Rituals are important to life. They can be secular or religious in origin, but having a regular event to which you can look forward is important. I’ve tried removing ritual from my life, and I always feel unglued as a result. Jodi and I decided a few months ago that […]
When media outlets fail to employ reporters with either a grounding in science (no pun intended, as you’ll see), or the wherewithal to contact several sources in writing a story, I furrow my brow and wag my finger. While browsing my Sunday morning blogs, I found a “lovely little story […]
The horror of last year’s hurricane season, and its effects on Louisiana and Mississippi, were too many to count. While much of the nation has apparently lost interest in the plight of the South, as a scientist I am very much aware and concerned about this new hurricane season. Already, […]
Last year, I expressed my personal concern about action by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), to personally investigate the careers of three climate scientists [TAOMPH83]. I did so not just in this blog, but also in a series of faxes to my elected […]
I remember learning about AIDS and HIV in grade school. I remember being confused about why there was so much stigma attached to the disease. I have always been, and continue to be, horrified by those who vilify the victims, deny the cause, or refuse to talk about it. It […]
Jodi and I hit the bike trail this afternoon. We drove down to Palo Alto, took Bayshore Drive East right off of Embarcadero, and parked by a wooden bridge and the bayshore bike trails. One of the attractions of this ride was that we knew it would take us very […]
A good friend of mine, Luke, pointed me to an “article posted on Fox News’ website”:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,199898,00.html a few days ago. With a lot of verbal drama, the article discusses the issue of the landscape for federal college financial aid and the conclusions of the 2005 National Academies study, “Rising Above […]
“Talk of the Nation: Science Friday”:http://www.sciencefriday.com is an excellent weekly national radio program that brings experts and callers together to discuss current science issues. This week, Ira Flatow discussed the politicization of science – the perceived increase in policy influencing science, rather than science influencing policy – with guests Chris […]
This weekend has been stressful. The worst part of it is that it was the *least* stressful part of the past week, and the coming weeks are forecast to be quite a bit worse (partly nutty with a chance of insanity). I can summarize why in one word: ICHEP. Well, […]
Late last week, “Ray Davis died at 91 from complications due to Alzheimer’s”:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/02/nyregion/02davis.html?ex=1150171200&en=40a0b519ebe85d99&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVERFEATURES. Dr. Davis is legendary in the field of physics for his painstaking devotion to the study of neutrino production in the sun. His work with physicist “John Bahcall”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_N._Bahcall demonstrated that the prediction of neutrino flux from the […]
Tonight on “Tech Nation”:http://www.technation.com, the host (Dr. Moira Gunn) is interviewing the father of askjeeves.com (now ask.com), Apostolos Gerasoulis. I’m a sucker for a new technology, and I’ve been looking for an alternative to Google and Yahoo! ever since I learned of their complicity in search filtering China’s access to […]
Tonight on Studio 360, they presented the next in a series on presenting science. Their piece was about “an exhibition on Darwin”:http://www.studio360.org/stream/ram.py?file=/studio/studio060206g.mp3 and the environment and conditions in which he did his groundbreaking research. This piece really brought the sense of humanity and discovery that is often missing in portrayal […]