Council for the Advancement of Science Writing

Newly reported observations of gas flows on the solar surface may explain why the sun recently had such an extended case of the doldrums. from /Science News/

Nearly two-thirds of those who undergo an invasive heart test called cardiac catheterization when they do not have diagnosed heart disease receive a clean bill of health, suggesting that the expensive procedure--which exposes the patient to substantial amounts of radiation--may be overused, researchers reported Wednesday. from the /Los Angeles Times/ (Registration Required)

Scientists are closer to unraveling the genetic pedigree of all backboned creatures, but the fish branches of the vertebrate family tree lack detail compared with those of flesh and fowl, a new analysis suggests. from /Science News/

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Associated Press) -- As they scrambled recently to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds around the country, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used a new tool for the first time--the frequent-shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe when they buy groceries. from /USA Today/

SEATTLE (Associated Press) -- Math and English instruction in the United States moved a step closer to uniform--and more rigorous--standards Wednesday as draft new national guidelines were released. from the /Chicago Tribune/ (Registration Required)

A former Food and Drug Administration economist last week estimated that food-borne illnesses in the U.S. cost $152 billion annually [1], or an average of $1,850 each time someone gets sick from food. ... [1] http://snipr.com/um30n

The /New York Times/ reported last week that the foes of evolution are linking the topic to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both subjects should be taught in public schools [1]. ... [1] http://snipr.com/unesp

Last week the /New York Times/ looked at whether the practice known as peering could change the fundamental shape of the Internet [1]. ... [1] http://snipr.com/um33p

It was reported last week that India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar spacecraft detected thick deposits of water-ice near the moon's north pole [1] in more than 40 small craters. ... [1] http://snipr.com/ulkif

/Smithsonian Magazine/ featured the work of "paleo-artist" John Gurche, who has re-created the faces of our early ancestors [1] for a new exhibit opening this month at the National Museum of Natural History. ... [1] http://snipr.com/ulkj2

Weekly newspaper section, community-journalism project deliver fresh content

The CSM cancels green blog in favor of a broader approach

A field guide to environmental journalism in the Ohio River Valley

Sometimes a story with drama, poignancy, and policy pertinence demands that it be told – but may yet be such a steaming pile of dead ends and ambiguity the reporter has no choice but to just lay it all out and let the reader sort through it. Thus we have from the *Inquirer*’s *Jan Hefle*r this week what amounts to a sad story, but a shaggy dog story with no clear narrative point. [1] The news is that intense legal and regulatory maneuvers have been underway for six years over an unfledged young eagle found dreadfully ill

Weird research news attracts the attention of reporters and editors alike, and weird sex news especially so. And when it involves chickens it suddenly becomes safely funny too. Thus a recipe for coverage: put in the prestigious journal Nature a report on why some chickens are part male and part female – but a mosaic and not blended. The left side may be one gender, the right the other. Even the wattle may be bifurcated. People whose tissues result from a merger of two fetuses of opposite sex tend to blur the boundaries, it

Alert the media: Glenn Close has had her genome sequenced! Who cares? I do. I’ve been scared of Glenn Close ever since /Fatal Attraction/, so I’m eager to see whether the reporting on her genome will ease my fears. The news comes to us by way of a press release [1] from Illumina, Inc. of San Diego, the genomics company that unraveled Close’s double helix. The company says Close is the first “named female” to have her genome sequenced. (“Publicly identified” would have been better; I doubt that anyone has sequenced a female who is un-named.) The first public

In Alaska it is news, but not entirely shocking news, that a wild beast or two may have killed a person. They have polar bears, huge and unpredictable moose, brown bears … and wolves. Wolf attacks on people are extremely rare. But wolves and their hazards to people are such a hotly contested nexus in the lower 48 and particularly in the northern Rockies, it seems likely that some US environmental policy arguments will shift on news that it was probably wolves that killed a school teacher in Alaska. Newly arrived in the

Times are tough all over – so researchers at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory on Canada’s far north Ellesmere Island are getting the packing crates ready. The *Globe and Mail*’s *Shawn McCarthy *in Wednesday’s edition [1] reported that members of its research staff, in a conference call, described their distress at the conservative Canadian government’s decision not to provide its funding agency the money to keep it running. However, no other outlet appears to be carrying this news so it’s unclear how many other reporters were in on that call. The station is less

Our colleagues over at the other science magazine (/Science/ [1]) reported this afternoon that the White House has tapped Subra Suresh [2], dean of the engineering school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as director for the National Science Foundation. That may be true at some level, depending on how one defines "tapped," but according to the White House definition, which is the one that matters, this information is false. "No decision has been made," says Rick Weiss, who handles communications at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Weiss' boss is John Holdren, the

A leading astronomer who had been suspended from his post as director of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town has been reinstated following a disciplinary hearing. South Africa's main funding agency, the National Research Foundation (NRF), removed Phil Charles from his post for murky reasons last month. In a story [1] at the time, /Nature/ reported that the affair was linked to claims that Charles shared details with academic colleagues about where the operations centre for South Africa’s new MeerKAT radio telescope might be based. MeerKAT is a prototype for a powerful radio

For science policy wonks in the United States, it doesn't get much better than a meeting of PCAST [1], the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology . That group of scientific luminaries is having its fourth meeting today in Washington, which is being webcast [2]. PCAST is led by John Holdren, president Obama's science advisor, and by co-chairs Eric Lander and Harold Varmus. Today's meeting features international food security and the future of the National Nanotechnology Initiative [3], among other topics. During the meeting, Roger Beachy, head of the new National Institute

It’s a bumper week for stem cell news in America. Here’s a round up. California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine has assigned $50 million of its $3 billion in stem cell research money for early clinical development of potential therapies. CIRM says its new ‘Targeted Clinical Development Awards’ will fund studies deemed too risky by pharma companies or venture capitalists (press release [1]). It’s not all sunny in California stem cell circles though. The institute’s board also voted to express its concerns about legislation proposed by state senator Elaine Alquist to increase oversight of CIRM. It

Japanese fishmongers have gathered in protest as a major meeting convenes to consider banning all trade in the succulent bluefin tuna. However, the country is likely to sidestep any ban that is passed. As government representatives gather in Doha for the conference [1] of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES [2]), fears are growing among tuna connoisseurs that the meeting will vote through a bluefin ban. Europe has thrown its weight behind an international ban, with the EU Presidency confirming [3] on Wednesday that it “supports prohibition of international trade” in

No better place to commence this new column on science writing for science writers than with some optimism about clearing up our profession's cloudy future. Literally cloudy, according to Dot Earth's Andrew Revkin, who discusses what he calls "cloud financing" of investigative work by science journalists. Revkin's example is a Nov. 9 New York Times piece by Lindsey Hoshaw on vast trash heaps in the ocean.