It doesn’t allow for psychoanalysis
My science career was in social psychology. It’s a field full of individuals, but a common motivation I found I shared with many of my colleagues is a serious understanding and critique of stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination. These topics are the core of...
How often is science distorted in the media?
You know you’re back in college when conversations start, “So, what are you studying?” But when I replied to this question at a recent dinner gathering of fellow grad students, I got an unexpected response. I explained that I was learning how to communicate science...Crowdsourcing Science
Can science be crowdsourced? That is, can scientists turn to the average citizen for help in collecting data? Earlier this week, Genomes Unzipped, a group of genetics-savvy bloggers, announced that its 12 members had made the results of their direct-to-consumer...Slugs Lede 3-1
After class on on Tuesday, I had an epiphany. We had each submitted a delayed lede for a story covering Terry Hazen’s talk about bioremediation in the Gulf of Mexico. In class, Ken projected them all on the board, and critiques them one by one. I has struggled...
From ‘science-robot’ to science writing cyborg
Whenever I have to write about science in detail, or explain a concept, I find that I default to ‘science-robot’ mode. I write in very dry, technical terms, just getting all the facts in there. And I end up with something that, while technically correct and factually...tales of a twitterpated writer
The Story By William Blake-Drake Story! Story! yet to write In the newsrooms of the night, What nocturnal journalist Could frame thy lede and nutgraf/gist? In what distant source or two Burn the quotes I need for you? On what site dare facts reside? What the Google,...Farmville in PNAS
Look out, Interwebs. The SciCom slugs are coming to a social network near you. By the end of the quarter, we have to commit an act of journalism using social media. My limited attempts to build an online community were not too successful, so I’m dubious about...Not Enough Time
Working at a daily newspaper is quite a roller coaster of emotions. Panic, excitement, panic, wonder, panic, the satisfaction of completing a story…Learning to function and think while on this ride is no easy task. And sometimes it’s frustrating not to be...Bacteria: the real stars of the show
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKtUxLdBgJE] For those interested (from textbookofbacteriology.net) MAJOR NUTRITIONAL TYPES OF PROKARYOTES Nutritional Type Energy Source Carbon Source Examples Photoautotrophs Light CO2 Cyanobacteria, some Purple and...
Once bitten, twice shy
Many of our sources are going to be once bitten, twice shy concerning the media.