Janet D. Stemwedel
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
July 11, 2009
At his lounge, the Lab Lemming poses an excellent hypothetical question about manuscript review:
Suppose you are reviewing a paper. Also assume, that like most papers these days, that it has multiple authors, each of whom applies his expertise to the problem at hand. And finally, assume that you…
July 10, 2009
Actually, the Free-Ride offspring are just taking a few art classes this summer. We haven't packed them off to live in a garrett somewhere. (Not that we haven't given the matter thought.)
Here are some drawings from their first week.
By the younger Free-Ride offspring:
The light brown lop-eared…
July 10, 2009
For the record, this is the entry I would have posted last Friday if I hadn't been occupied with provisioning for our Independence Day barbecue. (Indeed, regular commenter $0.01 saw me at Trader Joe's last Friday doing that provisioning. "I haven't checked the sprog blog yet," said she. "I haven…
July 10, 2009
Why is it that on hot days, the Free-Ride offspring take up the question of how animals stay warm on cold days? Does this kind of consideration make the heat seem more desirable?
Younger offspring: During the winter, why do some animals go underground to get warm?
Dr. Free-Ride: Why do you think?…
July 8, 2009
The Colorado Springs Gazette discovered that a summer intern in their newsroom published articles with plagiarized passages. The editor of the paper, Jeff Thomas, deemed this plagiarism a breach of the paper's trust with the public:
[R]eporter Hailey Mac Arthur, a college student doing a summer…
July 8, 2009
In case you're interested, Paw-talk, a website aimed at humans with pets, invited me over to chat about philosophy, ethics, science, and the use of animals in research. You can find that interview here.
It's also worth noting that the site features a number of interviews with science bloggers you…
July 8, 2009
Ed Yong and DrugMonkey have dusted off the invitation (seen here last summer) for readers to take a moment to introduce themselves in the comments.
It seems like a good idea to me, so I'm going to play along:
Who are you? (Scientist, philosopher, other? Student, parent, working stiff, blissful…
July 8, 2009
In my last post, I mentioned Richard Gallagher's piece in The Scientist, Fairness for Fraudsters, wherein Gallagher argues that online archived publications ought to be scrubbed of the names of scientists sanctioned by the ORI for misconduct so that they don't keep paying after they have served…
July 7, 2009
In the current issue of The Scientist, there's a pair of interesting pieces about how professional life goes on (or doesn't) for scientists found guilty of misconduct by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI).
Alison McCook's article, Life After Fraud, includes interviews with three scientists…
July 6, 2009
Somehow, without actually planning it, I ended up taking a ten-day (give or take) hiatus from the internets, during which I immersed myself in the three-dimensional world. During my time offline, I learned many things, among them:
Two weeks in a row of overnight flights east, coupled with…
June 26, 2009
At day camp yesterday, the sprogs (and their fellow campers) had a visitor:
Elder Free-Ride offspring; She was an astrophysicist. You know what that is, right?
She talked to us about studying light that comes from space, and all the different kinds of light there are traveling across space.…
June 20, 2009
Since the cool kids seem to be doing cyborg names today:
Get Your Cyborg Name
I'm actually a little frightened with how well my cyborg name comports with my intentions in blogging.
June 20, 2009
I thought I'd share a snapshot of my morning with you. For some reason, the internet seems like a good place for it.
The paper promised to be about the evaluation of evidence in understanding the assassination of John F. Kennedy. What follows are the notes I took during the approximately 25…
June 19, 2009
This just came up in a plenary session I'm attending, looking at how best to convey the nature of science in K-12 science education (roughly ages 5-18).
It's not really a question about the content of the instruction, which people here seem pretty comfortable saying should include stuff about…
June 19, 2009
As a brief follow-up to my post thinking about Dr. J's view that cats are a special class of being that ought not be used in research, I would like to assert that:
Some deontological approaches may be grounded in rational arguments while others are grounded in assertions. Kant, for example, offers…
June 19, 2009
Last week, the Free-Ride offspring and I used our Cell Project kit from Galaxy Goo to build some three-dimensional models of animal cells out of clay.
In addition to the instructions provided with the kit, we whipped out a biology text book to have a look at some photos of cross-sections of cells…
June 18, 2009
... from a secret location. Because, in light of fluctuations in the slug and snail population when I go away, I think they may read my blog.
Tuesday (day 39 of the snail eradication project) and Wednesday (day 40 of the snail eradication project) I found ten slugs each. No snails to speak of.…
June 16, 2009
Today, at R.E.S.E.A.R.C.H.E.R.S., Dr J. posted a picture of a charming looking cat with the following text:
As little as I can do to push back against the sick minded evil mo-fo bastards who think animal testing on cats is ok....from now on I will post occasional photos of cats as a reminder that…
June 16, 2009
A day later than promised, let's kick off our discussion of "Research Rashomon: Lessons from the Cameroon Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Trial Site" (PDF). The case study concerns a clinical trial of whether tenofovir, an antiretroviral drug, could prevent HIV infection. Before it was halted in the…
June 15, 2009
When the snail hunter is away, the gastropods will play.
It should be noted, though, that the slugs and snails I found today were not playing in my vegetable garden. That's progress.
Conditions this morning were dry and overcast. However, it rained a little over the weekend, and our wee lawn was…
June 14, 2009
One of the fabulous things about living in our Northern California climate (zone 16) it the ability to transform our yard into a mini orchard. The biggest challenge so far has been patience, given that it takes fruit trees at least a few years to hit a level of maturity at which they produce…
June 13, 2009
After the open house at the college radio station, I paid a visit to a now-defunct cafe that used to be downstairs from the radio station studio and found the following calculation written on the wall:
I'm a little uncertain about the first premise (that girlfriends are the product of time and…
June 13, 2009
A highlight of reunion at my alma mater, as far as I'm concerned, it that they open up the boat house and let alumnae paddle (or sail, or crew, depending on their druthers) around the lake.
I've missed the lake.
I was also missing the rest of the Free-Ride family, so I took advantage of the…
June 13, 2009
You may recall a couple years ago when the Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique started issuing badges.
Now, the Science Scouts have a spiffy new webpage and many new badges ... and there are rumors (or should I say rumours) that actual, physical badges,…
June 13, 2009
There are two main reasons I like harvesting crops from the Free-Ride garden. First, it means we'll have yummy, super-fresh fruits and vegetables to eat. And second, it often means we're freeing up space to plant another crop.
Even in Northern California, where it is said we have "climate" rather…
June 12, 2009
After a good long while hanging out and sucking wifi from MIT, I decided it was time to walk along Mass Ave to Harvard Square. The walk seemed significantly shorter than when I was a college student twenty (plus) years ago.
Possible explanations:
1. When I was a college student, I was working with…
June 12, 2009
Overheard at Casa Free-Ride:
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: Hey, some of the silkmoths are mating already!
Elder offspring: With each other?
Savor that moment of stunned silence!
A bunch of the pupating silkworms are still in the cocoons, but as of Thursday, about ten had emerged as moths. I was…
June 12, 2009
Owing to the fact that the snail eradication project (or at least, my direct involvement in it) is on a brief hiatus while I'm on the East Coast (and while my yard is still in Northern California), I'm going to be bringing you up to date on the garden in whose service I have been trying to control…
June 12, 2009
The torrential rain stopped (at least temporarily), so I got a chance to walk around a little. Having met my high school friend in Kenmore Square, I walked on Comm Ave (toward the Boston Commons) and hung a left on Mass Ave.
I decided I needed to check the functioning of the Harvard Bridge.
See,…
June 12, 2009
The Free-Ride offspring are almost at the end of another school year, so we thought this would be a good time for them to think about some summer reading recommendations. Each of them chose two favorite books that have something to do with science. Below, they offer their kid-to-kid reviews.
The…