I wanted to rig up an electrified fence around the falsehood to keep the producers from sneaking back to it
Carl Zimmer on just how damned bad much science TV is. I've not advised programs, as Carl has, but the times I've seen subjects I'd written about covered on TV -- DBS for depression, and Williams syndrome, which I'd written about for the Times Mag and both of which were subsequently covered by 60 MInutes -- the TV results were truly appalling. And that was the hallowed supposedly best-of TV 60 Minutes.
It's nice when you see it done better. Too bad it's so rare.
More like this
Last week I linked to Carl Zimmer's take down of Casey Luskin.
Imagine a book I would write. On viruses (what else?).
Now, instead of it sounding like it was written by a chimpanzee who learned English from watching 'Waynes World' and 'Waynes World 2' on a loop + 4chan, imagine it was written by an articulate, science-literate human.
Everyone has a bad Monday every now and then, right? Here's one for you: at 7a.m. spilled an entire cappuccino on my laptop and at 7p.m. I hit some black ice on the highway and rolled (and totaled) my truck. That is what I call a rough Monday...but what a banner, no?
I knew I'd love Carl's Microcosm for the delicious irony of using a mere "germ" to illustrate