If you’re a member of America’s anxious middle class, you can feel downtrodden one minute and privileged the next, just watching the news. Here’s some super-rich guy planning his run […]
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I was chatting with a friend yesterday. I realized that, despite being at the cutting edge, he seemed to misunderstand what I was working on. The good old “forest for […]
Just under two months ago I received the news that I, along with 10 of my co-workers, would be laid off. Unlike most I was OK with this as I […]
Yesterday I turned in a short essay to the BA’s Science & Public Affairs magazine about science communication in the Obama era. In the essay, among recommendations,I floated a proposal […]
In guest post today, David Ropeik, author of “How Risky Is It,” takes a critical look at President Obama’s assertion in the days leading up to the election that many […]
The mysterious Saudi Arabian earthquake swarm continues. Eruptions readers in Saudi Arabia have provided some on-the-ground updates, but the source of the seismicity is still unclear. Check back for the latest updates!
Along with scientific journals, Americans rate public broadcasting as one of the most credible sources for information about biotechnology.Yesterday I noted data that reveals the PBS NOVA audience to be […]
New evidence from speed-dating trials helps untangle the reasons why segregation persists in dating and marriage.
I’m still playing catch-up from the field trip, but there is a pile of news – mostly research-related rather than new eruptions – so I thought I’d whip up a […]
Disability is one of the areas where design can make the most meaningful difference in quality of life. This was certainly true of Amanda Boxtel, who has been confined to […]
“What explains the ascendance of Homo sapiens? Start by looking at our pets.” The Boston Globe says our ability to domesticate and control other species accounts for our formidable rise.
Entomologist and National Geographic writer/photographer Mark Moffett knows a lot about bugs. Having studied marauder ants under renowned insect biologist Edward O. Wilson at Harvard, and then gone on to […]
Why do we listen to someone talking on the phone with more attention than to a conversation where we hear both sides? The Frontal Cortex explains the unavoidable temptation to eavesdrop.
“Did computerization create the Great Divergence?” Slate asks if the current American class divide was worsened by the emergence of computers and the 1990’s digital divide.
Our memory peaks at the age of 30, and then it declines gradually with time. But if we train our brains to stay more active and focused, they can remain healthier longer.
Until James Currier had four sons in 36 months, he was just a regular Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Having sold a start-up called Tickle to Monster in 2004, he took some […]
Waq al-waq’s multi-media team has recently been busy preparing a new series of what could most accurately be called “sporadic conversations on Yemen,” but we have instead elected to call […]
Being a college professor has definitely made me realize how many students are “terrified” (their words) about math and science. Many have gotten the idea that you need to be […]
For most art history students, the days of Dadaism and Surrealism seem like ancient history—two “-isms” buried beneath the quick succession of newer and newer “-isms” reigning ever since. Illustrator […]
Volcanoes don’t take vacations, and Karkar in New Guinea is keeping me on my toes even in the holiday week – it might have just had an impressive eruption.
The eruption at Sarychev Peak in Russia has already begun to divert and delay flights from North America to Asia and the extent of the eruption is unclear.
Greg Miller and Joshua Partlow report in The Washington Post this week that the CIA has a “significant number” of members of Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s administration on the agency’s […]
Last week I pointed to two edited books released in 2008 that do an outstanding job of synthesizing the relevant issues and research on science communication and public engagement. Here […]
Over at the NY Times’s Green blog, Todd Woody has an update on the Proposition 23 race, reporting that environmentalists opposed to the ballot measure have opened a sizable fund-raising […]
With all its inefficiencies, waste and contradictions, democracy may not be equal to our social problems. But it sure is a great model of the human psyche, as writers keep […]
The BBC in collaboration with the British think tank Demos has launched a “national series of conversations about new technologies, the future and society.” Brits are encouraged to participate in […]
The NY Academy of Sciences offers a stunning venue for public talks, forums, and receptions, with a view from the 40th floor of 7 World Trade Center.Thursday morning I will […]
The amygdala, an almond-shaped structure in the limbic system, is where the the brain processes and reacts to frightening stimuli. Because of its mechanism, our emotional responses to situations that feel dangerous are often unconscious.
When attempting to communicate effectively with the public about a science-related debate, which is more important, framing the message or conveying science-based facts about the topic? A forthcoming study (Word) […]
A sentiment registering somewhere between disgust and loathing rose up in my chest yesterday when I read that Delaware Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell had claimed on the site LinkedIn […]