Global climate change and other fast-developing scientific fields can take a cue from a prolonged process that eventually led to a workable compromise regarding the release of new data by human genome researchers.
A study that examined 30 years of standardized test data from the very highest-scoring seventh graders has found that performance differences between boys and girls have narrowed considerably, but boys still outnumber girls by more than about 3-to-1 at extremely high levels of math ability and scientific reasoning.
Scientists are a valuable and trusted source of information, researchers say in a recent report, but too often do an inadequate job of bringing that information to those who need it in a factual, non-technical, credible and neutral format.
For more than 50 years medical research has been vetted through the peer-review process overseen by medical journal editors who assign reviewers to determine whether work merits publication. A study published in PLoS One investigates reviewers' recommendations and their influence on journal editors who are the ultimate arbiters of whether the research is published or not.
This Month
Brian Krueger, PhD - 2235
Genomic Repairman - 345
Jade Ed - 143
Biochem Belle - 97
Evie - 64
All Time
Brian Krueger, PhD - 2235
Genomic Repairman - 345
Jade Ed - 143
Biochem Belle - 97
Evie - 64
From the Writers
Clash of the Vendors
Last by Brian Krueger, PhD on Jul 29, 2010, 6:20am
An old repost of some thoughts for graduate students to consider when choosing a lab
This is the first in a series of posts in which I'll be writing around the subject of my Masters project. This post is about the LHCb - the motivations and science behind the experiment, and what scientists hope to discover there.
An Ode to Lab Managers
Last by Genomic Repairman on Jul 29, 2010, 3:33pm
Well, it would be rude not to...
P-p-p-poker face p-p-poker face
A booty shaking jam.
Last by Genomic Repairman on Jul 29, 2010, 10:37am
A repost of a Blogger post I put up, kind of annoying and kind of heart warming.
Last by Genomic Repairman on Jul 28, 2010, 9:27pm
I got to do a lot of traveling as a grad student. I've documented this elsewhere, but I like this story (and since my wrist is in pain, and there's a new audience), I thought I'd post it again. I've made some slight changes to protect the guilty.
Sabotaged plans don't have to have unhappy endings. And they shouldn't stop us from establishing goals for the future, either.
Last by Brian Krueger, PhD on Jul 29, 2010, 11:40am
More Miscellaneous News
A new class of cancer drugs can be used effectively while minimizing hypertensive side effects if patients' blood pressure is closely monitored and controlled, a clinical panel has determined.
How can the United States foster long-term economic growth? A new report suggests that one of the best ways is through investment in the basic research that leads to innovation and job creation.
A new survey announced today finds the vast majority (94%) of science teachers wish their students' parents had more opportunities to engage in science with their children. However, more than half (53%) of parents of school-aged children admit that they could use more help to support their child's interest in science.
The quality of scientific research may be suffering because academics are being increasingly pressured to produce 'publishable' results, a new study suggests. A large analysis of papers in all disciplines shows that researchers report more "positive" results for their experiments in US states where academics publish more frequently.
Women conducting research in the life sciences continue to receive lower levels of compensation than their male counterparts, even at the upper levels of academic and professional accomplishment, according to a study conducted by the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital. In their report in the April issue of Academic Medicine, the research team also finds differences in the roles female faculty members take as they advance in their careers.
For decades, the traditional practice in animal testing has been standardization, but a study involving Purdue University has shown that adding as few as two controlled environmental variables to preclinical mice tests can greatly reduce costly false positives, the number of animals needed for testing and the cost of pharmaceutical trials.
With the world awash in information, curating all the scientifically relevant bits and bytes is an important task, especially given digital data's increasing importance as the raw materials for new scientific discoveries, an expert in information science at the University of Illinois says.
How has the structure of scientific research changed over the past decade? A team of researchers from Umeå University, Sweden, and the University of Washington, USA, aims to answer this question and others in a study published on January 27th in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.
From the Web
The Washington Post (7/29, Brown) reports, "About 5.2 million people with HIV infections are on lifesaving treatment in low- and middle-income countries." Now, however, the "world is facing a potentially more intractable problem: the price of success." There's "barely enough money to pay for people whose treatment is underway and who will need it for a lifetime," and there certainly "isn't enoug
In a CNNMoney.com (7/28, Duncan) commentary, David Ewing Duncan writes, "Last week, the nascent genetic testing industry received a thrashing that was only partly deserved" when GAO "investigators released the results of a secret investigation into the claims made by 11 genetic testing companies." Notably, the GAO report "accused the companies of providing 'misleading,' 'deceptive' and 'questiona
A Bristol professor has received a grant of £25,000 from Catholic parishioners to help his work into 'ethical stem cell research'.
A culture of politics trumping science, many say, persists despite the president's promises. The use of potentially toxic dispersants to fight the gulf oil spill is cited as just one example.
Minister of education and science discusses plans for rebuilding the country's research base.
Renowned physicist shares thoughts on God, fatherly advice in ABC interview.
If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you," then, with apologies to Kipling, you might not be a climate scientist.
The president’s proposed spending plan would increase money for the Health and Human Services Department and the National Institutes of Health.
Nature looks back on a selection of last year's news stories to find out what happened next.
Science marches on, sometimes with headlines and awards, but most often with little fanfare.
A team of thirsty polar explorers will drill beneath the ice to reach Scotch whiskey 100 years old.
Demand for patents and trademarks is falling this year after holding up robustly in 2008, indicating the belated impact of the economic crisis, the United Nations intellectual property agency said Friday.
Compromises made to win passage of a climate-change bill have infuriated and disappointed environmental activists.
A major impediment in the fight against cancer is that most research grants go to projects unlikely to break much ground.
Like a knight-errant, Olson travels the land giving talks in combination with double feature showings of Dodos and last year's Sizzle, a global warming comedy that mocked independent filmmaking, environmentalists and scientists unable to speak plainly in countering climate craziness.
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