I sat mesmerized this morning by some of the video of the tornadoes that pummeled so much of the nation’s south and nearby regions this week. A fabulous and terrifying collection of mostly-amateur and local TV show videos is at Al.com, apparently the website for the Birmingham News, that Christine Kneidinger compiled. Sit down, watch, [...]
What bloody can of worms have I opened by posting on The Wedding? Now comes Faye Flam at The Philadelphia Inquirer with a nicely reported story on royal families and inbreeding.
It includes this insightful analysis of the wedding, which I trust we will not hear from Katie Couric: “It can’t hurt for William to be [...]
Kristina Miller, a scientist at the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, was the lead author of a January 14, 2011 article in Science that suggested that viral infections may be linked to higher salmon mortality. But when the study came out, the government did not allow anyone to interview Miller, “citing a possible conflict of [...]
Yesterday, I argued that science writers had missed a good bet by (mostly) not covering a study concluding that doctors at Guantanamo had failed to inquire about, or document, potential abuse of detainees.
Today, The New York Times and a scattering of others covered a story about legal action being taken against psychologists alleged to have [...]
One should never put too much credence in studies that claim to show a relationship between brain size, even when calculated in proportion to body size, and any specific behaviors. But, with that caveat out of the way, we note a study by researchers in Sweden and Spain who looked at relative brain sizes among [...]
The ever inventive Robert Krulwich is one of the best science explainers around, especially on broadcast media. But he also blogs at NPR online under the title “Krulwich Wonders: An NPR sciencey blog.”
He posted one a couple of days ago on the astonishing mimicry of an Australian species called the superb lyrebird (illustration), specifically one [...]
The Tracker would be remiss if it ignored the wedding of the century. Fortunately, we are able to take note of this blessed event without actually reading gigabytes of copy, thanks to Ed Yong, of Not Exactly Rocket Science, who has rewritten all of this week’s posts as wedding tie-ins.
For example:
Just as Will and Kate [...]
World Asthma Day is imminent and we need all of our friends, members and supporters to help us put asthma on the map. This year, we want to show everyone what living with asthma is like. The highs. The lows. The frustrations and, yes, the tragedies.According to today?s papers, the Government is about to announce a pause in its proposed reforms to the NHS in England to consider how to respond to the criticism they have received from organisations representing doctors, managers and patients.