science reporting
clock | March 14, 2008Toronto SciBarCamp starts tonight and I am so jealous for not being there. Perhaps next time. For now, I'll just follow it via blogs.
clock | March 14, 2008Got an e-mail from AAAS and will try to go if at all possible:
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and North Carolina State University, will be holding a one-day workshop "Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers" on Thursday, April 3, 2008. We aim to extend an invitation to the faculty scientists, engineers, and Ph.D. students at your institution who would like to attend this workshop, in order to learn more about communicating science to news media and the general public. Please feel free…
clock | March 9, 2008SCONC Second Wednesday AND the BlogTogether bloggers meetup will occur jointly this month, at Tyler's Taproom, Durham!
Does science make you thirsty?
Jargon got you down?
Want to kick back with other SCONCs?
We're here for you. Come hang with other science communicators on Wednesday, March 12 and talk shop. Or not. Whatever. This is a social event, a chance to talk with people who share your passion for explaining science.
There's no official start time, but say 5-ish. Early arrivers: grab a table. Wear your SCONC pin to find each other.
Tyler's Taproom is on the American Tobacco Campus next…
clock | March 7, 2008News from SCONC:
On Thursday, March 27 at 4 p.m., the Zoology Department at NCSU will host a seminar from Patricia Brennan of Yale University entitled "The Biology of Avian Genitalia: Form and Function." Brennan's work on the genital anatomy of waterfowl has revealed the existence of a "sexual arms race" between males and females. Unlike 97 percent of bird species, male waterfowl have a phallus, and it can range "from a half-inch to more than 15 inches long." The seminar will be held in 101 David Clark Labs. Refreshments will be served in the lobby at 3:45.
Related:
Friday Weird Sex Blogging…
clock | March 4, 2008News from SCONC:
Linda Buck is the Nobel-Prize winner that may live farthest from NC (but still in the U.S.). She will give a seminar Monday, March 10 at 4 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Talley Center at NCSU. Buck won the Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004 for the discovery of olfactory receptors and subsequent work on the neurobiological basis for smell. The title of her talk is "Olfactory Sensing in Mammals." Buck is based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. This seminar is part of a series put on by the W.M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology at NCSU.
clock | March 3, 2008News from SCONC:
Oliver Smithies is the Nobel-Prize winner next door. A professor at UNC for almost 20 years, Smithies got the nod from Stockholm last fall. He will give a seminar at the Friday Center on Thursday March 6 at 6:30 p.m. in a lecture hosted by the Carolinas Chapter of the American Medical Writers Association.
Along with Mario Capecchi and Martin Evans, Smithies was recognized for his research on embryonic stem cells and DNA recombination in mammals. Their work on gene targeting in mice made it possible to study individual genes in health and disease--a fundamental breakthrough…
clock | March 2, 2008The March SCONC meeting will be Wednesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in RTP. The evening will include presentations on how NIEHS research impacts public health, the new NIEHS Web site and highlights of a few of the Institute's important research programs.
clock | February 24, 2008You may remember a few days ago I posted a link to the list of Obsolete skills (the links were to this post, this wiki and this wiki). The growing list is certainly fun to read and check off your own skills against it. Archy adds some more.
But, what I really liked, especially since this is a science blog, was this comment by Barn Owl, suggesting we list our science-related and laboratory skills that are either useless outside of the lab or now obsolete even in a science lab.
For instance, Anna has developed strength in in the muscles used in vial opening as well as the ability to eye-ball…
clock | February 5, 2008There were already two Science Foo Camps (in summers of 2006 and 2007) and two Science Blogging Conferences (in winters of 2007 and 2008).
But the hunger for such meetings is far from satiated. So, if you have time and money and can travel, you can choose to attend the SciBarCamp on March 15-16, 2008, where Eva is one of the organizers and Larry will be there.
Or you can go to the International Science Media Fair in Trieste on April 16-20, 2008. I'll be there, on two panels, one about Open Access, another on Science Blogging.
Or, a little later, you can attend the World Science Festival…
clock | February 2, 2008I've heard this one last year (02.16.2007) but heard it again today (it will probably re-air tomorrow - check your local NPR station) - the This American Life episode about Quiz Shows. It was composed of three stories:
The first one is kinda weird - the guy was lucky with questions on the Irish version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, he was shy and this win gave him self-confidence, and he is using the money to live and to help other people.
The third story totally floored me - I hope someone like Zuska or Amanda or Echidne does the analysis of it - it is about a failed quiz show for…
clock | January 23, 2008The Duke Medical Center News Office is seeking a Sr. Science News Writer to be responsible for planning, developing, implementing and analyzing strategic comprehensive and diversified media relations programs and tactics. Through direct support of Duke Medicine strategic objectives and the associated strategic plan, the Sr. Science News Writer accrues value to the Duke brand through local, regional and national news exposure.
The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor's degree in Journalism, English or a related discipline and at least 5 years of extensive media relations or science news…
clock | January 23, 2008Dave and Co. have been working hard over the past few months and now (actually on Saturday at the Conference) Dave announces that ResearchBlogging.org is live and in action! The BPR3 site, where the entire initiative was hashed out and built will continue to serve as the News Blog.
So, register your blog. Whenever you write a post about a peer-reviewed paper, put in the icon (if you want - you can make it invisible) and go to the RB site to resolve the DOI of the paper so it shows up in your post as a proper reference. Shortly after you publish the post, the link will show up on the…
clock | January 22, 2008The Science Communication Consortium presents:
DISCUSSION ON THE ROLES OF EMERGING MEDIA OUTLETS IN COMMUNICATING SCIENCE
Thursday, JAN 31st, 7-8:30pm
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, East Building Seminar Room (1425 Madison Ave at 98th St, NYC)
A discussion of how science is communicated effectively - and ineffectively - through emerging media outlets, such as blogging, podcasts, online multimedia, and more.
Blogs, podcasts, and other new media outlets have changed the way people learn about scientific info, and shortened the shelf life of these stories. This immediacy of information…
clock | December 4, 2007David writes:
Community is no longer a dirty or scary word. Sciam, Seed, in the US, Germany and all over the world. Online communities are becoming understood and a valued commodity. When Google bought YouTube I said the price they payed wasn't for the technology (they already had Google Video) what they bought was the community. News organizations realize that creating niche communities is a way to stay relevant to advertisers and readers.
And science journalism, which de-facto covers a "boring" subject to lots of people, can only benefit by creating a vibrant community of people who have a…
clock | November 30, 2007The editors of American Scientist magazine invite you to join them next week for the current installment of the fabled Pizza Lunch Seminar. This time, they have invited Alan Finkel, a neurologist at UNC Hospital, to describe his studies on migraines, cluster headaches and other, similarly delightful topics next Wednesday, December 5 at 12:00 noon at the Sigma Xi Center in RTP. The official title of his talk is "Headaches and Migraines: Causes, Treatments and Effects on Behavior." To put people in the right "frame of mind," a continuous loop of Alvin & the Chipmunks' "Chipmunk Song (…
clock | November 21, 2007It's been a while since I came back from Boston, but the big dinosaur story kept me busy all last week so I never managed to find time and energy to write my own recap of the Harvard Conference.
Anna Kushnir, Corie Lok, Evie Brown, Kaitlin Thaney (Part 2 and Part 3) andAlex Palazzo have written about it much better than I could recall from my own "hot seat". Elizabeth Cooney of Boston Globe has a write-up as well. Read them all.
So, here is my story, in brief....and pictorial, just like the first part (under the fold).
The Keynote
About an hour or so before the conference, we started…
clock | November 1, 2007The fifth Science Festival is going on right now in Genoa, Italy. It is a longish affair, from 25th October till 6th November, so if you just happen to be in the area you can still make it. They have hundredr of events, e.g., exhibitions, workshops, performances and shows, all related to science in some way and targeted at a broad audience, from children to senior scientists.
I wish I could attend the session on Rhythms of Life as well as the one on Where is Science Dissemination Going?:
Nowadays, almost 2/3 of press agency releases on scientific topics are based on news given by press…
clock | October 29, 2007If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may have seen this, this and this, i.e., an effort to design an icon that a blogger can place on the top of a post that discusses peer-reviewed research. The icon makes such posts stand out, i.e., the readers will know it is not a discussion of a press release or media reporting, or fisking of a crackpot, a meme, or showing a cute animal picture.
So, I am please to announce that the icons are here! Dave Munger explains.
Pick up the codes for icons on this page. Carefully read the Guidelines before you start using the icon.
See who is using the…
clock | October 17, 2007Nobel Prizes are not the only awards given in Stockholm these day. Karolinska Institute also gives an annual Lennart Nilsson Award for photography. This year's prize has just been announced and I am happy to report that the recepient is a friend of mine (and Scifoo camper), Felice Frankel for her amazing science photography. From the Press Release:
Felice Frankel, a scientific imagist and researcher at Harvard University's Initiative in Innovative Computing, has been named the recipient of the 2007 Lennart Nilsson Award. Frankel was sited for creating images that are exquisite works of art…