An open thread on Wikipedia’s list of science blogs

Posted on By David Shiffman 20 Comments on An open thread on Wikipedia’s list of science blogs
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A Twitter discussion this weekend between Ed Yong, Christie, and Sci Curious pointed out that Wikipedia’s list of science blogs is seriously lacking. If I’ve learned anything in my year in the blog-o-sphere, it’s that there are a lot of excellent blogs and bloggers out there. From reading the Wikipedia entry, you would think that there are only eleven.

Two questions arose from this discussion. First of all, is it a problem? Second of all, if it is a problem, should we solve it? I think that the answers to both questions are yes, but as always, I’m interested in your feedback.

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This week in spam

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 1 Comment on This week in spam
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Spam. Those horrific comments that try to sell you everything from free drugs to naked celebrity pictures (actually that’s pretty much all they try to sell). Almost all our spam gets caught by the filters, so our readers don’t have to suffer through them, but we do. Over the last several years, spam has been evolving, nearly to the point of poetry. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share with you some of the very best spam from the last week (stripped of links, of course).

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The Glorious Gam

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 2 Comments on The Glorious Gam
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More than a year ago, my office-mate Kevin introduced me to the world of Science Blogging. Behind the bit-thin veneer of a Google search lay a sprawling and vibrant community of scientists, educators, and communicators. A community I had been completely unaware. After a year on the inside, I’ve come to understand just how powerful these communities can be.

Many of you have heard about the Concordia, the sailing vessel that capsized last week with a classroom-at-sea aboard. While exploring the reports and blogs about the incident, I realized that another, equally awesome network of bloggers exists out there. A network that marine biologists should be engaged in just as much as Science Blogs. These are the Maritime Blogs.

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Ethical Debate: Animal rights, human health, and government understanding of science

Posted on By David Shiffman 111 Comments on Ethical Debate: Animal rights, human health, and government understanding of science
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Image from HumaneSociety.org

I am, in general, a supporter of animal rights. Animal abuse sickens me, and I really believe Ghandi’s famous quote that “you can judge a society by how it treats its weakest members”. That said, while it’s disturbing to see a rabbit which has gone blind from exposure to a potential new shampoo, I’d rather have a rabbit go blind than a human child. More importantly, while it is troubling to infect a chimpanzee with a disease in order to study how to cure that disease, such research unquestionably saves human lives.  That’s why I was surprised to learn about the Great Ape Protection Act.

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