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Gone to Pot?

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:08:55 -0500

With medical marijuana now legal in thirteen states, and President Obama's Attorney General advising Feds not to waste resources on users in compliance with state law, the tide of tetrahydrocannabinol seems to be on the rise. On The Scientific Activist, Nick Anthis reports that the American Medical Association has recently altered its view of the drug, calling for a revised federal classification and more research into its potential medical benefits. PalMD for one will wait and see, writing that "the available clinical data do not give a doctor a clear way to evaluate the risk/benefit ratio of pot." DrugMonkey shows us a slew of graphs, revealing that "a majority of US respondents" support the outright legalization of marijuana while systematically refuting the legality of other Schedule I substances. DrugMonkey reminds us that all drugs, including alcohol, have differing potentials for harm and dependency, and compares the attitudes and usage trends of different US demographics.

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Star Light, Star Bright...

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:52:17 -0500

On Aardvarchaeology, Martin Rundkvist tells us that the Geminid meteor shower is peaking tonight, so if you've got any wishes on the back burner, now's your chance to make them. Of course these shooting "stars" are really bits of extinct comet 3200 Phaethon's "sandy exhaust trail" burning up in the atmosphere—if you prefer some main sequence hydrogen-fusing affairs, head over to Greg Laden's Blog to learn about Alcor and Mizar. This binary star system in the constellation Ursa Major has been known since antiquity, but—surprise!—Mizar is actually four stars, and Alcor is now known to be two, meaning that there are a total of six stars linked together in an "orgy of gravitational interaction." If that's still not big enough for you, revisit the galactic potpourri of Hubble's Ultra Deep Field on Starts With A Bang!, where Ethan Siegel explains the optical implications of imaging from infrared wavelengths. And in another post, Siegel recommends we get our hands dirty at Galaxy Zoo, a website where anyone can help astronomers classify galactic collisions by matching up real images from a telescope to computer simulations.

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Food for Thought

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:21:33 -0500

'Tis the season, time for many of us to eat as much as we swore we wouldn't. But before you cozy up beside the fire with a pound of chocolates and a quart of egg nog, see if these articles won't sate your appetite. First, on Casaubon's Book, Sharon Astyk cites a recent statistic that America wastes 40% of its food supply, and offers practical ways for us to improve our eating efficiency. Then on The World's Fair, Benjamin Cohen says that for sustainable eating to really take off, we must "reduce costs by reconfiguring price structures based on local economies." On Tomorrow's Table, Pamela Ronald pans the poor excuse for fruitcake that's sold at the supermarket, and tells us how to make the real thing. And on Tetrapod Zoology, Darren Naish shows us the dire consequences of biting off more than you can chew—again, and again, and again. Finally, visit Ed Yong for your RDI of Not Exactly Rocket Science, where he suggests that the proper nutrient balance can promote both longevity and fecundity, characteristics which typically demonstrate an inverse relationship.

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Copenhagen Update

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:37:54 -0500

Tensions are mounting in Copenhagen over the so-called "Danish text," a draft agreement that would allow developed countries such as the United States and China to emit nearly twice as much carbon per capita as "third world" or developing countries. Meanwhile, scrappy island nation Tuvalu stood up for a stricter resolution, only to be scolded by the economies-that-be. Eric Michael Johnson on The Primate Diaries writes that the Danish text would "effectively stifle the growth of poor nations while allowing wealthy nations to continue their disproportionate levels of carbon pollution." In a separate post, Johnson criticizes those who "dismiss out of hand any concerns that the developing nations might have. The next fifty years could very well be extraordinarily harsh ones for the Global South." On Casaubon's Book, Sharon Astyk wonders why regulation of this agreement would fall to the World Bank, "an institution that [poor nations] have profound and deeply relevant reasons to distrust?" For a cool-down, head over to A Few Things Ill Considered, where Coby points us to "a fabulous boil down approach to the climate debate."

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Another SciBling Saying Goodbye

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:08:20 -0500

Benjamin Cohen of The World's Fair tells us he's "moving on to Blogger Emeritus status."

I am ending my tenure here at The World's Fair, the blog Dave and I started back in June 2006. I'll finish up and sign off for good by the end of the month. Between now and then, I'll be posting my top ten favorites from these past three years.

David Ng will continue blogging on The World's Fair, who Cohen suggests will announce a new co-author for the blog. So read the best of Cohen's posts before he goes, say goodbye, and stay tuned.

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A Prescription for Alternative Medicine?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:03:01 -0500

Last month, lawmakers in Ontario, Canada introduced legislation that would award prescription rights to graduates of two naturopathic schools. Should students subject to different educational standards be granted the same powers of prescription? On Terra Sigillata, Abel Pharmboy calls it inconsistent for the naturopathic community to "want the right to prescribe regulated medicines while simultaneously decrying medicine and science-based investigative methods," adding that "homeopathy is diametrically opposed to dose-response pharmacology." You can learn more about homeopathy here. Then visit The White Coat Underground, where PalMD agrees with the skeptical maxim that there is "no 'alternative' to medicine; only that which is proven to work, and that which is not." PalMD goes on to write that alternative medicine tends to inspire "oversimplification and naive, hyperbolic conclusions." And finally, Greg Laden on his blog recounts the time when his friend slipped into a coma, bringing months of homeopathic floundering to a simple surgical conclusion.

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Mixed Signals on Mammography

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:03:12 -0500

Last month the US government released new guidelines for breast cancer screening mammography, a revision which Orac writes has "shaken my specialty to the core." For most women, the guidelines now recommend beginning biennial screenings at age fifty, instead of annual screenings at age forty. Around the same time, a study came out which "suggested that low dose radiation from mammography may put young women with breast cancer-predisposing BRCA mutations at a higher risk for breast cancer." Get some perspective on Respectful Insolence before whipping out the snake oil. Then visit Andrew Gelman on Applied Statistics, who reports that the Senate approved a health-care provision requiring insurance companies to offer free mammograms to women. Bemoaning the mixed signals, Gelman writes "none of this makes sense to me." And on On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess, Dr. Isis wonders if the new guidelines are racially insensitive, considering statistics that show black women are "at a higher risk for developing cancer before 40" and face a lower 5-year survival rate.

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Sciencewomen Take a Bow

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:18:18 -0500

After nearly five years online and two years with us here at ScienceBlogs, ScienceWoman is stepping away from the fray to focus on "Peace and Joy" for 2010.

This will be my last post as SciWo or ScienceWoman. I've come to peace with the realization that blogging as SciWo is no longer a source of joy for me. I treasure the true friendships I share with many of you, but I know that we can continue to revel in and grow those friendships even without this blog.

Alice Pawley is also hanging up her blogging shoes, so Sciencewomen will go dark. Stop by and say goodbye, wish well and carry on.

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The ScienceBlogs Guide to Holiday Shopping for Scientists

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:13:08 -0500

If your loved ones are at a loss this holiday season as to what shiny objects might most set your cardiac muscle aflutter, quick! You're running out of time. But you are not alone! It's tougher to shop for science nerds than might be imagined. After all, a Sagan lover is not a Kevin J. Anderson lover is not an Arthur C. Clarke lover, and you really have to be careful even with generic gifts - you wouldn't want to send a fruit basket to a psychologist, would you?

And of course, as geeky as some of us truly are, nobody really needs a periodic table shower curtain or a cheeky mug. We like science, we don't so much like playing into the stereotype of the cheerfully overzealous mad scientist.

Below are some more refined choices for the science lover, luscious tomes and glittery objets d'art you would be proud to have displayed on your wall or bookshelf or coffee table even if you didn't know your Dilophosaurus from your Diplodocus (you don't? why not?).

Reading material

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Items for the eco-conscious

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Toys for DIY scientists

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Odds and (Book)Ends

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And of course, if you can't make up your mind, you can always just give to a favorite charity on your scientist's behalf. Happy holidays!

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Talks in Copenhagen, More on CRU Emails

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:03:07 -0500

A potentially historic climate change conference began in Copenhagen Monday and will run for the next two weeks as leaders and diplomats from around the world attempt to reach an agreement about global warming. Meanwhile, the stolen emails of Climategate are still making some headlines, but why? Dismissing cries of conspiracy, ScienceBloggers have moved on to consider the broader implications of the event. Josh Rosenau on Thoughts from Kansas decries the invasion of privacy, writing "I'm sure the server contained private notes to the researchers' loved ones and family and a host of other content" that was never meant to be shared. On Framing Science, Mathew Nisbet says scientists need to update their public image, because "the public is expecting and demanding greater involvement in science-related decisions and greater accountability on the part of scientists." Chad Orzel on Uncertain Principles writes that human stupidity was the only thing exposed by the climate hackers, and that "the belief that science is somehow above issues of perception and communication leads directly to this sort of catastrophe."

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Razib Khan and David Sloan Wilson on Bloggingheads

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:37:21 -0500

Two of our resident bloggers show their faces on Bloggingheads.tv, in an in-depth video interview on the subjects of science, evolution, and group selection. If the entire 66-minute video is too long for you, there are links to shorter segments with specific topics. See more of David Sloan Wilson on Evolution for Everyone, and Razib Khan on Gene Expression.

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OSU Cans Primate Research

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:22:50 -0500

A raging ERV says we could see this coming in April, when the wife of 400-million-dollar contributor T. Boone Pickens wanted to bar the veterinary school at Oklahoma State University from receiving funds. Ms. Pickens cited the cruel treatment of dogs—doomed shelter animals who were apparently appeased with cheeseburgers before being operated on and euthanized. Now, a proposed "ethics panel approved, NIH funded" anthrax vaccine project using baboons as test subjects has been canceled by the school president. "WTF?" wonders ERV. DrugMonkey also gets up in arms, writing that the NIH is "the ONLY thing that can hope to oppose the power of the wealthy donor. The NIH has to come out swinging." DrugMonkey goes on to consider the implications this decision has for OSU's facilities, which were designed for primates and funded by a range of interests. For a concise all-around view of the situation read Scicurious's open letter to OSU on Neurotopia, where she says animal research is "essential to the understanding of human and animal health and disease." You can also find OSU president Burns Hargis's response to these criticisms on DrugMonkey.

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New Embryonic Stem Cell Lines

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:36:31 -0500

On Wednesday, the NIH approved thirteen new embryonic stem cell lines for federally-funded research, with ninety-six additional lines still under review. These new approvals come as a direct result of the "Obama administration's new rules on federal funding for stem cell research, which reversed the Bush policy of prohibiting such funding in most cases." Read more about the new rules and a dismissed lawsuit against them on Dispatches From the Culture Wars by Ed Brayton. On Framing Science, Matthew C. Nisbet suggests that public attitudes toward stem cells are changing, and reminds us that much of the research currently underway uses stem cells of non-embryonic origin. Then for a different kind of cell line, Abel Pharmboy tells us about Henrietta Lacks on Terra Sigillata, a "woman whose cervical cancer gave rise to the most famous human cancer cell line." Her cells live on today, as does her story.

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Announcing: ScienceBlogs and National Geographic

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:21:43 -0500

Dear Readers,

It is our great pleasure to bring you news of an exciting new partnership, starting today, between ScienceBlogs and National Geographic.

ScienceBlogs and National Geographic have at their cores the same ultimate mission: to cultivate widespread interest in science and the natural world. Starting today, we will work together to advance this common mission through new content, applications, and initiatives. We will bring acclaimed voices from National Geographic into our rich discussion on ScienceBlogs, and National Geographic will invite their worldwide audience to join the conversation. Our bloggers will gain new audiences and maybe even a few SciBlings...

Over the next few days, weeks, and months you will start to see the fruits of the SB-NG partnership take shape here on SB and on Nationalgeographic.com. We hope you'll share with us your ideas and feedback for how we can make this partnership as valuable as possible for you.

ScienceBlogs and our 137 bloggers around the world strive to continually raise the bar of online science communication, and we are thrilled to be taking the next step with National Geographic. We look forward to bringing this new dimension to your ScienceBlogs experience.

Thank you for being a part of our community!

— SB

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Living This Way

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:36:27 -0500

When it comes to human nature, everyone's an expert—so let's argue about it, shall we? On Cognitive Daily, Dave Munger reviews an investigation into the truly fairer sex which suggests that "men are more tolerant of their friends' failings than women." Not convinced? Then counter your intuition on The Frontal Cortex, where Jonah Lehrer writes "nothing destroys a luxury brand like a sale." Consider the possibility of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps on Laelaps, where Brain Switek discusses Louis Leakey's "fuzzy" postulation that "the invention of stone tools allowed humans to domesticate themselves and accelerate evolution." Go on and question the innateness of Good and Evil with Razib Khan on Gene Expression, in light of the finding that eighteen-month-olds don't hesitate to lend strangers a helping hand. Finally, if you missed it, see David Sloan Wilson's fascinating series about group selection on Evolution for Everyone, where he speculates that our ancestors used their rock-throwing prowess to "suppress bullying and other domineering behaviors within-groups." Now write up some comments and let us know where we got it all wrong.

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