ejohnson
Posts by this author
June 30, 2009
In a recent New York Times article, Grant System Leads Cancer Researchers to Play It Safe, the National Cancer Institute and parent institution NIH were taken to task for their biased funding of low-risk studies, which lead to what the article claims are few breakthroughs in effective treatment.…
June 30, 2009
Last Tuesday, West Virginia State Police arrested NASA climate scientist James Hansen for trespassing on a Massey Energy-owned coal plant near the state's Coal River Valley. Thirty-one demonstrators--also including actress Daryl Hannah and former West Virginia Representative Ken Hechler--were…
June 30, 2009
This book review was originally posted by GrrlScientist on Living the Scientific Life.
tags: book review, Sleeping Naked is Green, green living, environment, Vanessa Farquharson
Carbon footprints, global warming, green living -- are these phrases an inconvenient truth that keep you awake at night,…
June 30, 2009
This book review was originally posted by Greg Laden on Greg Laden's Blog.
previously reviewed
Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines is a book by Caroline Arnold and illustrated by Patricia Wynne for, I'd say, Pre-Elementary School kids and first/second grade. This is a good book to read to…
June 30, 2009
This book review was originally posted by GrrlScientist on Living the Scientific Life.
tags: book review, Unholy Business, religious antiquities, biblical antiquities, fraud, Christianity, Judaism, Nina Burleigh
There are two different types
of people in the world,
those who want to know,
and…
June 30, 2009
This review was originally posted by Brian Switek on Laelaps
Since the early 20th century, at least, young earth creationists have attempted to blame Charles Darwin for genocide, world wars, and whatever political movements seemed most threatening at one time or another (i.e. communism). What…
June 24, 2009
In the course of anthropological history, several developments served to set humans apart from other mammals: Tools, language, and domestication all played an instrumental role in shaping our evolution. Now, Razib of Gene Expression reviews a recently published book, Catching Fire: How Cooking…
June 23, 2009
A recent NEA survey of the arts revealed a dismaying trend: a consistent decline in public participation across nearly every discipline studied, including music, theater, dance and the fine arts. And while ScienceBlogger Chad Orzel points out that the survey neglected to include rock or pop music…
June 23, 2009
As the field of health care changes, so do its most staid institutions. Since its reorganization in 1900, the American Medical Association (AMA) served as a body of powerful political influence during the 20th century. But as Revere of Effect Measure and Joseph of The Corpus Callosum explain,…
June 18, 2009
As scientists often lament, science in the entertainment industry is often ignored or misportrayed outside the realm of science fiction. But two compelling new documentaries have ScienceBloggers hopeful that their messages will have the mass-market appeal of films such as An Inconvenient Truth or…
June 18, 2009
Last weekend, some ultra-powerful movers, shakers, and carvers of our planet caught ScienceBloggers' attentions. First, researchers debated the potential for Mt. Saint Helens to form a supervolcano, an extraordinarily large volcano with the potential to cause massive wildlife destruction and…
June 18, 2009
For more video book reviews by Joanne Manaster, see her page on YouTube.
June 18, 2009
This review was originally posted by Steinn Sigurðsson on Dynamics of Cats.
As I was strolling through town a few weeks ago, I saw a flyer advertising a talk on campus by Prof. Barbara Oakley, talking about her book "Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed and My Sister Stole My Mother…
June 15, 2009
Originally published on Pharyngula
When I was growing up, I had no introduction to evolutionary theory. Sure, I assumed it was true, and I went through the usual long phase of dinosaur fandom, but I was never taught anything at all about evolution throughout my grade school education, and what…
June 15, 2009
The observation of World Oceans Day June 8 sparked a lively online debate about the environmental repercussions of seafood consumption. Is it possible to know whether the fish you are eating is truly sustainable? Why is Pacific cod "safe" but Atlantic cod off limits? Is farm-raised salmon really…
June 15, 2009
Earlier this year, 23 international experts in science, media, and policy gathered at a science communication workshop in Washington, D.C. to present a number of guidelines for more effective science communication in the face of changing public perceptions. An article describing the eight steps…
June 15, 2009
The two major policy approaches to cutting carbon emissions, cap-and-trade and carbon taxes, both work by putting a price on pollution. Carbon tax—simply, a tax on fossil fuels—is intended to motivate businesses to conserve energy and switch to cleaner energy sources in order to save money. Cap-…
June 10, 2009
This weekend, with spring in the air, ScienceBloggers left their computers and stepped into the wild outdoors. However, as evidenced by the blog entries they scurried to post shortly thereafter, these are not individuals who take a lazy day off from science. From photographing an unidentified…
June 10, 2009
All scientific laboratories are not created equal, a fact evident in the differences in regulations and expectations between large research centers and smaller-scale labs. As Mike the Mad Biologist explains, large genomics labs in particular are subject to productivity standards, such as the swift…
June 10, 2009
In January, Barack Obama promised in his inaugural address to "restore science to its rightful place." The pledge was a win for scientists everywhere, and particularly for those working in the US. But now, with the European Parliamentary (EP) elections at hand, whether Obama's sentiments are…
June 7, 2009
Early detection can prevent almost 100 percent of colorectal cancer cases. Combating the disease is a question of social innovations that convince people of regular testing.
The Felix Burda Foundation, founded in 2001 by Dr. Christa Maar and Dr. Hubert Burda, with the quest to decrease the…
June 3, 2009
Though Liberia's 14-year civil war ended in 2003, wartime effects are still evident in the country's horrific incidence of sexual violence; between January and April of this year, Doctors Without Borders treated over 275 new cases of sexual abuse in Liberia, 61% involving children under the age of…
June 1, 2009
This week's Science Saturday is all about sci fi: John Horgan explores the connections between Battlestar Galactica and Terminator Salvation, George Johnson examines the science and the theology of Angels & Demons, and John and George discuss the nonsense of time travel in some popular science…
June 1, 2009
The anti-vaccine movement has infiltrated society so thoroughly that correcting the trend of misinformation might verge on the impossible, argues Liza Gross in a PLoS Biology paper published last Tuesday. The public's lack of trust in the authority and motivations of doctors and of governmental…
June 1, 2009
A new channel made its debut last week on ScienceBlogs: Information Science. Through feedback from the approximately 10,000 librarians who regularly visit ScienceBlogs, we came to realize that information and library scientists are positioned to offer a unique perspective on subjects that are…
May 28, 2009
When considering how best to reform the health care system in the US, a good place to start is to look at systems of both universal and private or employer-subsidized coverage around the globe. Starting this week, ScienceBlogger Mark Hoofnagle will do exactly that on denialism blog, beginning with…
May 26, 2009
In this week's episode of Science Saturday, John Horgan chats with primatologist Richard Wrangham about two features that define humanity: violence and cooking. They compare chimpanzee aggression and human warfare, discuss the ancient origins of food preparation, assess the raw food diet craze,…
May 26, 2009
Our physicists-in-residence at ScienceBlogs enjoy catching a few waves every now and then—but what kind? In the most recent installment of his Dorky Poll series, Chad Orzel asked his readers at Uncertain Principles which they preferred: Waves which oscillate perpendicular to their direction of…
May 26, 2009
A paper published May 19 in PLoS ONE has the blogosphere in a frenzy over a 47 million-year-old primate fossil unearthed in Germany that might be the ancestor of all modern day humans, monkeys and apes. Scientists discovered the fossil—they're calling it Ida—in 1983, but only recently has it…
May 18, 2009
In this week's episode of Science Saturday, philosopher Michael Murray and psychologist Paul Bloom debate whether naturalistic explanations for religious psychology should cast doubt on religious beliefs. They also discuss Paul's reasons for thinking religion is an accidental byproduct of…