Month: August 2008

links for 2008-08-15

Green-Clad Olympic Archer Steals Gold Medals From Rich, Gives Them To Poor | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source "Since entering China last month by using a forged Sherwood Forest passport under the name Robert Huntingdon, the archer has appeared at more than 70 medal ceremonies, escaping with the gold every time." (tags: silly… Continue reading links for 2008-08-15

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A Look on the Bright Side

As much as I complain about the relatively low status of science and science writing, it could be worse. As Kevin Drum reminds us, media treatment of economic issues is even more toxic: Question for the folks who populate our newsrooms: Why is it that a 0.8% rise in inflation, the biggest since 1991, is… Continue reading A Look on the Bright Side

Thank God for Grandparents

SteelyKid is home from the hospital now, and settling in to her new environment. She had a pediatrician appointment yesterday, and all is well. Of course, the more difficult adjustment is for me and Kate, trying to learn to speak Infant while also maintaining a semblance of a normal life. And, of course, freaking out… Continue reading Thank God for Grandparents

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Jolly Good Fellows

I hate to break up the pattern of alternating cute baby pictures with rants about science and the general public, but I wanted to sneak in a plug for a new initiative that I’m very tangentially involved in on campus. Union has launched a new fellowship program, the “Minerva Fellows”, providing funding for 7-ish students… Continue reading Jolly Good Fellows

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The Consequences of Poor Science Popularization

You may be wondering whether the recent spate of blogging about science in popular media and peer review (by the way, you should definitely read Janet’s two posts on these issues) has any connection to my talk next month at the Science in the 21st Century workshop. Yes, yes it does– I figure that I’m… Continue reading The Consequences of Poor Science Popularization

Sky-Bison Included for Scale

Kate and I have been watching DVD’s of the show Avatar: The Last Airbender via Netflix for a while now. Around the originally predicted due date for SteelyKid (that is, a week and a half before she actually arrived), we were joking about what she could possibly be waiting for. During one episode, she squirmed… Continue reading Sky-Bison Included for Scale

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Peer Review Does Not Define Science

In the comments to yesterday’s post about science in popular media, ZapperZ responds with a comment that illustrates the problem: I am not saying that the media shouldn’t report ABOUT science, as accurately as they can. I am saying that DOING science isn’t done in popular media. Science isn’t done that way, especially when “research”… Continue reading Peer Review Does Not Define Science

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Meet the Empress

The dog sniffs gently at the baby in my lap. “So, what the heck is this?” “This is SteelyKid. Be nice to her.” “But, I mean, what is it? It’s not a bunny, is it?” She sniffs some more, just to be sure. “What do you mean? Of course she’s not a bunny. She doesn’t… Continue reading Meet the Empress

Popular Media Should Do Science

Lest you think I’m transforming the entire site into cute-baby-pictures-dot-com, let me reassure you that while the posting frequency may drop off a bit, Uncertain Principles will always be your go-to site for slightly ranty blogging about issues of science and larger culture. Well, one of them, anyway. This is brought to you by a… Continue reading Popular Media Should Do Science