“A zebra’s stripes may protect it from blood-sucking insects.” May I say that in an article aimed at second graders? That wouldn’t be appropriate. “Protect” and “insect” are words that fourth graders understand, but not those in lower grades. From the Spring 2012 ScienceWriters.
Science writing news
DNA studies reveal that the First Americans came from Asia in 3 main groups. And then they mingled and merged. The oldest American human remains, from Oregon, are now dated at 14,500 years ago. They are not bones. Tools from this site are different from Clovis, and maybe older. SCOTUSblog presents a tick-tock explaining how and why CNN and Fox News messed up the Supreme Court's Obamacare decision so badly. Is "Obamacare" a dirty word?
New record for retractions from a single author: 172. 13% of retractions come from anesthesiologists: Is there something in the air? The Higgs boson: Theology, epistemology, pedagogy, multimedia, and science writing. Sidebar on Jonah Lehrer, Malcolm Gladwell, and how to avoid accidental plagiarism.
As readers of this column likely experience on a regular basis, the way other people perceive our work can be quite context dependent. We are particularly sensitive to contextual variables like scientific literacy level and socioeconomic background in our audience. From the Spring 2012 ScienceWriters.
CNN and Fox News declare Obamacare unconstitutional. But the US Supreme Court says the Affordable Care Act is constitutional after all, flabbergasting many. Prognostication's sorry record. The taxing politics of Obamacare; will people pay the penalty rather than buy medical insurance? Now it's up to the states, and some of them will decline to expand Medicaid. The law's impact on medical research is likely to generate ideas for science and medical writers. And in other news, more Higgs boson
The Jonah Lehrer Story: a whale of a tale of adaptive reuse gone wrong. How to make recycling your writing kosher. Did Lehrer plagiarize Malcom Gladwell, or did they both make use of William Goldman? Also: Black bears can count too, sort of. Also: Whooeee, the Higgs boson is back! And the buzz is that this time the Higgs is really real.
When tax time rolls around, most filers receive refunds. Just because you receive one for tax year 2011, doesn’t mean your return passed muster and you can forget about an audit. All it means is that IRS computers checked arithmetic and other basic items. From the Spring 2012 ScienceWriters.
Debunking the Zombie Apocalypse. No, parasites are not turning people into zombie cannibals. Dazzling Transit of Venus photos. In the RNA World, iron may have made RNA on steroids. Devising an elevator speech on scientific ignorance. Sexual division of labor — aka sexism — in neuroscience.
Transit of Venus next week, last chance until 2117! Astronomy is a dangerous profession. Measuring the solar system and exoplanet atmospheres. Chronobiology: Circadian rhythm roundup. Bioethics of amputation. Consensus on hormone therapy for menopause. How to write a book: Advice from 5 people who have done it.
Social media takes many forms with Facebook and Twitter being the eight-hundred-pound gorillas in the room. But there’s also LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Crowdrise, Quora, Pinterest, and many others. It’s worth exploring a few to see which are the best ways to reach your particular audience. From the Spring 2012 ScienceWriters.
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