Science in the Media
j7uy5 | December 4, 2006This is kind of an old story, I know. Still, every once in a
while it is good to revisit these things. When the topic
first came up in 2004, it was the subject of much newspaper space and
blog commentary. But now, it has pretty much faded from the
national consciousness. Has anything more come of it?
In a recent editorial in the American Journal of Psychiatry,
Gregory E. Simon, M.D., M.P.H., reviews the largest and most
informative studies on the subject:
href="http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/163/11/1861">
href="http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/163/…
j7uy5 | October 23, 2006More headline comparisons:
href="http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/15823690.htm"
id="r-1_0">College kids add on pounds past 1st yearSan
Jose Mercury News, USA - 15
hours agoAP.
BOSTON - The "Freshman 15" is more like 5 to 7, but it is followed by
the "Sophomore 2 or 3," say researchers who led two of ...
id="r-5_0">Freshman 15: Weighty IssuesEarthtimes.org -1 hour agoAlthough
the proverbial 'freshman 15' may be a slight exaggeration, researchers
have warned that this could be followed by a 'sophomore 2 or 3'
signaling a ...
href="http://www.ecanadanow.com/…
j7uy5 | October 3, 2006The
href="http://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned
Scientists announced the winner of their
Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest: Dr.
href="http://www.evansville.edu/prospects/areasofstudy/history/faculty.asp?print=1&">James
Lachlan MacLeod, Associate Professor of History at the
href="http://www.evansville.edu/">University of Evansville.
According to his webpage,
MacLeod studied history at the University of
Edinburgh, where his doctoral research led to his book,
href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Disruption-Presbyterian-Historical-Monographs/dp/1862320977/sr…
j7uy5 | September 29, 2006The voting closes tomorrow, so be sure to go vote for your favorite.
This is from a selection of political cartoons, in the "
href="http://ucsaction.org/campaign/vote_now_for_science_idol/forward">Scientific
Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest."
j7uy5 | September 20, 2006I find it interesting that one of the recipients of a Lasker Clinical
Research Award this year was
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Beck" rel="tag">Aaron
Beck. Dr. Beck is a psychiatrist. He is
widely regarded as the originator of cognitive therapy.
The rationale is outlined in the NYT
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/health/17lasker.html?ex=1316145600&en=f2f082f5fbdc459b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">article
on the awards:
The psychiatrist, Dr. Aaron T. Beck, 85, of the
University of Pennsylvania, won the Lasker clinical research award. Dr.…
j7uy5 | September 11, 2006There is a lot of
information about
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve_stimulation"
rel="tag">vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment
for depression, that you can get from the latest New York Times article
(
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/business/yourmoney/10cyber.html?ex=1315540800&en=7877734ab451d64f&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">Battle
Lines in Treating Depression, permanent link) on the subject.
Unfortunately, most of the good information is found by
following links. The article itself is pretty bad.
The author launched into a…
j7uy5 | August 9, 2006James Robbins, contributing editor at the National Review Online,
thinks global warming is a good idea. This is proclaimed in
his article, Hooray for Global Warming.
This is another version of the "CO2
is life" meme. And like "CO2
is life," it is utter nonsense. Anyone who would say that
fails to grasp a critical point about climate science. I've
never actually done a fisking, and I do not particularly care for it as
a literary form, but this one begs for it...
href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTJmNWI4N2Y2NTBmY2E3ZTIzZjcxM2IzM2ZjNjRkYWI=">Hooray
for Global WarmingSurf’s up…
j7uy5 | August 6, 2006We were asked to identify a film that did something positive for
science. I was not able to come up with anything, not being
much of a film aficionado. So I asked one of my contacts for
ideas.
My contact suggested the film,
href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118884/">Contact,
with Jodie
Foster, based on a book by
href="http://imdb.com/name/nm0755981/" rel="tag">Carl
Sagan.
Ms. Foster portrayed a scientist, Dr. Ellie Arroway. She
comes across as a regular scientist, not a token female; she is a
scientist who happens to be a woman. Plus, it deals with the
old science vs.…
j7uy5 | August 2, 2006I just finished reading a news release pertaining to a finding in
psychiatric genetics. I was prepared to be irritated, but was
pleased instead.
href="http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2006/ocd.htm">New
genetic findings add to understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorderKara Gavin
July 26, 2006
ANN ARBOR, MI – Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to
run in families, causing members of several generations to experience
severe anxiety and disturbing thoughts that they ease by repeating
certain behaviors. In fact, close relatives of people with
rel="tag"
href="http://www.med.umich.…
j7uy5 | July 27, 2006This is an archived article from 2004, scheduled to be posted today to
fill a vacation-induced gap.
A recent article in the LA Times reports on hazards associated with
herbal sex aids. This brings to mind a couple of reasons to
be
concerned about herbal products and dietary supplements.
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Potential
dangers may be hiding in herbal sex aids
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Timothy Gower
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);"> June 14, 2004
style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">[...] Canadian
researchers
underscored these concerns in May with an alarming report.…
j7uy5 | July 19, 2006This is a follow-up to
href="http://scienceblogs.com/corpuscallosum/2006/07/transgenic_drug_controversy.php">the
post from a couple of days ago. It might not make a
lot of sense unless you have read that post, or are otherwise familiar
with the issues regarding genetically-modified crops.
In general, there are valid concerns about genetically-modified crops.
However, it is important to think clearly about the issues
involved. Concerns about the technology that arise from a
generalization, may or may not
apply to a specific implementation of the technology. In
order to understand the…
j7uy5 | July 14, 2006A friend and colleague of mine drives around in a cute little VW bug
powered by biodiesel. There's a peace sign on the front of
it, which helps it get better mileage. But peace sign or not,
there has been an ongoing controversy about whether biofuels are worth
anything.
In this post, I provide a little amateur analysis of the whole topic of
biofuels, and comment on the most recent study of the potential
benefits.
The controversy stems from the fact that it takes a lot of energy to
plant, transport, harvest, and process the crops needed to produce
biofuels. Some analyses indicated that…
j7uy5 | July 7, 2006Usability Tips: How to read blogs more efficiently
I can tell that people are clicking on my "add to Bloglines" button,
but few are actually completing the process. I can only
surmise that people are clicking on it in order to find out what it
does. But if you click on it and you do not already have a
Bloglines account, the page you go to might not be too inviting.
I've decided to write this explainer to help.
I think that more people will get involved in reading and writing
blogs, if someone takes the time to explain a few things that make it
easier, and more fun.
Continue reading below…
j7uy5 | June 20, 2006I'm sitting here, wondering why in the world I wrote so much about a
topic that is of no more than passing interest to me. Perhaps
if I keep writing, I will figure it out.
Note: this will not make much sense unless you've already read Janet's
more recent post on the topic of breastfeeding, here:
href="http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2006/06/what_are_the_real_benefits_of.php">What
are the real benefits of breastfeeding? Statisticians weigh in.
You also have to have read the main article she cites, here:
href="http://www.stats.org/stories/breast_feed_nyt_jun_20_06.htm">What…
j7uy5 | June 8, 2006A news item that was displayed prominently on Google News
for a couple of days, which was picked up by hundreds of news outlets,
was an item about
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_Explosive_Disorder"
rel="tag">Intermittent Explosive Disorder.
One
example is
href="http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-rage06.html">here,
in the Chicago Sun-Times. This generated
a lot of blogging:
href="http://www.blogpulse.com/search?query=intermittent+explosive+disorder&offset=50&operator=and&start_date=&end_date=&sort=date&max_results=10">…