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On science blogs this week: Jonah Lehrer

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.

From ScienceWriters: Filing time reminders for freelancers

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.

On science blogs this week: Zombies

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.

On science blogs this week: Cycles

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.

From ScienceWriters: Social media for the science PIO

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.

On science blogs this week: Eclipsing

First do no harm, except if you're screening for prostate cancer: the prostate-specific antigen test does more harm than good, but patients and docs say "La la la, can't hear you." Teleportation sets a new distance record; next stop, an orbiting satellite. The Heartland Institute cancels future climate-change denialist conferences and makes common cause with the birthers who deny Obama's US citizenship. The solar eclipse, in full photographic glory.

On science blogs this week: Fat

They are saying obesity is the scourge of the nation. It must be true because it's on television. Body Mass Index and weight-loss drugs. What docs should do about Fat City — and Fat Country. Evidence for the low-carb paleo diet. Evidence against the low-calorie low-fat diet. The Scienceblogging Weekly. Teleportation sets a record: 97 km. Was pornography the first cave art?

From ScienceWriters: Two rivals, two strategies

The two influenza researchers whose work has triggered a far-reaching debate on the limits of scientific freedom could hardly have handled their publicity more differently. From the Spring 2012 ScienceWriters.

On science blogs this week: Snickering

Science and politics and homosexuality. Should science writers boycott North Carolina? Current science says that same-sex marriage is good for public health and adds data to the old conjecture that rabid gay-bashing cloaks same-sex attraction. The gay caveman is exhumed. The Open Notebook presents quotes on quoting. Did dinosaur farts cause Mesozoic global warming? We don't know, but they certainly cause hot air in the media.

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