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Hank CampbellRSS Feed of this column.

I founded Science 2.0® in 2006 and since then it has become the world's largest independent science communications site, with over 300,000,000 direct readers and reach approaching one billion. Read More »

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National Geographic Ends Anonymous Accounts At Scienceblogs.com

National Geographic Ends Anonymous Accounts At Scienceblogs.com

Aug 18 2011 | comment(s)

National Geographic, which nows runs Scienceblogs.com, has put the hammer down on anonymous blogs.

Really, that whole thing was always a little sketchy.  Supposedly the rationale was that these people were going to be edgy insiders revealing things too explosive for mainstream media and maybe damaging to their careers but it mostly ended up being a way to rant about politics without accountability.  
Controversy - Minorities Less Likely To Get NIH Grants?

Controversy - Minorities Less Likely To Get NIH Grants?

Aug 18 2011 | comment(s)

What constitutes racism?  

If you have a pool of applicants for a research grant and applications with good scores were likely to be funded, regardless of race or ethnicity, can there be racism?  

A recent survey of NIH R01 applications found that applications from black investigators were 13.2 % less likely to be awarded than whites while Asian investigators were 3.9 % less likely to have their work funded.   This correlates to the number of applicants as well; blacks are only 1.4% of total applications while Asians are 16.2% and whites are almost 70%.
Cigarette Smoking Woo - Time Of Day Impacts Cancer Risk

Cigarette Smoking Woo - Time Of Day Impacts Cancer Risk

Aug 18 2011 | comment(s)

Look, we all know smoking is bad for you by now.  We don't need to spend billions of dollars telling people that but an entire industry has been built around getting people to stop, and it is primarily funded by penalties on tobacco companies and taxes.   It's a truly parasitic relationship but it isn't going anywhere and anti-smoking groups need smokers to stay in business.  Apparently so do some researchers.
The State Of Science Outreach: Is It Bad?

The State Of Science Outreach: Is It Bad?

Aug 18 2011 | comment(s)

I have said many times I think people are terrifically smart; they know a lot of science, though they tend to frame it through their politics.    

The numbers bear me out - science literacy in adults has tripled since I went to college but even that was framed in a "it's not enough" context by some science writers and while there are 65 million people just in the US who are interested in science, the perception by scientists is that people don't care.
Open Science In Science 2.0 - Who Does It?

Open Science In Science 2.0 - Who Does It?

Aug 17 2011 | comment(s)

Five years into the Science 2.0 experiment I can tell you down to the eyeball how many people are involved in the communication pillar of it - but in the collaboration realm, it's not so easy.

Science 2.0 fave Heather A. Piwowar from the Department of Biomedical Informatics at Pitt recently gave it a shot, and the answer was...it's unknown.
Social Media Magazine Is In Print - Wait, What?

Social Media Magazine Is In Print - Wait, What?

Aug 16 2011 | comment(s)

In a sign that media people don't always understand media - especially social media - The Cool Blue Company LLC is proud to announce the world's first print magazine dedicated to social media called The Social Media Monthly.

Yes, a print magazine about Facebook.

Artist Yiying Lu, famous to Twitter users because they see her drawings of the "Fail Whale" when it crashes, graces the cover.  The cover also has a bonus removable wall graphic, also designed by Lu.