al-mofhariz

In the past six weeks, online science journalism has been rocked by two controversies: in late September, the nearly 150 year old magazine, Popular Science , decided to turn off the comment function on its website because, as its editors claimed, "Comments can be bad for science." And a few weeks later, Bora Zivkovic, the blogs editor for Scientific American , resigned over charges that he sexually harassed female science writers. Both of these issues have important implications for the future of science communication on the Internet, and these controversies also have deep connections to issues that historians and other members of the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) have been examining for a long time. In the next two blog posts, I'll be examining the controversies in turn and trying to say something about they mean for science writing when they are viewed together. In these posts, I hope to build on Hank's brilliant four part analysis...

Where have I been? Busy teaching in my classroom!  Between the start of the new school year and the duties of parenting a teenager and a ten year old (sports, band, etc..) I haven't had time to sit down and work on my blog.  It is something I miss terribly...especially with all the amazing connections we have made this year in science.  I'd like to share a few things we have been working on. First, all of my science lessons start with a hands-on activity.  Our first unit was Environments - a FOSS third edition unit that explores environmental factors and how they influence organisms.  We have looked at conditions such a light with isopods, salt with brine shrimp, and temperature with mealworms. The kids have observed these organisms thrive and die.  We have watched the mealworms go through their life cycle already in the span of six weeks! Many of you know that I have fought for science instruction in the elementary school and have made a case f...

It’s time you started loving your love handles . Your body fat isn't just sitting there jiggling . It’s actually producing essential hormones . No one suspected such a thing until biologist Jeffrey Friedman co-discovered the hormone leptin, and the surprising fact that it regulates food intake and body weight . So, if you thought it was sheer willpower keeping you from eating those cupcakes , think again. In fact, Friedman’s research shows that without the leptin produced in our fat cells—which tells our brains, “You’re full for now!” —all of us would be chowing down non-stop. Jeffrey Friedman’s seminal discovery completely transformed how “fat” is viewed—and set off a tidal wave of new research on body weight and what governs it. Dr. Friedman discusses: --The average American eats over  800,000 calories each year. Yet, most of us maintain our body weight within a fairly narrow range. How? --How does leptin relate to weight loss, dieting, and the obesity epidemic ? Are there bi...