Science

No Science for You!

by Sheldon Rampton — December 6, 2008 - 8:34pm

CNN has announced that it will cut its entire science, technology, and environment news staff, a move that Christy George of the Society of Environmental Journalists called "disheartening." Other networks have also been slashing science and environmental jobs, including NBC Universal's The Weather Chan

Main Source:

Columbia Journalism Review, December 4, 2008

Pure Science vs. Biopure

by Sheldon Rampton — November 30, 2008 - 7:07pm

Biopure, a company that makes blood substitutes, is suing scientist Charles Natanson for defamation after he published a critical review in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Nature magazine has condemned the lawsuit.

Main Source:

Integrity in Science Watch, November 17, 2008

Science Reporting by Press Release

by Sheldon Rampton — November 18, 2008 - 10:05am

Science reporting "is more and more the direct product of PR shops," according to Charles Petit, a veteran science reporter who runs MIT’s online Knight Science Journalism Tracker.

Main Source:

Columbia Journalism Review, November 14, 2008

Health Warning Labels Make People Want to Smoke

by Anne Landman — October 24, 2008 - 2:32pm

A three-year, $7 million neuromarketing study done in Oxford, England has found that cigarette health warning labels actually make smokers want to smoke more, not less. Neuromarketing research studies how the brain reacts to various types of marketing stimuli.

Main Source:

Advertising Age, October 21, 2008

Cherry-Picking Skeptic

by Bob Burton — October 20, 2008 - 11:59pm

A cardinal rule amongst statisticians is to avoid comparing apples with oranges. But it seems that Danish statistician and climate change skeptic Bjorn Lomborg has no such reservations.

Main Source:

Japan Times, October 21, 2008

Bisphenol A: A Chemical with Deep-Pocketed Friends

by Diane Farsetta — October 16, 2008 - 12:03pm

The same month that Martin Philbert was named the chair of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel considering the safety of bisphenol A, a defender of the chemical made a $5 million grant to Philbert's research center.

Main Source:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 11, 2008

Pfizer Turns Failure into Success

by Diane Farsetta — October 8, 2008 - 4:36pm

"Documents and emails released this week ... suggest Pfizer's marketers influenced" research on the drug Neurontin "by declining to release or altering the conclusions of studies that found no beneficial effect from Neurontin for various off-label conditions," reports Keith Winstein.

Main Source:

Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), October 8, 2008

It's Not Rocket Science

by Diane Farsetta — September 24, 2008 - 4:35pm

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is poised to end "a six-year-old battle between career EPA scientists" who want to regulate a chemical linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women and children, and the White House and Pentagon, where officials oppose setting a drinking-water safety standard for the chemical, perchlorate. Guess who's likely to win?

Main Source:

Washington Post, September 22, 2008

Whatever Industry Wants

by Sheldon Rampton — September 23, 2008 - 9:09am

Public interest groups, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, are blasting the Food and Drug Administration for relying on industry-funded studies in evaluating the safety of bisphenol A, a chemical widely used in food packaging materials.

Main Source:

Integrity in Science Watch, September 22, 2008

The Sound of Silence

by Sheldon Rampton — September 17, 2008 - 1:42pm

"The Ear and Hearing Journal has rebuked a Washington University researcher for failing to disclose that he was working as a paid expert for a siren manufacturer when he published a study saying firefighters weren't at risk for job-related hearing loss," reports David Armstrong. The study's author, William W. Clark of the Washington University School of Medicine in St.

Main Source:

Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), September 12, 2008