The science blogosphere has been particularly active this past week. The Second Annual Science Blogging Conference brought bloggers together in North Carolina, where they discussed open science, blogger ethics, gender and race in science, science communication, and more. Conference organizer Coturnix has links and videos aplenty. One thought-provoking post comes from Abel Pharmboy, who reports […]
Yesterday, the American Association for the Advancement of Science â the worldâs largest general scientific society â announced its co-sponsorship of the Science Debate 2008 campaign (which we at The Pump Handle support, and blogged about here). In light of recent economic events, the press release announcing AAASâs co-sponsorship focused on the link between science […]
A group of state legislators in West Virginia introduced a bill to strengthen the State’s laws to protect mine workers who raise concerns about unsafe working conditions. The lead sponsor is Delegate Bill Hamilton (R) who represents the region where the now-abandoned Sago mine is located.* He’s been a strong champion for mine safety improvements and also known for […]
At the second annual Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromsø, Norway, 500 experts are discussing the outlook for oil and gas production in the rapidly warming Arctic. As is all too common these days, theyâll do so without the benefit of all the information that scientists worked hard to compile about the topic. Christoph Seidler reports […]
As the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, itâs clear that the U.S. is still having trouble ensuring that injured veterans get what they need â whether thatâs care for a brain injury, mental health services, or sufficient recovery time. Hereâs the news from the past week: An Army task force report completed […]
By Les Leopold If you need a quick snooze, read a US Government Accountability Office report with its carefully parsed prose. But lost in the holiday rush was a December GAO report that could keep you awake as it bashes the Bush administrationâs effort to water down the community Right to Know regulations that provide […]
The Washington Post’s Jeffrey H. Birnbaum observes that the site of this year’s Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) convention is Denver, Colorado, yet the city only has one unionized hotel. The DNC should take a page from the American Public Health Association (APHA), which adopted a policy in 1999 (#9922) on the use of union hotels for […]
Thereâs lots of good blogging this week about what our elected (and hoping to be elected) leaders are doing â or at least talking about doing â on climate change: David Roberts at Gristmill thinks itâs better to hold out for better federal climate legislation in 2009 Jonathan Pfeiffer at Science Progress reports on a […]
Many of us who grew up in the U.S. took water and electricity for granted, but more and more of us are bumping up against the limits of resources. Three stories in the news this past week illustrate what the difficulties are and how different parties address them.
Remember Julie MacDonald, the Department of Interior appointee with industry connections but no biology degree, who altered scientific field reports to minimize protections for endangered species? There are plenty of wildlife scientists who havenât forgotten about her or about the larger problem of the Bush administration meddling with environmental science, and two dozen of them […]