I started this series to highlight the week's science diaries. Many political issues will require input from the scientific community to make sound policy decisions.
Some criteria for the diaries I will be including in Nerd Network News:
- Diary must have verifiable sources.
- Copyright standards must be followed. The sources must be quoted in part and referenced (no complete articles).
- Writer must comment or show some analysis of the article (no "link only" diaries)
This is to try to keep the diaries as useful as possible. There may be exceptions if an important subject was brought up and there were no other diaries covering the subject.
The opinions expressed in the diaries are not necessarily my own and spelling errors in the gray boxes are intentionally left as written.
If I missed anyone, sorry.
More below these orange words.
Science Diary Categories
Click on link to take you there.
Ecology and Global Climate Change
Biology
Medicine & Healthcare
Energy
Technology
Other
Education
Other dKos Diary Lists or Series
dKos Writer's
Science Blog Roll
Image of the Week
A day I will never forget
On January 28, 1986 space shuttle Challenger explodes about 72 seconds into its flight.
Chapters from a NASA Report can be found here.
Astronauts from left to right:
Back row: Ellison S. Onizuka, Christina McAuliffe, Gregory B. Jarvis, Judith A. Resnik
Front row: Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Ronald E. McNair
Quote of the Week
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'
- Isaac Asimov
This Week in Science History
(from TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY)
January 23
Marie Curie loses membership A reminder that as much as we need improvement, things are better.
In 1911, Marie Curie's nomination to the French Academy of Sciences, having already won one Nobel Prize, is nevertheless voted down by the Academy's all-male membership. She went on to win a second Nobel Prize.
January 24
Charles Glen King
Died 24 Jan 1988 (born 22 Oct 1896)
Biochemist who discovered vitamin C, an aid in the prevention of scurvy and malnutrition. After five years of painstaking research extracting components from lemon juice, in 1932, King isolated vitamin C. Its structure was quickly determined and it was synthesized by scientists such as Haworth and Reichstein in 1933. Also known as ascorbic acid, (a- = not, without; scorbus = scurvy), vitamin C is a colourless crystalline water-soluble vitamin found especially in citrus fruits and green vegetables. Most organisms synthesize it from glucose but man and other primates and various other species must obtain it from their diet. It is required for the maintenance of healthy connective tissue; deficiency leads to scurvy. Vitamin C is readily destroyed by heat and light.
January 26
Thoreau
In 1848, Henry David Thoreau delivered his first draft of his best-known work Civil Disobedience to his publisher. This book was one written during the famous two years (1845-7) he spent living on Walden Pond, during which time he was jailed one night for refusing to pay a poll tax meant to support America's war in Mexico. His essay on this experience was first published as Resistance to Civil Government, but later known as On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, which in its call for passive resistance to unjust laws was to inspire Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Though his writings did not sell well during his lifetime, he is now recognized for his essays on conservation. His first book of essays was Natural History of Massachusetts (1842).
January 29
DDT
In 1958, The Boston Herald printed a letter from Olga Owens Huckins attacking DDT pesticide as dangerous. Huckins was a friend of Rachel Carson, and also sent a personal letter to her, which together prompted the writing of Carson's book Silent Spring, an early call for modern environmentalism. Carson collected research and data. She concluded that organo-pesticides built up in crops and sprayed crops, transferred to birds and other animals and was responsible for the poisoning of the surrounding fauna. Silent Spring asked important questions about balancing industrial and agricultural needs, progress, the protection of the environment and the quality of life. Carson's skilled writing awakened the conscience of America.
Science Diary Categories
Ecology and Global Climate Change
Want to see a real crisis? Global Warming heating up by VirginiaDem
Widespread drought? Crop failure? An irreversible "point of no return?" Sounds like a ... well ... a crisis. And not one of those made-up-kinds that the Bush administration loves to talk about. Three groups -- the Institute for Public Policy Research in Britain, The Australia Institute, and our own Center for American Progress -- issued the "Meeting the Climate Challenge" report this week. On top of calling for industrial nations to cut emissions, double green tech research and work with developing countries like India and China, the report sounded the alarm:
Want to see a real crisis? A partial counterpoint by Yertle
I'm writing in response to the earlier diary because the amount of disinformation floating around the public domain, from both sides, is staggering. I felt that I needed to clear up many of the inaccuracies present in the earlier diary, and present what is considered the current state of knowledge in the discipline about these subjects. This isn't an attack on VirginiaDem for his/her posting, its simply an attempt to present a scientists view of the state of knowledge on these subjects without including spin from either the left or the right (and on this subject, there is considerable spin from the left as well, unfortunately). I firmly believe that the left tends to be the reality based community, when the facts are known, and it is in this light I present this diary.
US Ranks #45 in Enviro Sustainability by meanandgreen
According to the 2005 Index of Environmental Sustainability, a measure of overall progress towards environmental sustainability (based upon a set of 20 core "indicators"), the United States basically sucks with regards to the environment.
Environmental future shock: the end of easy answers by Scott in NAZ
Once upon a time environmental issues were simple. You were either for or against clearcutting. For or against wilderness preservation. For or against nuclear power. For or against DDT. The options were straightforward and dichotomous. I think the clarity of those ideas explains a lot of the environmental movement's success during its heyday in the 1960's and 1970's. The issues were simple, and the practical and moral virtues of each side were easy to distinguish.
Feeling warm yet? The climate change crisis, in stereo. by VirginiaDem
A few days back, I diaried about a new report from a task force of groups sounding the alarm about the "ticking time bomb" of climate change.
Distributed Computing Arrives! Oh Shit. [Climate] by Tom Frank
As reported in Nature, distributed computing has delivered the largest-scale GCM ever. In fact it delivered several GCMs. Specifically, the authors selected 2,000 individual models capable of predicting current climate from past conditions and then ran each models into the future under various greenhouse predictions. A good number of models before that might be 12.
Bush's Leading Climate Expert: Global Warming at Critical Moment by gfactor
In a major blow to the Bush Administration today, Bush's hand-picked climate expert, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, acknowledged today that global warming and climate change is not only at the critical dangerous moment we have been worried about, it may be soon at the point of no return for Earth and humanity (emphasis mine):
Bush Appointee: Cut Pollution ASAP or Adios to Humanity by Plan9
For a long time, the fossil fuel companies and their political puppets have denied global warming. Some spokesmen even declare that people loved warm weather--that's why they took vacations in the tropics. So if it turned out that the temperature was rising, what was your problem?
Protect the environment: get rid of the fundies by Nanovirus
Humanists care about the natural world, which we all depend on and which will have to sustain our descendants. Because humanists have no belief in a supernatural force that will solve our problems for us, they know humans must take sole responsibility for sorting out environmental problems. Some religious people think that God created the world and gave humans "stewardship" over it. This is not a belief shared by humanists, who believe that human beings evolved and go on evolving, along with the rest of nature. Others on the far fringe of the religious right see no reason to protect the environment, since the rapture is expected soon:
The EPA helps end the era of the small farmer: an update to RFK Jr's Story by Miss Jones
So says Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in "Crimes of Nature: How George W. Bush and his Corporate Pals are Plundering the Country and Hijacking our Democracy." Among the numerous scandals outlined in this book is the gutting of the EPA, how it has lost its mandate to protect the environment for American citizens, and how it has instead been converted into an enabler for polluting corporations. Kennedy explains (below):
Global Warming Science Developments by mole333
I am on the Union of Concerned Scientists mailing list for their Sound Science Initiative. Today I got a Global Warming update that discusses an aspect of global warming measurements that pretty much ends the debate on whether temperatures are actually rising. The gist of the debate is whether surface or tropospheric measurements are more accurate because these two measurements disagree as to whether temperatures are rising. You have probably mostly seen the dramatic rise in surface tempuratures. Satellite measurements have shown far less warming in the troposhere even though models suggest that the surface and troposphere should pretty much warm together. Obviously, the right wing oil whores have seized on this to claim global warming is still not known to be really happening.
Mercury: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You by jalefkowit
My day job is with Oceana, a non-profit group that works to protect the world's oceans (as you may have guessed from the name). We have just released a pretty significant report. It concerns the growing problem of mercury contamination -- and identifies a major source of this contamination that you probably have never even heard of.
Global warming solutions: I. Lawsuits by Scott in NAZ
The last few weeks we've had diary after diary on global warming here, and they've generally had the same message: it's a big problem! So now that we agree that it's a problem, I think it's time to start looking for solutions. This is the first of a series of diaries that I'll be doing on solutions to global warming. This first post is actually an older post from greenState, an environmental blog created by kossacks. More to come... One of the big problems with convincing people (and governments) that global warming is a problem is that you can't point to any specific weather event and say, "that was caused by global warming." While we know that the climate is changing due to atmospheric pollution, you can't assign causation of any single event to global climate change. Four hurricanes in Florida in one year? Record heat wave in Europe? Severe drought in the Southwest? Climate is dynamic and variable, and these could just be random variation. So, we can't blame them on global warming. At least we couldn't until now...
Snowmobile Gangs by greatbasin2
"The Forest Service is at it again." From the Toiyabe Trails (Sierra Club)Feb-Mar 2005 newspaper, Sally Miller (Wilderness Society) warns that "The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest announced in late November that it is considering opening part or all of the proposed Hoover Wilderness Addition near Sonora Pass to snowmobiles."
Hagel on Global Climate Change by R Lucian
This is important. The U.S. needs to stop talking about climate change and start acting. I think this is worthy of serious consideration by Democrats. Many of you, like myself, are deeply disappointed with the Bush administration's refusal to be a part of an attempt to address a serious global issue. There is nothing wrong with dismissing one attempt, however, if you can offer something better. Let's hope this legislation is indeed the kind of leadership needed. I'll be on the lookout. When this legislation gets introduced, we need to debate its worth right here at dKos, and decide whether we should rally our Senators behind it or tell Hagel to go back to the drawing board.
WE'RE SCREWED - Homeland Security Left to Chemical Industry by ctsteve
On a "60 minutes" program that aired on Nov. 16, TV and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporters ambled onto the grounds of Neville Chemical in Pittsburgh. No guards blocked their path as they filmed tanks holding lethal quantities of boron trifluoride and anhydrous ammonia.
Inside the right wing lobbying machine: an EPA example by VirginiaDem
I'm not an environmental lawyer, but my understanding of the basic legal framework is as follows: if you are going to deposit pollutants into a waterway, you need to register for an NPDES permit. This is a Clean Water Act requirement that "controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States."
Bush the Texan's Chain Saw Massacre by greatbasin2
The exploitationists of the Bush administration should be cheering today as a timber company announced its plans to begin logging in the area of the Biscuit Fire. At first glance the Administration's plan sounds good--"clean out the burned area." However, such plans are typical of the "slash now, pay later" mind set of Bush and his minions.
Biology
Free Stock Photos
Why Creationists Need To Be Creationists by coturnix
I always loved animals and always loved science. I read the kids' science and nature books and encyclopedias, as well as adult stuff, like huge volumes about animals e.g., "The Life of Animals" by Alfred Brehm. The best present I ever got was a chemistry set my brother brought me from a trip to Egland.
Smallpox: Disease or Bioweapon? by Plutonium Page
In the weeks following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, there was a series of anthrax attacks in the U.S., resulting in five deaths. The anthrax attacks triggered fear of other acts of bioterrorism, including the use of the smallpox virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there is enough vaccine in storage to vaccinate everyone in the U.S. if there is an emergency.
Wedging Creationism into the Academy by ohiolibrarian
This article in the January/February 2005 issue of Academe, Wedging Creationism into the Academy discusses something that should sound familiar ... and chilling--the attempt to insert Intelligent Design (ID aka Creationism) into higher education.
"Gay gene" found? by BrianL
Via Rawstory. Update [2005-1-29 14:32:27 by BrianL]: I guess I should have specified that yes, the human right's part of our argument should still be at the forefront and our major position. It's the position I choose to take, and I'm sure most of you as well.
Great moments in GOP science by Forbes
Republican biologists have announced a breakthrough that may lead to salvation for holier-than-thou hypocrites: A camel small enough to pass through the eye of an ordinary sewing needle. The "micro-camel," as it's been dubbed by GOP researchers, is their first discovery after decades of work in the field of Intelligent Design Theory.
Medicine & Healthcare
A New Agenda on Abortion - Contraception by G Spot1
With abortion rights under attack everywhere and the pro-choice position under assault in the Democratic Party, I am proposing a change in focus for the pro-choice movement. We need to play offense by making the issue not about abortion, but reproductive freedom generally. The place to start is contraception.
Drug Importation an Increasing Possibility by bonddad
Something that no one has mentioned in this debate. Under the NAFTA treaty, countries can demonstrate the equivalence of their programs. For example, the Canadians could demonstrate their version of the FDA is similar to the FDA and therefore drugs approved by the Canadian regulator are OK for the US market.
GOP Stem Cell Lines Contaminated By Mouse Molecules by goldstone
Get ready, folks. The stem cell argument is about to swing to the left in a big way. W's approved stem cell lines are contaminated with mouse molecules -- making them unfit for transplantation into humans:
VA Legislative Sentry: Act NOW to Protect Contraception in VA by Maura in VA
Virginia State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis (R-Fairfax, wife of Republican Congressman Tom Davis) picked A, Dictionary.com. Rather than trusting in medically accepted definitions for medical terminology, Devolites-Davis used Dictionary.com as her source of a definition of "contraception" during floor debate this week in an effort to stop Senator Mary Margaret Whipple's (D-Arlington) Birth Control Protection Act (SB456) from passing the Senate as written.
VA Legislative Sentry: Major Defeat for Birth Control in VA by Maura in VA
Here's a disappointing update on my diary earlier today on SB456, the Birth Control Protection Act, in Virginia. The anti-medical science Devolites-Davis Amendment passed in the Virginia Senate today, removing Senator Mary Margaret Whipple's scientific terminology which defined how a contraceptive prevents pregnancy.
Florida Medicaid privatization--a Jeb Bush stalking horse? by drenglish
An article in the NY Times today reports on Jeb Bush's plan to infect Florida's Medicaid system with large-scale privatization. To my eyes, this looks like an attempt at advancing the national privatization front, even as Social Security "reform" is up in the air, and a stalking horse for Jeb's Presidential ambitions. Haven't seen this picked up yet in the blogosphere, so I'm crossposting from my discussion on my blog, Reading A1.
"Consumer Driven Health Care" and other fantasies- by therealcervantes
Our wise leaders want to move ahead with the Ownership Society by getting people off of that socialistic comprehensive health insurance and into medical savings accounts backed up by high deductible, "catastrophic" insurance in case they should be run over by a bus. In that way, they tell us, control over health care will be in the hands of consumers, by which they really mean that we'll be paying for most of it out of our pockets although they don't quite put it that way.
Mentally ill cut from Tenncare, could end up jailed! by NoAlternative
I know I am going to get flamed by the people who think we must never post any nasty news from the South, like I did with yesterdays post on Tenncare, but I am posting this anyway. People who don't think this is fit for discussion should go hang out at free republic. I think Kossacks often ignore these issues to much in favor of inside baseball, so please recommend it.
Drug Prohibition: A History (Part II - Prohibition Begins.) by nephalim
Virtually everyone from both sides of the aisle agree that the so-called "War on Drugs" is a failure. But the politicans dare not speak about it. The "War on Drugs" is relegated to some sort of limbo. People are shrugging it off while lives are destroyed due to prohibition. Far more lives ended due to drugs alone in the USA than the current war in Iraq, as the former drug czar points out. Just because it's not news doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and to be quite blunt, I am a little bit offended. Perhaps people just don't realize that Prohibition has not only failed, it is causing deaths, nevermind greater amounts of suffering? I will continue to argue as such throughout these diaries.
Energy
Free Stock Photos
Technology
Linux on the March by azindy
I am not a computer pro, just a common user who began with CPMs and DOS prompts many years ago. I now work almost exclusively in Linux thanks to a resident 15-year-old Linux expert who counts as one of his greatest achievements the weaning of his family from Windows. Linux is the topic of a special report in Business Week this week.
Visitors to US to be tagged with RFID by Homeland Security by orthogonal
silicon.com reports that 'the US Department of Homeland Security has decided to trial RFID tags' .... 'to track both pedestrians and vehicles entering the US to automatically record when the visitors arrive and leave in the country.
To Boldly Go? by Rimjob
Is it important to spend enormous sums of money to explore space & develop science, or should the money be spent on domestic programs for people here on Earth?
Other
Science Blogging: Whistleblowers Beware by mrboma
The Scientist has an online article regarding governmental scientific whistleblowers. The article, The Plight of the Whistleblower: Vindicated or not, life is never the same for those who disclose | By Eugene Russo (free registration required). The article tells the stories of David Lewis (EPA), and Andrew Eller (Fish and Wildlife) who were both fired for pointing out violations by the agencies they worked for.
[dKos] Categorize Diaries in 2.5 Seconds by catnip
Diaries, diaries, diaries. We love them. We hate them. We read them. We ignore them. We look for them. We can't find them. Can't find the type of diary you're looking for? Read on.
Bush regime trying to fire whistleblower scientist by baldandy
Sound familiar? Another governement critic is being targeted for "discipline" by the political hacks running our government. This time the target is Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, who was hired in 2003 to improve patient safety practices in the NIH related to AIDS research.
Education
While this is not necessarily a science category, you can not have good scientists without good education. So I will highlight education issues here.
Education and Superpowerdom by cskendrick
Quick Fix: Barring a sea change in immigration policy and/or the native birth rate, the only way the United States is going to remain the world's superpower for longer than a handful of years is to ramp up both its quality of education and level of technological sophistication. We look at the United States, China, Japan, India and Russia and tweak their respective education and technology scores, to see the impact on their relative power by the end of the Bush second trim...I mean, second term.
Arnold Wants Teachers to Retire in Poverty by bonddad
Defined benefits make-up for modest pay. If a teacher or other public employee is not given a defined plan on retirement, I think it is possible they will be forced to live their retirement years in poverty. Last year, the average wage increased 2.64%. Over the same period, numerous necessities' prices (transportation, gas, medical care) increased at a faster rate, eating into the middle class' already meager earnings.
Republican Spoils System? (Spoil the Schools?) by Frederick Clarkson
An essay titled Liberal State, Libertarian Policies, published on the web site of Political Research Associates, (PRA, a progressive think tank in Somerville, Massachusetts), raises disturbing questions about education policy under four Republican gubernatorial administrations in Massachusetts. The authors, Paul Dunphy and Nikhil Aziz, charge that "a handful of conservative ideologues, closely aligned with a local libertarian think tank, are dominating every aspect of Massachusetts' education policy and pushing an agenda of privatization that is driving up costs even while weakening public oversight." They also suggest that free market rhetoric maybe cloaking some self-dealing by insiders who crafted hands off regulations for charter school companies for which they subsequently were employed. The authors say that Pioneer and its associates are "getting away with it largely unquestioned." Well, thanks to the hard work and persistence of Dunphy, Aziz and PRA, those days are over.
Ohio SB 24 to squelch academic freedom by jiffykeen
Yesterday, Sen Mumpers introduced legislation into the Ohio senate called the academic bill of rights for higher education. Clearly he is in the mode of naming things their opposite, like the Clear Skies Initiative. From the Columbus Dispatch
Spanish Immersion School by joewlarson
I live in Bellevue, one of the wealthiest cities in Washington State, with my wife and two kids, ages 2 and 4. The eldest will be going to kindergarden next year. We can't afford private school, and are big believers in the public school system. But, unlike many families, we have a choice as to what public school the kids will attend.
McCARTHYISM IN OHIO: SB 24, Ohio law to muzzle "liberals" by concernedamerican
I am really alarmed about this. That is why I am spreading the word here. I think everyone here who lives in Ohio, has family or friends in Ohio, or has a child or relative studying at an Ohio university needs to know about this proposed law that has been introduced in the Ohio senate and that is about to be debated by the Ohio State University senate.
Other dKos Diary Lists or Series
These are great lists to help you catch up with easily missed diaries every week.
Newsie8200's "Newsie's Week In Reviewsies"
jotter's "Most Recommended Diaries"
Tomtech's "This Week in Fascism."
social democrat "17 best-rated comments"
These series offer help for everything from saving money to saving your soul.
Newsie8200's "Newsie's Media News Monday"
Jeffrey Feldman "Frameshop"
pastordan "Religious News Roundup"
bonddad "Today's Economic News"
youngblood kaufman "The Goebbels Diaries"
lilithvf1998 "Fuel For Thought"
pamindurham "LGBT News Roundup"
MH in PA "PILR: Progressive Infogeek Listserv Roundup"
A series of photos from Iraq
RubDMC "Iraq War Grief Daily Witness"
Cartoons
scottbateman "Today's Bateman cartoon"
Previous Nerd Network News Lists
Nerd Network News - Week of December 20-26
Nerd Network News - Week of December 27 - January 2
Nerd Network News or "N cubed" - Week of January 2 - 8
Nerd Network News - Week of January 9 - 15
Nerd Network News (Science Diaries) - Week of January 16-22
dKos Writer's
(listed by id#)
This is a list of dKos members that frequently focus on science. If you know of others that should be added please add their names in a comment below.
Devilstower
coturnix
mcjoan
Paul Rosenberg
Plutonium Page
meanandgreen
peeder
Toktora
Science Blog Roll
greenState A new blog on Environmental issues by fellow Kossians.
Science And Politics and circadiana by our own coturnix
Pharyngula
Chris C Mooney
Deltoid
The Panda's Thumb
blog.bioethics.net
Preposterous Universe
RealClimate
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