Science News

In the November 21 Issue:

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Comment: NATO committee fosters science’s role in security
Not everyone knows about Science for Peace and Security, a NATO committee with a small budget that focuses on funding civil science projects with applications to countering threats. The committee’s goal is developing high-quality knowledge in various areas relevant to antiterrorism, to other threats to security or to the priorities of the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and of the Mediterranean Dialogue countries. Among current SPS projects is Virtual Silk Highway, or SILK-2, a multi-year NATO computer networking project which began early this millennium to bring connectivity to the eight countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia. SILK-2 provides universities and civil research institutions in participating countries with state-of-the-art satellite technology. As part of NATO assistance to Afghanistan, SILK-2 was extended to 14 institutions in Kabul (...
Sohail Sheikh
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Comment: Snapshots from 25 years of publicizing astronomy
Astronomer and author Stephen P. Maran recently retired from 25 years as press officer for the American Astronomical Society. He also worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for more than 35 years. Known for his Einsteinian hair, along with his quips and insightful comments at press briefings that drew record crowds, Maran spoke with Science News writer Ron Cowen about his experiences in astronomy and public outreach. How can NASA and astronomers better communicate discoveries? There should be more conference calls, more use of Skype and webcasting for press briefings and at meetings. These electronic means of communication have a big following among science buffs. It also makes the news more accessible for reporters. For years I was firm in keeping [a tight lid on] all the press-related material at meetings, such that it was hard for reporters to get the...
Courtesy of S. Maran
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Comment: It’s time to reform work hours for resident physicians
Harvard sleep researcher says rules should be changed to make sure physicians-in-training get the shut-eye they need
Division of Sleep Medicine/Harvard Medical School
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Found in: Science & Society
Comment: Looking for a change on climate policy in Copenhagen
A Q&A with Richard A. Bradley
International Energy Agency
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Comment: From baby scientists to a science of social learning
Developmental psychologist Andrew Meltzoff codirects the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. In the July 17 Science, Meltzoff and his colleagues published a paper titled “Foundations for a New Science of Learning.” Meltzoff recently spoke with Science News writer Bruce Bower. What does the science of learning tell us about the nature of intelligence? People sometimes think of intelligence as a reflection of individual problem-solving skills. But we’re increasingly realizing that humans have special brain and cognitive mechanisms for social interaction. A powerful aspect of intelligence is the ability to solve problems collaboratively. Individuals and groups incorporate knowledge passed along from others into new problem solutions and innovations. Computers and other modern technologies have greatly increased the impact of this...
Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences/Univ. of Washington
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Comment: A place removed from 'the pressure of received ideas'
Murray Gell-Mann, winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on elementary particles (see Page 24 in this issue), was one of the originators of the Santa Fe Institute, an interdisciplinary research center in New Mexico that is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Gell-Mann recently addressed a group of about 150 high school students gathered at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., for Adventures of the Mind, a biennial summit for academically outstanding 15- to 18-year-olds. Gell-Mann described the origins of and philosophy behind the Santa Fe Institute’s approach to science. Tom Siegfried, Science News’ editor in chief, excerpted Gell-Mann’s remarks. A group of us who were connected with the government lab at Los Alamos, either as consultants or employees, 27 or 28 years ago, used to meet and talk about starting a theoretical institute. The plac...
T. Siegfried
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Comment: Balancing gains and threats in cardiovascular care
Clyde W. Yancy, a cardiologist and medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute in Dallas, became national president of the American Heart Association on July 1. He recently spoke with Science News writer Nathan Seppa. Dramatic gains in cardiovascular care in the United States risk being negated by an epidemic of obesity, diabetes and other conditions. How do you see us navigating these crosscurrents? This is the dichotomy of influences under which we currently exist in the cardiovascular community. Heart disease and stroke continue to be leading causes of death in this country. But the fact is, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in the natural history of cardiovascular disease and strokes. Since 2000, there’s been a 30 percent decline in death due to coronary heart disease and a 26 percent decline in death due to strokes. These are truly heroic steps that are in part a...

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Comment: Tackling toxicology and environmental health
In January, toxicologist Linda S. Birnbaum became director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, home to the National Toxicology Program, in Research Triangle Park, N.C. Birnbaum recently spoke with Science News writer Rachel Ehrenberg. What areas would you like to see the institute zoom in on? One of the things I’ve been really working on is to increase our interaction with various federal partners as well as trying to involve the larger community in our actions and our activities. Scientists need to do a better job of helping the general public understand what we do, why it is important and what it means to them. Many scientists take the attitude that what they do is too complex, and in fact, my response to that is, “Then you don’t really know what you are doing.” So I think that we need to meet with our constituents, understand what their concerns are...
NIEHS/NIH
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Comment: Accept it: Talk about evolution needs to evolve
Watch your language! It’s a common message from Eugenie Scott, a physical anthropologist and director of the National Center for Science Education (www.ncseweb.org), an organization dedicated to promoting and defending the teaching of evolution in public schools. Scott recently spoke with Science News writer Susan Milius. So you urge scientists not to say that they “believe” in evolution?! Right. What your audience hears is more important than what you say.… What [people] hear is that evolution is a belief, it’s an opinion, it’s not well-substantiated science. And that is something that scientists need to avoid communicating. You believe in God. You believe your sports team is going to win. But you don’t believe in cell division. You don’t believe in thermodynamics. Instead, you might say you “accept evolution.” How does the language used to discuss new discover...
Steve Mirsky
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Comment: Five problems in physics without the definite article
In a 2006 book that garnered much press for its silly attacks on string theory, author and physicist Lee Smolin provides a list of “The Five Great Problems in Theoretical Physics.” There are many offensive things about this list, starting with the use of the definite article in the title, which implies that people not working on these problems (the majority of theoretical physicists) are working on less-than-great problems. But to me the most offensive thing is that only one of the five problems, I believe, could eventually be resolved by experiment. Most physicists don’t consider a phenomenon to be understood until there are both repeatable experiments displaying it and a quantitative theoretical description. The only physics problems without both aspects are those unrelated to experiment. We have a name for such problems: mathematics. The book’s list, however, did inspire ...
Neil Fendley
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