Former NASW executive director Diane McGurgan is retiring as CASW administrator this week after 40 years of combined service to science writing.
Science writing news
Successful parenting involves teaching one’s children to parent themselves — from learning to put on socks to managing time. While some parents nag or punish, Katherine Reynolds Lewis says there’s a better way to help children master self-control. In The Good News About Bad Behavior: Why Kids Are Less Disciplined Than Ever — And What to Do About It, she proposes use of the Apprenticeship Model.
Media coverage of the 2017 tax law focused mainly on the creation of lower tax brackets. Receiving scant coverage were significant changes to the deductions for fees paid for preparation of returns and advice on tax planning.
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, launched in 2007 with $3 billion in public funding, has generated 42 therapies now in clinical trials for a variety of incurable diseases. Don Reed, a science writer and advocate for stem cell research, describes the program’s successes in California Cures: How the California Stem Cell Program is Fighting Your Incurable Disease.
“You are smarter than your data,” Judea Pearl and NASW member Dana Mackenzie assert in The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. “Data do not understand causes and effects,” they say. “Humans do.” Their book explores recent developments in the science of causal inference that make such understanding possible.
Are you a journalist who was stopped for extra border screening or had your device searched at the U.S. border at any point in your career? CPJ and RSF have been working to understand the scope of the problems. Read more and report any cases thru June.
How are computer scientists building their army of virtual fact-checkers? What are their models of truth? And how close are we to entrusting their algorithms to cull fake news? Popular Science tried out an automated fact-checker, using a piece of fake news, and compare its process to a human fact-checker.
It’s 2050. Lifelike neuromorphic robots provide domestic, professional, even sexual services for their human owners. Then a rogue engineer programs robots to murder and rob their owners. Dennis Meredith’s sixth sci-fi thriller, The Neuromorphs, explores possibilities and drawbacks of AI. Meredith's nonfiction books include Explaining Research, a guide for scientists and science writers.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announces the launch of SciLine, a new service that will provide journalists with high-quality scientific expertise and context — on demand and on deadline.
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