terrasig

Click HERE to come to our new home: cenblog.org/terra-sigillata/ Please update your bookmarks and see this farewell post about our departure from the ScienceBlogs community after four years and this inaugural post at CENtral Science. CENtral Science is an online forum associated with Chemical…

But never fear! Click HERE to come to our new home: cenblog.org/terra-sigillata/ Please update your bookmarks and see this farewell post about our departure from the ScienceBlogs community after four years. The 234-ton load of Holy Cross Church is transported across the North Carolina Central…

So, readers know that I went out West this past weekend to visit colleagues at the University of Colorado, spend some thinking time at the southern Colorado ranchland endowed to us by the late PharmDad, and - most prominently - visit PharmMom and PharmStiefvater on the occasion of her 70th birthday…

With great sadness, I announce that my colleague, Bora Zivkovic (aka Coturnix), is departing from ScienceBlogs. However, his long-awaited analysis of the Pepsigate #sbfail episode is superb and he provides an unparalleled history of science blogging, its relationship with the legacy media, and his…

Altered Alerted by fellow blogger, Drugmonkey, I learned that insightful commenter, namnezia, has launched his own blog, Take it to the Bridge, with this great intro post on the blog and blogname (I like blog names that make you think.) For those who began reading us for our discussions of…

This is not good. Not good at all. On Friday, Paul Goldberg of The Cancer Letter reported on an investigation into Duke cancer researcher, Anil Potti, MD, and claims made that he was a Rhodes Scholar - in Australia. The misrepresentation was made on grant applications to NIH and the American Cancer…

Jon Shain and his Trio will be performing this evening (Saturday, July 17) at The Soul Cafe in Durham, NC, together with Washington, DC's The Grandsons and Pat Wictor. The Soul Cafe is an alcohol-free venue near Durham's Brightleaf Square. Sadly, I'm out of town and can't attend - but you should.…

Pardon me for taking up science blogging space today to send out special wishes of love and congratulations for my Mom on the occasion of her birthday-of-special-note. The artwork provided by her granddaughter above (©2010 PharmKid) contains a subliminal message about the significance of today's…

Today, I refer you to an excellent post by Peter A. Lipson, MD, at the blog, Science-Based Medicine, entitled, "HuffPo blogger claims skin cancer is conspiracy." The post focuses on an article by someone who contends that the link between sunlight and skin cancer is a conspiracy by dermatologists…

In remarking Sunday on coverage of the synthetic marijuana products in The New York Times, I totally missed that a more detailed article appeared the day before in The Washington Post. With contributions from Aaron C. Davis, the article by writer Michael W. Savage provided an insight into Spice use…

Overnight, Malcolm Gay posted an article that appears in this morning's Sunday edition of The New York Times regarding synthetic marijuana products. "Incense" blends such as K2, Spice, Black Mamba, and Wildfire Extreme are sold legally in most states in the US but have been illegal in Europe for…

If you're tired of talking about the debacle that was PepsiCo's paid blog that was sprung on us here at ScienceBlogs earlier this week, please carry on elsewhere. However, this episode is certainly the talk of both scientists and journalists. I suspect that this case will be discussed and dissected…

In the midst of all of the PepsiCo #SbFAIL events of the week (here and here are my two contributions), I totally missed checking in on my blog traffic statistics this week. But every Saturday morning I get my weekly e-mail report from SiteMeter, the service I use to track how y'all get to the…

Toxicity reports are re-emerging in southern California this week after a dozen hospitalizations of kids using teas made from a fragrant flowering plant called Angel's Trumpet. A tea made from the plants is used to produce hallucinations, but they can progress to extremely unpleasant experiences.…

Given the events of yesterday about corporate sponsorship in the objective landscape of science journalism, I found it ironic that my research collaboration meeting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill brought me to their beautiful FedEx Global Education Center where I enjoyed an iced…

Yesterday, the ScienceBlogs arm of Seed Media Group announced that they would be hosting a blog written by members of PepsiCo's research and development leadership team. From the Food Frontiers blog: PepsiCo's R&D Leadership Team discusses the science behind the food industry's role in…

Many moons ago in blog years, RealJournalist&trade and Not Exactly Rocket Science blogger Ed Yong queried his readers to learn who they were and why they read him by answering some questions in the comment thread. Now that he has moved over to Discover, Ed has launched his query anew and blog…

Purty, innit? I got the raspberry one pictured above. Disclaimer: This is not a corporate product review. I purchased my Kodak Zi8 for full retail price two months ago for $179.95. However, you can get it now for $129.95 at Kodak and everywhere else on the web. It was a fantastic deal at the old…

I just walked outside my little dead-end neighborhood of 17 or so houses, almost exactly the number of my childhood neighborhood in northern New Jersey. The houses and lots are a little bigger since money goes further in North Carolina. And yeah, sure, a state professor's salary is a bit better…

The 75th anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous has brought out a spate of legacy media articles about the organization, most singing the praises of an unscientific movement begun during The Great Depression that still forms the basis of many clinical drug and alcohol addiction treatment programs. My…

The last two days (here and here), you lovely commenters and I have been bantering about legacy media's reluctance to use the original literature citation in print or online coverage of science, medicine, and health stories. The discussion has drawn input from working writers as well as scientists…

Yesterday, we wrote and all discussed PalMD's pet peeve about mass media outlets not using journal citations when reporting new science, health, and medicine stories. A lively comment thread ensued here and there. But, as usual, I am reminded that blogfather, Bora Zivkovic, discussed this issue…

To begin, I'm not necessarily saying these are attitudes of journalists but perhaps may be of some editors and media business decision makers. This post was stimulated by an interesting comment thread is developing over at The White Coat Underground - a fine blog written by practicing internist…

KEY WEST, FL - After a few days of work and research discussions here, it's time for a couple days of true vacation. The Family Pharmboy chose to leave the 101°F of North Carolina for the cooler and breezier climes of the gorgeous and peaceful Florida Keys. We're here to right a wrong and to also…

A couple of reader questions came in this week following our interview with the inspiring African-American leader and mentor, Jason Dorsette. I had mentioned therein about first meeting Mr. Dorsette two years ago this week at a local Juneteenth celebration. A few readers, even those in the southern…

Reuters Health Executive Editor and proprietor of the excellent Embargo Watch blog, Ivan Oransky, was kind to alert me to this topical paper that appeared in Monday's issue of Annals of Internal Medicine entitled, The Social Mission of Medical Education: Ranking the Schools. To the credit of the…

In the 18 years from my first faculty appointment, one of the most satisfying parts of the journey has been watching students come through my life who you can tell - you just "know" - are going to make a huge difference in the world. (I previously wrote of one of these here, Arizona clinical…

Waiting for that coffee to take effect but want it to appear you are doing something scholarly? Have a look at this pair of highly-read posts at The Chronicle of Higher Education: We Must Stop the Avalanche of Low-Quality Research The most-viewed article of the last two days at the online presence…

Was just checking the old SiteMeter stats before foraging for dinner and saw a surge in search hits for "Amy Bishop." Yup. Lo and behold she has been charged with murder - for the 1986 death of her brother. From an article an hour ago by Donovan Slack and Shelley Murphy at the Boston Globe: The…

In continuing our discussion of the Centennial HBCU Symposium held June 3-4 in Research Triangle Park, NC, I wanted to briefly follow up a theme that emerged several times across the diverse talks. Outside of a high dropout rate, a major challenge to African-American students succeeding in…