A sampling of current coverage from the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program at MIT (the Tracker), Columbia Journalism Review's Observatory, The Great Beyond news review by Nature Publishing, and the Science in the News service of Sigma Xi
Read more articles from Science in The News DailyNewly 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)
Read more articles from Science in the News WeeklyA 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
Read more articles from Knight Science Journalism TrackerSometimes 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
Read more articles from The Great Beyond (Nature Magazine News Blog)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
Read more articles from NASW 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.