Media and Entertainment
Offer facts about science and life.
The release of a new movie often generates quite a "buzz." However, behind the excitement is a less publicized debate between studios and theater owners. At issue is profitability and how best to distribute new releases.
Boys aged 13 and 14 living in rural areas, are the most likely of their age group to access pornography, and parents need to be more aware of how to monitor their children’s viewing habits, according to a new University of Alberta study.
Video games that contain high levels of action, such as Unreal Tournament, can actually improve your vision. Researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters presented in clutter--a visual acuity test similar to ones used in regular ophthalmology clinics.
In light of the new wave of horror films that appear to push the envelope: One has to wonder if the MPAA is asleep at the wheel or if there is an esoteric influence pushing movies such as "Hostel" easily through the ratings lifecycle sans trepidation or anxiety.
The world’s first comprehensive account of private art collections in the USSR comes from Austria and has now been published as a book. Based on rare primary sources, the book documents how private collectors – despite political repressions – "survived" the Soviet era. They collected art not in line with the official canon, thereby saving much of the country’s cultural heritage. The monograph draws on intensive research facilitated by a Hertha Firnberg grant, financed by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. The study, spanning seven decades from Lenin to Gorbachev, gives a nuanced picture of private art collecting in the former Soviet Union and clears up a number of common misconceptions.
I am nearing completion of my dissertation, studying animal behavior and beginning to survey my career options. I love research. I love teaching. But as an African-American and a female, I am also concerned about the diversity issues in science and academia. What's happening with the pipeline? And what role do I play now that I see a the light at the end of the tunnel? But to be honest, the flow from the pipeline is more akin to a trickle and not a steady stream. Don't get me wrong, I think the scientific and academic communities have been quite open and accessible, for the most part. But I contend that public outreach to the general public, and especially to communities of color, haven't been very effective because most of the programs are passive.
The really Bad Science and total lack of forethought behind Deja Vu.
Build a Star Wars Lightsaber Forum
Richard Dawkins on Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report' (October 17th, 2006) discussing God, The God Delusion, Creationism, and Intelligent Design. ('s very funny too!).
I've been busy with book reviewing and updating my Science Shelf web site. Follow the link for my "What's New" page or read on...
The New York Yankees have better than a 3 in 4 chance of defeating the Detroit Tigers in their best of 5 series beginning tonight, said Bruce Bukiet, PhD, associate professor in the department of mathematical sciences at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Bukiet's mathematical model, which was published in the journal "Operations Research," computes the probability of a team winning a game against another team with given hitters, bench, starting pitcher, relievers and home field advantage.
Sometimes the best way to express a scientific idea is through an image that grabs the eye and invites viewers to wonder what they're seeing. Fourteen images and multimedia presentations, each using innovative approaches to encapsulate a scientific story, have won the 2006 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, a competition sponsored jointly by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science, which is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
It's been quite a while since I posted an update about my Science Shelf book review site. This blog entry includes excerpts of the latest reviews, recommendations of two children's science books, and information about upcoming personal appearances.
Hang in there, parents. There is some hopeful news on the video-gaming front. Researchers have found that some of the large and hugely popular online video games – although condemned by many as time-gobbling, people-isolating monsters – actually have socially redeeming qualities.
