Science Education & Policy

The matter has indeed been discussed ad nauseam in the recent past. Blog posts, internal discussions, conferences, workshops, other blog posts, threads. But there is always the chance to add some bit…

The UK has a General Election looming on 6 May, thereby giving newspapers enough hot air to puff up their websites. But what should their science writers talk about during such times? With the launch…

Researchers who blog are a rare and endangered species. As far as rarity is concerned, it is easy to understand why that is so. Scientific research is a round-the-clock occupation, not your regular…

Legislation introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) would require federal agencies with annual extramural research budgets of $100 million or more to provide…

Lego Turing Machine I just came across a wonderful teaching aid: Our success in implementing the Turing Machine as a physical device is exciting because the Turing Machine theoretical construct is…

In Adventures in Ethics and Science, Janet Stemwedel asks some questions about peer review — its purpose and its effect — prompted by strong online criticism of a peer-reviewed paper that was…

Bloggy recently crashed a meeting of The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS).  What is that, you ask?  Okay, I never heard of it either but their website says they are…

The public's fascination with the intricate machinery in the video for "This Too Shall Pass" by OK Go may help promote the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. This is an annual competition for students to…

Textbooks are not mere non-fiction books. Whereas you can feel free to doubt what ispresented in a typical non-fiction book (mine excluded), textbooks are a record of the true facts and principles in…

Much has been written about how inspirational teachers can turn students on to a subject they perhaps would otherwise have let drift away. But what do you do if you're really into a subject but have…