Gina Kolata of The New York Times has a knack. She can write a lede as well as anyone in the business. Here was Sunday’s: For the first time, and to the astonishment of many of their colleagues, researchers created what they call Alzheimer’s in a Dish — a petri dish with human brain cells […]
Science Online has reached the “difficult but unavoidable decision to dissolve the organization.”
[Update 10-10: I asked Scott Rosenberg, ScienceOnline’s board chairman, whether he thought the sexual harassment scandal was an important factor in the organization’s decision to shut down. He declined to comment beyond what is in the statement that was released yesterday.–PR] In an email to supporters early this evening, ScienceOnline, the organizer of annual science […]
The NYT’s Sheri Fink: Life, death, and grim routine at a Liberian Ebola clinic.
I don’t often tout the work of friends of mine, and Sheri Fink is a friend of mine. And I don’t usually point to stories on the front page of The New York Times, because I think most Tracker readers will find them without my help. But Fink’s front-page piece today is something you must […]
Covering Ebola: No significant threat to the U.S. So why are customs agents wearing masks?
[Update: David Willman at The Los Angeles Times writes that Ebola might spread more easily than the authorities are claiming. It’s impossible to know whether this story is correct, but it’s definitely worth reading. Reassurances by authorities are fine; but false reassurance could be deadly.] [Update: Last weekend, during a science journalism workshop at the […]
Long-time Science correspondent registers his ‘profound dismay’ at art, production dismissals.
Michael Balter, a long-time correspondent for Science magazine, announced today that he was taking a three-month leave of absence to protest the firing of four women in the art and production departments. In an open letter to Science’s news editor, Tim Appenzeller, Balter wrote that it was “particularly painful and sad” for him to “register […]
NYT public editor demurs on science story. Why? ‘I’m no scientist.’
In a December, 2012 interview, GQ magazine asked Sen. Marco Rubio how old the Earth is. Rubio refused to answer, because, he said, “I’m not a scientist, man.” He continued: I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and […]