Media
jtoney | June 20, 2011Source: Sheep purple Flickr Photostream.
Big Ag and antibiotics are becoming a lightning rod for a culture war of facts. Does agricultural use of antibiotics contribute to their diminishing effectiveness in people?
Liz Wagstrom, Chief Veterinarian of the National Pork Producers Council says no. In in a Letter to the Editor in The New York Times, she writes:
In fact, numerous peer-reviewed risk assessments show virtually no risk to humans from antibiotic use in animals.
...
The risk to public health from overuse or misuse of antibiotics comes overwhelmingly from human medicine, not…
jtoney | June 20, 2011On Father's Day, I received an email from the First Lady celebrating an exemplary father giving back to his community. One line at the end of the message struck me, referring to the "Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee authorized by Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee."
We aren't funded by Washington lobbyists or corporate interests. We rely on donations from people like you.
Is this really true? What do you think? I noted the specificity of the term "Washington lobbyists," and wondered about other qualifiers. Consider this:
From a February 15, 2008…
jtoney | June 18, 2011Odi Profanum Vulgus Et Arceo
"I detest the common crowd, and I rebuff them."
Bill Keller, Executive Editor of The New York Times, announced that a new section, Sunday Review, will launch June 26, including comics.
In a letter to their readers (June 19):
We're also adding new features, creating an opinion and news analysis section that carries on the best of the old with our vision for what readers will love. One page 2, you will find Frank Bruni in his debut as an opinion columnist. We're also offering comics on the back page, expanded space for editorials, but also more input from a…
pharyngula | June 18, 2011Ben Goldacre and others carried out a very interesting study: they analyzed the top 10 UK newspapers for a week for their health reporting, and categorized the quality of the support for health claims. It's not encouraging.
Here's what we found: 111 health claims were made in UK newspapers over one week. The vast majority of these claims were only supported by evidence categorised as "insufficient" (62% under the WCRF system). After that, 10% were "possible", 12% were "probable", and in only 15% was the evidence "convincing". Fewer low quality claims ("insufficient" or "possible") were made…
jtoney | June 11, 2011Data mining of the more than 24,000 Gov. Sarah Palin's emails released June 10 is an interesting test case in national news media using crowd sourcing to mine a large database. The example I found today is interesting indeed, providing insight into the preparation process of a politician for a news media interview - in this case with Glenn Beck.
Source Crivella West.
Unknown
From: gov.sarah@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, June 23, 2008 7:25 AM
To: Morgan; Katryn L (GOV)
Cc: Perry; Kristina Y (GOV)
Subject: Fw: Talking Points for National Interviews
Importance: High
Pis print
Sent from my…
jtoney | June 10, 2011Yes, I know that thousands of bloggers have been mining through the more than 24,000 emails released today from Sarah Palin's time as Governor of Alaska. I could not resist some data mining myself.
Here's my pick, for now:
If you would like to explore the direct source - not through major news media - here it is, from Crivella West, a firm that funded the enormous efforts of digitizing all of these documents from hard copies. Click here.
Note that you will find a number of her emails that include major portions blanked out, marked as "redacted."
I have highlighted issues of environmental…
jtoney | June 10, 2011
Dear readers,
I am delighted that I have joined journalist Chris Mooney at The Intersection, his blog for Discover magazine as a guest blogger. My first post addresses the question, Sexy Science: The New "Sizzle" in Advertising? I look forward to your comments.
jtoney | June 6, 2011This is incredible, from The Wall Street Journal!!
"I panicked and said I was hacked," said Mr. Weiner at the late afternoon news conference at a midtown Manhattan hotel.
What was he thinking?
See my previous post, giving him the benefit of doubt. So much for the dangers of hacking and computer privacy in this case, but it's all too real.
Excerpts:
New York Rep. Anthony Weiner on Monday admitted sending sexually suggestive photographs to women online but said he doesn't plan to resign from Congress because of the scandal.
"I panicked and said I was hacked," said Mr. Weiner at the late…
jtoney | June 1, 2011
According to Fox News:
The World Science Festival is launched today, June 1, in New York City, and:
... promises a number of mind blowing revelations. Just consider these ideas, among the many to be presented over the next few days:
* The first person who will live 1,000 years has already been born;
* Our daily physical realities are merely holographic projections formed by light passing through a thin surface layer that surrounds the universe;
* Doctors will soon be able to diagnose diseases simply by smelling them;
* As depicted in the film, "The Matrix," the workings of…
jtoney | May 24, 2011The Rap Guide to Evolution Music Videos, sponsored by the Wellcome Trust.
I've been exploring the use of rap and pop culture to teach science and mathematics, ranging from Lupe Fiasco to Linkin Park, but that topic is for another day. But anyone interested in evolution, whether student or teacher, could find this "Evolution Rap" a refreshing approach.
Bottom line: learning should always be this fun.
Lyrics:
"Yo, yo, the Origin of Species
Ain't no feces, dawg, believe me..."
And that's all I could think of
So then I thought, this needs to be re-written
By looking at the similarities in…
hrynyshyn | May 20, 2011A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I was a 21-year-old journalism student spending a couple of weeks as an intern at Science Dimension, a government-funded magazine (there weren't any private science magazines in the country). I was assigned two short features while there: one on canola bioengineering and another on Canada's asbestos industry. Both amounted to free publicity for industries heavily supported by the Canadian taxpayer, but I think the canola story withstood professional scrutiny. The asbestos piece? Not so much.
That story continues to haunt me. The only good thing I can…
pharyngula | May 18, 2011The Atlantic runs this regular column where they ask people about their reading habits — this time, they asked Aaron Sorkin, who sneers at the web and announces that he reads a couple of newspapers…or at least, he reads the front page and the op-eds in a couple of newspapers.
When I read the Times or The Wall Street Journal, I know those reporters had to have cleared a very high bar to get the jobs they have. When I read a blog piece from "BobsThoughts.com," Bob could be the most qualified guy in the world but I have no way of knowing that because all he had to do to get his job was set up a…
jtoney | May 11, 2011
This is a story of two fetching women, one known for glitz and vacuous socializing, one known for serious news commentary and for reinventing the television morning news show format. Yes, as my title reveals, they are Paris Hilton and Mika Brzezinski whose paths crossed unwittingly, emblematic of American female beauty and brains.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Brzezinski last night, as she was the Commencement speaker for our Graduate College. She shared with our graduates, predominantly women, the challenges of equality in the workplace - equal pay for equal work - detailed in her…
jtoney | April 27, 2011Source.
I had a dream last night of harvesting MMORPG time to save the planet. Let me explain.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) are deeply engaging millions of players, spending some 21 hours per week in a virtual world according to The Daedalus Project. The World of Warcraft alone has more than 12 million subscribers, part of an industry that exceeded revenues of $1 billion in 2008.
Consider the scale of the time investment - 12 million players averaging 21 hours per week!
MMORPG's allure is understandable. They offer an alternative experience in which one is freed…
jtoney | April 8, 2011
I had the pleasure of meeting recreational mathemusician (think about the implications) Vi Hart today at the "Thinking Creatively" conference on our campus. Watch this brilliant video (shown during her seminar) and learn mathematics like never before.
Vi's audience included not only design students and professionals, but a cohort of students preparing to become mathematics teachers. Her work is a beautiful example of bridging art, play, music and mathematics and, yes, pedagogy - the study of teaching and learning and how to connect with students. You can follow her videos here.
Bravo,…
jtoney | April 1, 2011Source.
What is the academic value of Jersey Shore's Snooki? I'll let my readers decide. But consider this.
According to NJ.com, Rutgers University paid $32,000 for this reality TV performer for a question and answer session with students. Academic value? Questionable indeed.
In contrast, Nobel Prize winner in Literature Toni Morrison will be receiving $30,000 for a Commencement speech at the same institution.
What are the implications for the relative value of entertainment and bone fide education in our society?
This is not an April fool's joke.
jtoney | March 30, 2011
Disaster relief for Japan has taken on many forms, and I applaud artists when they use their talents and their broad outreach to help the victims and their families. The band Linkin Park has responded in their own way, using graphic design guided by their fans.
This effort is part of the "Music for Relief" campaign.
You can view the CNN broadcast here about their design.
Linkin Park - Not Alone Lyrics
I break down, fear is sinking in
The cold comes, racing through my skin
Searching for a way to get to you
Through the storm you...
Go, giving up your home
Go, leaving all you've known
You are…
jtoney | March 24, 2011
This is a glimpse into the future of 3D technology, utterly fascinating.
From PopSci:
A new, truly 360-degree 3-D display has been developed by researchers at Osaka University. The fog display is created by three projectors each beaming a different image into a column of thin fog, making the resulting image appear 3-dimensional from all angles. This technique means that viewers can physically walk around the display to see it from different vantage points without losing the 3-D effect.
My colleagues at Kean University have been using CAVE⢠Virtual Reality for their research and teaching,…
pharyngula | March 24, 2011It's a woo-infested sewer, a cesspit of inanity and exploitation, and they cheat their writers. There is a strike/boycott in operation. This is what you get when an unprincipled, opportunistic hack like Arianna Huffington runs the show.
Guild tells HuffPost writers: 'Don't work for free'
The Newspaper Guild is calling on unpaid writers of the Huffington Post to withhold their work in support of a strike launched by Visual Art Source in response to the company's practice of using unpaid labor. In addition, we are asking that our members and all supporters of fair and equitable compensation for…
jtoney | March 24, 2011
Enthralled by the power of online social networking and search engines to advance my research projects and feed my insatiable appetite for information, I was under the impression that things were more or less under control. I was wrong.
It began innocently, with tentative explorations into Twitter feeds and Facebook pages from professional organizations, then expanded into LinkedIn. Whenever I find a new article of interest to my friends and colleagues, my instinct is to share with them, in the hope that they will learn from it and possibly use it in their work.
As a scientist doing…