Category Archives: Science in culture & policy

Because science is all up in everybody’s business, whether they know it or not.

Dr. House vs. Car Talk: Diagnostic Showdown

A clever little article in JAMA, written by Gurpreet Dhaliwal, suggests that diagnosticians should admire not House, MD, but rather NPR’s Car Talk mechanics, Click and Clack: Car Talk, like most forms of technology and media, offers advantages and conveniences … Continue reading

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SF/F as a lens for looking at the law

As Arthur C. Clarke once put it, technology is — at some sufficiently advanced tipping point — “indistinguishable from magic”.  An interesting question that follows from that realization is this: how big a difference is there, really, between the law … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Film, Video & Music, Gender Issues, Littademia, Neuroscience, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

AAAS Update: Drunks with Lamp-Posts

Well, the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting here in Boston was fun! I didn’t expect that. I’m not a huge fan of scientific conferences because I have an extremely short attention span. And I haven’t been blogging a lot – I’d … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Science, Science in culture & policy | 1 Comment

The Mona Lisa, Genes, and Money

One of the questions an artist hates most is what is your artwork worth? Price is a subjective, unsatisfactory proxy for emotional angst, frustration, eyestrain, and time. Sometimes I find that NO (reasonable) value can compensate for the emotional investment … Continue reading

Posted in Artists & Art, Ephemera, Film, Video & Music, Littademia, Photography, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

Seriously, now. . .

OK – enough frivolous posts for the moment. There’s an election in the offing, and I want to address those of you who care whether the next President is science-and-technology-literate. Which should be ALL of you, right? Sciencedebate 2008 (of … Continue reading

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Think outside Schrodinger’s box

Can a president who is not comfortable thinking about science hope to lead instead of follow? Earlier Republican debates underscored this problem. In May, when candidates were asked if they believed in the theory of evolution, three candidates said no. … Continue reading

Posted in Science, Science in culture & policy | 1 Comment

Living paycheck to paycheck, on Wonderbread and ramen

I found this post on the NYT Health blog “Well”, by Tara Parker-Pope (when did the NYT switch to a blogging model? am I just oblivious?) Anyway, the post was mildly intriguing. But then I started reading the comments, and … Continue reading

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Department of the Drama, Science, Science in culture & policy | 8 Comments

Rock it, sister!

In a great post at The Intersection, Sheril takes on sexism, science, and stereotypes. This is exactly why I like “The Big Bang Theory,” yet feel strangely uncomfortable watching it.

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Seeding art in science – and vice versa

From “Making the Step from Chemistry to Biology and Back,” Nature Chemical Biology David Goodsell The Nov/Dec issue of Seed features an interesting article by Jonah Lehrer on science and art. It’s a short read, but it touches on most … Continue reading

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Science, Science in culture & policy | 3 Comments

Visualizing science: Steve Miller

Protein #324, 2003 enamel, silk-screen on paper Steve Miller The protein-inspired art of Steve Miller in turn inspires Visualizing Science: Image-making in the Constitution of Scientific Knowledge, a cool-sounding symposium to be held next Wednesday, October 24, 2007, at Rose … Continue reading

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