Science & Society

I would like to inform you about a website I recently created for scientists to share scientific images: http://www.myartinscience.com MyArtinScience is a site that is designed to accomplish three goals: 1. To provide scientists and engineers a platform in which they can show the art that exists, as-is, in their work. Many scientists and engineers have products or side products that have aesthetic value and yet, because of seeing them routinely, they may not even regard them as beautiful, and they are. They act, sometimes, like those Parisians that are feeling blazé about their beautiful city…

It didn't disappear because it never existed in the first place. If true, and I believe it is, then the hoped for recovery cannot occur because there is nothing to recover! On that somewhat disappointing thought, I'm off to photograph what I can see.

Okay, now I'm really upset. I've been watching the news, and hearing all about the financial crisis hitting our country, and spreading throughout the world. AIG begs for a handout, and then goes on a $400K week-long retreat. (I'm not happy.) The Dow Jones that was above 14,000 a year ago is hanging on by its fingernails to stay in the 8000's this morning. Over 60% of the homeowners out there have mortgages that are higher than their current home values. But today, the final hit. Mother's Cookies abruptly closed its doors today, and filed for bankruptcy. Those wonderful pink and white…

Timo Hannay recently gave a talk "Scientific Researchers and Web 2.0: Social Not Working?", which is reproduced in this Nascent blog post. This is a sobering review of the state of social software in science and he lists several roadblocks to its widespread adoption. It is important to counterbalance the almost unavoidable hype that emerges from the enthusiasm of those energized by a movement. However, it can be a tricky endeavor to attempt to define success or failure, especially within systems that are evolving rapidly. Are you a failure if you only get 10% of your proposals funded? What…

And the controversy has started already. Two French scientists, Luc Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi are being awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering H.I.V. An American scientist, Robert Gallo, says he was shafted - he has frequently been credited as a co-discoverer of HIV. If the Nobel could be split among more than three people (the third person on this year's prize discovered H.P.V.), Gallo surely would have been included. Controversies over the Nobel prize and credit are nothing new, but they are bound to get much, much worse. Nobel-caliber discoveries being made today…

Old has its own rewards but how about the new? Specifically, 4.2 million new green jobs were predicted by the U.S. Congress of Mayors in their new report.(1) There are now, as I write, about 3,530,000 entries in a search for '4.2 million new green jobs', e.g. "US could create 4.2 mln green jobs by 2038 - study"(2) or "Report: 4.2 million new 'green' jobs possible"(3). My own "Happiness is a Green Job (Mayors)" includes that phrase as well.(4) Let's consider the definition of new, according to Merriam-Webster Online(5): 1 : having recently come into existence : recent , modern2 a (i): having…

You've heard the same cliche time and again: candidates will need to 'reach beyond' their respective political bases to appeal to a larger-than-usual body of independent voters. In actuality, there are about five independent voters and the rest are just people who won't be bothered to vote unless they are inspired. With both parties emphasizing 'making history' or 'making a change' rather than actually having a good plan and a solid candidate, behavioral scholars have a solution to appeal to that magical broader audience - accentuate the negative in the other party. It's not the same old…

The U.S. House of Representative’s rejection of the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the proposed $700 billion Wall Street bailout, was a prudent decision, say two University of Arkansas researchers who are closely monitoring the U.S. financial crisis. “The necessity of passing this particular bill was unclear,” said Tim Yeager, associate professor of finance in the Sam M. Walton College of Business and former economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. “Instead of purchasing mortgages directly at unknown prices, the government would be better off purchasing preferred shares of large…

Economic globalization and liberalization have been blamed for numerous social ills over the last two decades, including a sharp rise in interethnic violence in countries all over the world. Not so, say the results of a study conducted by researchers from McGill University and published in the current issue of International Studies Quarterly. According to Dr. Stephen Saideman and former student David Steinberg, the more government intervention there is in the local economy, the more likely inter-ethnic violence and rebellion becomes. Conversely, the more economically open a society is, the…

Applications for Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships In Science And Religion are now open. The fellowship enables ten print, broadcast or online journalists to pursue an intensive two-month course of study in issues of science and religion. The program includes three weeks of seminars at the university of Cambridge featuring eminent, well-known authorities in the field. Fellows are paid a stipend in addition to travel expenses to Cambridge. The fellowship, now in its fifth year, seeks to promote a deeper understanding and a more informed public discussion of the interface of science…