science & society
apalazzo | March 22, 2006Here's a site for you - Visualcomplexity.com
This site is the brain child of Manuel Lima who is now living in NYC (Edgar, you know this guy?). From the website:
Goal
VisualComplexity.com intends to be a unified resource space for anyone interested in the visualization of complex networks. The project's main goal is to leverage a critical understanding of different visualization methods, across a series of disciplines, as diverse as Biology, Social Networks or the World Wide Web. I truly hope this space can inspire, motivate and enlighten any person doing research on this field.
All you…
apalazzo | March 21, 2006I just read this interview with Allegra Goodman, author of the new book Intuition. What is the book about? From the NY Times:
A postdoctoral student at the Philpott Institute in Cambridge, Mass., has an astonishing result: a virus he engineered seems to cure breast cancer in mice.
Now the two lab directors, cautious Marion Mendelssohn and politically savvy Sandy Glass are arguing about what to do. Dr. Mendelssohn wants to take her time and make sure the results are correct before discussing them; Dr. Glass wants to make his move now, before a competitor hears about his work and beats him to…
apalazzo | March 16, 2006Early last year when the whole Larry Summers saga broke out, I posted some data on gender and science that was floating in the public sphere.
Here I've reposted some of this data. THEN I'll tell you some recent data from Harvard ...
From a NY Times article Feb 22nd, 2005Women in Physics Match Men in Success Dr. Ivie said the main reason fewer women made it to the top in physics was simply that fewer started at the bottom. At each job level, she said, the fraction of women matched what would be expected for women advancing at the same rate as men. And at top-tier universities, the percentage…
apalazzo | March 11, 2006I was way too busy to go to Jared Diamonds three talks, however I know someone who attended two of them. To read about "Master Diamond's" lectures, visit Tulula's Blog.
apalazzo | March 7, 2006Want to study lava? From the NY Times ... Fudge, corn syrup, and whiskey will do.
And I love this quote about science conferences:
The poster session, which resembled a science fair for professional scientists, was dedicated to innovative lecture demonstrations.
New study out in PLoS on the spread of gene variants across the human population - NY Times article. I still have to look at the original article, but I'm sure others at Scienceblogs will comment on it (Evolgen).
OK on to local news. Two good OpEds in the Boston Globe on state support for biotech/biomedical/life sciences and the…
apalazzo | March 5, 2006For those of you in the Boston area, the author of Guns Germs and Steel, and Collapse is giving 3 talks at Harvard this week.
Wednsday, March 8
Continental differences in human history
Jared Diamond, University of California, Los Angeles
8:00 PM
Hall B, The Science Center, Harvard University
1 Oxford Street
Thursday, March 9
Problem solving by human societies
Jared Diamond, University of California, Los Angeles
12:00 PM
Fairchild Lecture Hall, Harvard University
7 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge
Friday, March 10
A Surprise -- final lecture
Jared Diamond, University of California, Los Angeles
5:00…
apalazzo | March 3, 2006Well some discoveries are flashier than others. And to get the media's interest make sure your finding can be summarized with some catchy slogan and/or pun.
From a post on my old blog:
So my blog's been suffering from neglect. (I'm writing up a paper.) Hopefully it'll get in some journal, then I'll be a happy scientist! Speaking of happy scientist, check this photo out (to the right).
And why is he happy?
He not only just published a paper, but is on front page of Harvard's website. Check out the Harvard article, and the original article in Nature Chemical Biology. What a golden moment!
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