Science & Society

Science Reporting: Bad Because It's Cheap

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 pr ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Feb 25 2010 - 3:57pm

Sci-Fi Writer David Brin Reveals His Secrets

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 gu ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Feb 17 2010 - 11:06pm

Science Is Awesome! Sack The Journalists!

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 ...

Article - Richard Mankiewicz - Feb 25 2010 - 4:03pm

Where Science Meets Poetry

Where Science Meets Poetry Caveat:  it may strike the reader from what follows that I have an agendist stance against modern poetry.  I have no quarrel with that assessment. Quite obviously, science meets poetry in the field of linguistics.  But what if s ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - Feb 18 2010 - 5:34pm

Millions Fed: A Recommended Read

Millions Fed: A Recommended Read Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development is a recently published free pdf book which details case studies in sustainable food production methods.   The data is extensively peer reviewed and offers much of ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - Feb 18 2010 - 6:29pm

Healthy vs Pathological Skepticism

Physicist and sci-fi author David Brin on healthy versus pathological skepticism w.r.t. climate science: What factors would distinguish a rational, pro-science "skeptic"- who has honest questions about the HGCC consensus- from members of a Denier ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Feb 18 2010 - 10:38pm

Science Communication, Culture and the Media: New UK Government Reports

The British government has just published a whole batch of reports on science communication. The Science&Media Report was published on 20th January 2010, including a variety of supporting documents. The Science for All Expert Group has also just publis ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Feb 19 2010 - 11:39am

Blogging The 2010 AAAS Day One

In many parts of the country there is a recession but some segments are immune to the ups and downs of economic cycles.  Three are obvious; your lawyer, your accountant and hotels in towns where conventions are being held.  No matter how bad things get, th ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Feb 20 2010 - 1:01pm

Scientist, Hero

It's often the case that attending a conference like AAAS means you have to choose between competing programs, like the good stuff, the fun stuff and the stuff you will make fun of.  This morning I had one of each at the same time but since I didn ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 19 2010 - 4:18pm

A Real Dr. Evil

The FBI yesterday released a 104-page report laying out its case the the 2001 anthrax attacks were committed by a US Army bioweapons researcher, Dr. Bruce Ivans. Some are arguing that this report isn't conclusive and that the FBI is closing the case p ...

Article - Michael White - Feb 23 2010 - 10:17pm