terrasig | May 10, 2008Effective science communication and science advocacy in the public arena has been much discussed in the science blogosphere. But is ranting on science and medical blogs the most effective way to promote science, especially in the United States?
I've had some discussions with other scientists, including blog colleague PhysioProf, who submit that the best way for scientists to advocate for science policy is to become politicians themselves. To this end, I read with great interest this morning of an AP story written last night by Seth Borenstein, "A Crash Course in True Political Science":…
terrasig | May 8, 2008Alison McCook has a lengthy article now up on The Scientist website that illustrates how NIH grant funding shortfalls are coming home to roost, with soft money faculty first to be jettisoned.
In 2007, more than 4,000 NIH-funded researchers were denied grant renewals. For some, that means they have to close up shop.
The article itself is well-done, chronicling the experience of Alan Schneyer, a well-established and productive reproductive endocrinology researcher formerly at Massachusetts General Hospital, whose research program was shut down after three tries for a competing renewal of his…
When medical experimental therapeutics gets co-opted as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
terrasig | May 8, 2008Sorry to get to this so late but I wanted to weigh on an excellent post from my cancer blogging colleague, Orac, the other day on the investigation of CAM therapies in cancer. The post covers a lot of ground, as expected from any of Orac's exhaustive missives, but I wanted to focus on the comparison and contracts between NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine within the National Cancer Institute (NCI-OCCAM).
I am on record as a strong critic of NCCAM but a supporter of NCI's OCCAM in that the…
terrasig | May 7, 2008We're not a political blog here but I certainly care about politics as it relates to national science policy and social justice.
Last night, North Carolina's Jim Neal lost in his bid to fight against Sen Elizabeth Dole for her seat in the US Senate. Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend has all the details from last night's gathering at the campaign's election hub, including video of Neal's concession speech. However, he and his supporters have everything to be proud about and I wish Mr Neal all the very best in deciding next how he will continue his service to the community.
Many of us who…
terrasig | May 5, 2008I did not know this:
In the spirit of our recent hosting of the Tar Heel Tavern blog carnival and our general posts on debunking alternative medicine, I learned today about the source of these two words with ties to the homeland.
Miss Cellania's always informative posts at mental_floss blog linked today to Neatorama's, 10 Insulting Words You Should Know. The outstanding list, which you should read in its entirety, includes the origin of the word, "bunkum," which is derived from Buncombe County, NC:
In 1819, a North Carolina congressman, the Honorable Felix Walker, was giving a rambling…
terrasig | May 4, 2008Well, we kept the polls open as long as possible and some bloggers voted early and often while others waited 'til the last minute. We've had some locals and some out-of-staters with recollections of North Carolina. So, without further adieu, the NC primary edition of the Tar Heel Tavern:
NC Politics
Political bloggers in the state were not surprisingly among the first to submit entries. Perennial NC blogging fave, The Olive Ridley Crawl, gives us NC Primary - Vote for a Non Panderer.
Jim Buie submitted several of which I picked Obama, in Raleigh, Shows He's No Elitist Egghead and In NC,…
terrasig | May 3, 2008I was unaware the DrugMonkey and PhysioProf were on the payroll of The Onion.
I'm not a behaviorial pharmacologist but I know quite a few and it didn't keep me from howling out loud at yet another gem from one of my favorite satirical pubs.
terrasig | May 2, 2008Awhile back, I was given a PLoS T-shirt by Bora Zivkovic, science blogger extraordinaire and online community manager for PLoS-ONE, the flagship journal of the Public Library of Science. Every time I wear the dang thing, someone says something to me about the Open Access journal movement. Of course, I live in a rather science-dense town so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I guess I'm just surprised at the kinds of comments I get.
Yesterday I took a brief jaunt to our local indy bookstore. To get some ideas for my Tar Heel Tavern post for this weekend (submit your entries!!!), I was…
terrasig | May 1, 2008I've been away from the computer the last few days and have had to rely on my morning newspaper reading as my sole source of information. So please be sure to let me know if I've been missing anything important.
Yesterday, I came across a very insightful column by Bob Herbert at the New York Times where he muses about what might be going through the mind of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. My local fishwrapper chose to highlight this sentence, one that we may all have on our minds regardless of whether we support Obama, Clinton, or McCain:
The question that cries out for an answer from Mr. Wright is…
terrasig | April 29, 2008Offer extended through Friday! Friday! Friday! 2 May!!!!
Submit entries to tarheeltavern.abel at gmail.
For the first time since I've lived here, the NC primary will actually matter especially given that Clinton and Obama appear to now be running neck-and-neck in PA.
The Tar Heel Tavern was an early blog carnival, with contributions on numerous topics from the unusually dense NC blogging community. The first THT was hosted by Bora Zivkovic at his old blog, Science and Politics, back on 27 February 2005.
I've offered to resurrect the carnival in time for the NC primary with the topic, "What…
terrasig | April 28, 2008Well, not only am I weaseling out of posting original content today but I'm going to direct you to an excellent repost by Bora Zivkovic at A Blog Around the Clock.
I am often asked why plants expend the bioenergetic capital to synthesize secondary metabolites. In his post, Bora notes that the synthesis of capsaicin by hot peppers results in selective avoidance by mammals but an interesting co-evolutionary relationship with thrashers.
And in other news, mosey on over to the newest member of the ScienceBlogs community, the superb ERV blog written by Abbie Smith, a graduate student in Middle…
terrasig | April 26, 2008Here's a Saturday morning open question to the readership:
I'm experiencing some changes in my life that may affect my blogging frequency in the negative direction (but not the quality, of course). I've always blogged intermittently - this has always been a labor of love, intellectual stimulation, and public education rather than ego fodder - but I already feel a little frustrated with myself, for example, in being able to address topics you submit or questions you ask via e-mail.
Several others at ScienceBlogs and elsewhere start team blogs or take on additional bloggers with a similar…
terrasig | April 25, 2008Okay, some people are smoking some bad dope.
Whilst helping the PharmKid get down to the car for school this morning, I came upon PharmGirl, MD, in a rage while sitting in front of her laptop. The object of her vitriol was a 17 April article in BusinessWeek entitled, "Are There Too Many Women Doctors?: As an MD shortage looms, female physicians and their flexible hours are taking some of the blame." The article derives from a point/counterpoint pair of essays in the 5 April issue of BMJ (British Medical Journal) entitled, "Are there too many female medical graduates?" ("Yes" position, "No"…
terrasig | April 25, 2008MD/PhD student Jake Young at Pure Pedantry came up with a great idea and is collecting recipes for cheap, grad student/med student meals. (We of Eastern European heritage love a kid who suggests an inventive application of kielbasa.).
The submissions in the comment thread remind me that our food supply system is so screwed up that the most nutritious foods are the most expensive. When one is living on a student stipend, paying your own way, or , more seriously, if you are one of millions of US citizens living in abject poverty, one usually purchases the most calories per dollar. In our…
terrasig | April 24, 2008Doctor Anonymous has a killer web radio show scheduled for tonight at 9 pm EDT with Kevin, M.D., and Dr Val Jones of Dr Val and The Voice of Reason blog at Revolution Health. (Got your name right this time, Val.)
Here's how to listen and participate in the accompanying chat.
According to the Good Doctor Pho:
We will be talking about yesterday's USA Today op-ed and how doctors can engage the media to better express relevant health issues from a physician's viewpoint.
Doc Anon really does a terrific job and I don't watch/listen/participate as much as I should - I even missed Sid Schwab and Doug…
terrasig | April 23, 2008Just a little blurb in my local paper this morning that is making a big splash in the stock market: international pharma giant GSK is purchasing Cambridge, MA-based Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. for an estimated US$720 million.
Glaxo plans to bolster its pipeline with Sirtris's experimental biotechnology treatments targeting aging-related diseases.
In early trading, Sirtris shares gained 81.6 percent to $22.21 while Glaxo shares added 19 cents to $43.92.
Apparently I should've gone immediately from my morning bathroom newspaper reading to my online stock purchase website. Instead, you get a…
terrasig | April 22, 2008So says Dr Val Jones at Dr Val's Revolution Health Blog, host of this week's Grand Rounds medical blog carnival. The good doctor classified the posts as follows:
[:-)] = A post that demonstrates literary excellence
[{] = Early bird - an author who got his/her submission in early, which is really convenient for the host(ess)
[:-/] = Naughty - an author who forgot to submit an entry to Grand Rounds but who was included nonetheless
Hence, Val classifies me as naughty because she was kind enough to include my post, "Must people die before DSHEA is repealed?," even though I was so inconsiderate…
terrasig | April 21, 2008Once the US Democratic presidential primary is over tomorrow in Pennsylvania, all eyes will be on North Carolina. For the first time since I've lived here, the NC primary will actually matter especially given that Clinton and Obama appear to now be running neck-and-neck in PA.
The Tar Heel Tavern was an early blog carnival, with contributions on numerous topics from the unusually dense NC blogging community. The first THT was hosted by Bora Zivkovic at his old blog, Science and Politics, back on 27 February 2005.
I've offered to resurrect the carnival in time for the NC primary with the…
terrasig | April 20, 2008I never will forget the look on the faces
Of the men and women that awful day,
When we stood around to preach their funerals,
And lay the corpses of the dead away.
We told the Colorado Governor to call the President,
Tell him to call off his National Guard,
But the National Guard belonged to the Governor,
So he didn't try so very hard.
- Woody Guthrie, Ludlow Massacre (1944)
US Senator Ken Salazar (D-Colo) has commemorated today's 94th anniversary of the Ludlow Massacre by introducing a bill (PDF) to designate the coalminers tent colony as a National Historic Landmark. Unless you…
terrasig | April 18, 2008A group e-mail showed up today from some of my boyhood friends and fellow Springsteen worshipers on the sad passing of Danny Federici yesterday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC from melanoma. He was only 58.
Here's my open letter and response to the thread:
Hey-a Boyce,
Not too much more to add here except my sadness on the passing of a great musician and, as O'D sez, one of the crucial background guys who added so much to the sound without needing the spotlight. I watched the killer video of Danny from March 20th in Indy doing the accordion on "Sandy" - he looked fabulous…