Ivan Oransky

Tragedy of the science-communication commons

blog.oup.com — By Andrew Gelman There's a prevailing notion that communicating science is difficult, and it is therefore difficult to engage the general public. People can be fazed by statistics in particular, so how can we convey the importance of this science effectively?

The Story Trumps Everything: an Interview with Deborah Blum

scilogs.com — If I had to hatch a murder plot with a science writer, Deborah Blum would be my first choice. Like Agatha Christie, Blum's work frequently references poisons, skulduggery and murder most foul. Unlike Christie, Blum's work is nonfiction. An award-winning journalist, Blum has written about issues ranging from primate research to the science of sex.

Nematic liquid crystal boojums with handles on colloidal handlebodies

pnas.org — Abstract Topological defects that form on surfaces of ordered media, dubbed boojums, are ubiquitous in superfluids, liquid crystals (LCs), Langmuir monolayers, and Bose-Einstein condensates. They determine supercurrents in superfluids, impinge on electrooptical switching in polymer-dispersed LCs, and mediate chemical response at nematic-isotropic fluid interfaces, but the role of surface topology in the appearance, stability, and core structure of these defects remains poorly understood.

ivanoransky: This year, there are four bear ...

twitter.com — This year, there are four bear cubs, apparently! pic.twitter.com/NSVtaNTj5Y

A Town Plagued by Water

newyorker.com — Water has not been kind to Toms River. When I drove through the coastal New Jersey town, in early May, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy was still visible along the strip that sits on a barrier peninsula facing the ocean: houses had been tossed into the sand like toys; buildings had walls sheared away; and a field of debris looked like a graveyard.

AHCJ

healthjournalism.org — The Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting.

Efficacy of Flibanserin in Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: Results from the BEGONIA Trial

onlinelibrary.wiley.com — Katz, M., DeRogatis, L. R., Ackerman, R., Hedges, P., Lesko, L., Garcia, M., Sand, M. and BEGONIA trial investigators (2013), Efficacy of Flibanserin in Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: Results from the BEGONIA Trial. Journal of Sexual Medicine. doi: 10.1111/jsm.12189

Blue-Balled Monkeys Among Top 10 New Species

news.discovery.com — From blue-balled monkeys to a meat-eating sponge, these new creatures show that Mother Nature hasn't forgotten how to amaze us.

Call for fact-checking over transcription: Questions journalists should ask about a psych drug trial suicide

healthnewsreview.org — The following is a guest post by Carl Elliott MD, PhD, a professor in the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota and a writer with credits many journalists would envy. ------------- Five years ago, the St. Paul Pioneer Press the violent death of Dan Markingson in an industry-sponsored antipsychotic study at the University of Minnesota.

Amid a legal dispute, journal downgrades a retraction to an expression of concern

retractionwatch.wordpress.com — The journal Cell Cycle is expressing a "note" of concern about a 2012 paper by a former researcher at the University of Minnesota, who has claimed that her mentor at the institution was violating her copyright.