specious authority of their jargon and, most of all, by their cheapness to report — which stands in stark contrast to proper investigations of issues such as public corruption, corporate maleficence or industrial health and safety — essentially silly stories about science continue to fill newspapers and news broadcasts. Bad science stories basically write themselves, because the research has already been written up, published, and packaged into a university…

An investigative piece so explosive, no book company marketing hyperbole can be left out. "After reading BIG FAT LIES you will never trust the government again - Dr John Briffa" Hannah Sutter says she has used the analytical eyes of a lawyer to look at the facts and myths of obesity, health and diet and says the proportion of men and women classed as obese has risen steeply in recent years, though there has been no particular increase in the number of people who are overweight, and calorie intake has generally decreased. So we are eating less but obesity has increased. What's going on?…

You may think this is an odd claim from Think Training Development Limited, a company that specializes in Leadership Training, but it got them on a site with a million readers so, like a magician exposing trade secrets in a tell-all book, it may just work out. Picture the scene: your company is not doing as well as it could, your people need some direction; some motivation and you're the person to deliver it. If only you knew how. You need some help, so you book yourself on to an expensive Leadership Training Course. You enter the second rate hotel where the event is being held and a…

Marc Morano - Global Superhero In one of the most philanthropic gestures ever from a mere political journo-lobbyist, Marc Morano has taken upon his own shoulders the entire burden of global climate change. Marc_Morano does not think global warming is anything to worry about.  He is utterly convinced that it is the greatest scam in history, a fraud, a pack of lies, etc. etc. So convinced is he of THE TRUTH that he has made a most astounding offer.  Entirely of his own volition he has taken on the entire financial burden of damages payable to the world at large's children and…

Markets work well when there’s a chain from wholesaler to retailer to customer…and back. If none of the customer payments makes it back to the wholesaler, soon there may be few to no wholesalers producing anything worth buying. That’s bad for wholesalers, bad for retailers, and bad for customers. That’s why, for example, Napster, Youtube and torrents upset the system.  Now let’s consider the analog for science journalism, which aims to bring science to the public. If we were to try to force science journalism into the wholesale-retail-customer stamp, then scientists would be the…

I was asked the question, "What can we expect to see from science in the next decade?" My answer comes from the perspective of a social scientist, as I research social problems from the influence of cognitive neuroscience. I am inspired to write this particular analysis after attending the TED 2010 conference, which wrapped up this past weekend in Long Beach, CA. Some of you may ask, "What is TED? And how does it relate to science in the next decade?" TED is a conference held every year in California where the world's best thinkers, innovators, scientists, designers, engineers, entertainers…

It’s Valentine Day, and children everywhere celebrated friendship and love by giving cards and candy to their friends. In what alien observers must consider one of the most bizarre human customs, these same children were asked to draw lewd pictures of human private parts. You don’t think you or your children participated in this custom? Take a look a the figure below… I thought you might recognize it. It’s the Valentine heart, of course. But what you may have failed to consciously notice – and what gives the alien observers the giggles – is that the Valentine’s heart is not just some…