"Up to 2% of scientists don't believe in global warming, Tom."
"I believe it just isn't bad enough. Because if it was bad enough --we're not bad people -- we would take action. And if we run through the fossil fuels, if we load the sky with carbon, then it would be obvious. Right now you kind of have to be a scientist to understand what's going on."
On September 19, the faculty of Princeton University unanimously adopted an amendment to the Rules and Procedures of the Faculty of Princeton University that inserted the following paragraphs at the start of the section on copyright policy:
The members of the Faculty of Princeton University strive to make
their publications openly accessible to the public. To that end, each
Faculty member hereby grants to The Trustees of Princeton University a
nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide license to exercise any and all
copyrights in his or her scholarly articles published in any medium,
whether now known or later invented, provided the articles are not sold
by the University for a profit, and to authorize others to do the same.
This grant applies to all scholarly articles that any person authors or
co-authors while appointed as a member of the Faculty, except for any
such articles authored or co-authored before the adoption of this policy
or subject to a conflicting agreement formed before the adoption of
this policy. Upon the express direction of a Faculty member, the Provost
or the Provost's designate will waive or suspend application of this
license for a particular article authored or co-authored by that Faculty
member.
The University hereby authorizes each member of the Faculty to
exercise any and all copyrights in his or her scholarly articles that are
subject to the terms and conditions of the grant set forth above. This
authorization is irrevocable, non-assignable, and may be amended by
written agreement in the interest of further protecting and promoting
the spirit of open access.
I am delighted to see the faculty of Princeton commit themselves to fostering the broadest possible access to scholarly works they produce. I hope that faculty at many other universities follow suit.
But one thing isn't clear to me.
The rules grant copyright to The Trustees of Princeton University. What happens if a faculty member signs a publication agreement that transfers copyright to another entity. Do Princeton's rules take precendence over the publication agreement? I can't see how they would,1 but if they don't the new rules do little more than encourage faculty to be careful about the publication agreements they sign.
[A]t least two leading candidates vying for the Republic nomination for President - Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann
- hold views that are profoundly anti-science, calling key scientific
theories into question and suggesting bad motives on the part of
scientists. There are touches of something medieval here. If someone
with such views were indeed to take over the US presidency, the results
could be profound, and could easily lead to the United States becoming a
backwater in geopolitical terms.
It is not, or at any rate should not be, the task of politicians to
second guess science, or to declare its theses right or wrong based on
ideology. That approach is total madness. No country can afford it, not
even America. (emphasis added)
Reasonable people can differ on what policies we should adopt in the face of human-caused climate change, but it is unreasonable to base public policy on denial of human-caused climate change. And we serve our children best when we teach them that the best scientific explanation for the diversity of life is evolution.
A year and a half ago, three faculty members in the biology department at the University of Alabama Huntsville were shot and killed. Three more were wounded. Amy Bishop had recently been denied tenure, and she was charged with capital murder and with attempt to commit murder.
Last Thursday, Bishop pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges.
In Massachusetts, she has also been charged in the death of her teenage brother. His death in a shooting had originally been ruled an accident.
It's easy to use read.csv() or read.data() to read data that's stored on your hard drive. But suppose you're collaborating with someone on a different continent and sharing data that either of you may update periodically as you make new observations. If you're working with your data in a spreadsheet, Google Docs is your friend. A post at Revolutions explains how to use a spreadsheet on Google as a data source for an R script.
Thirty years ago today a ranch dog in Meeteeste, Wyoming brought a dead black-footed ferret back to its owners -- two years after the last known black-footed ferret had died in captivity at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Because of disease outbreaks, all remaining wild ferrets were moved into a captive breeding program between 1985 and 1987, and no other wild populations have been found.
Since 1991, 19 reintroduction projects have been conducted across 8 states, Canada, and Mexico. Half are judged to be successful or improving, and the number of ferret individuals and populations is about halfway to the recovery goal. There are now six facilities participating in the captive breeding program, and about 300 kits were born in 2010.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the rediscovery of the ferret, events are being held around the country. On Saturday, black-footed ferret number 7505 was released in South Dakota's badlands at "invitation-only event at the Badlands National Park, attended by about two dozen ferret fanatics" (source). If you can't make it to one of the official events, sit back and relish the thought that sometimes we can bring species back from the brink of extinction.
Sun Come Up is an Academy Award® nominated
film that shows the human face of climate change. The film follows the
relocation of the Carteret Islanders, a community living on a remote
island chain in the South Pacific Ocean, and now, some of the world's
first environmental refugees.
When climate change
threatens their survival, the islanders face a painful decision. They
must leave their ancestral land in search of a new place to call home. Sun Come Upfollows a group of young islanders as they search for land and build
relationships in war-torn Bougainville, 50 miles across the open ocean.
Sun Come Up provokes discussion about climate change, displacement, and the rights of vulnerable communities around the globe. (source)
Greta Schiller is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker. Her new film, Dinosaurs in Heaven, argues that creationism doesn't belong in public education and that science literacy is essential to a healthy democracy. The film features Genie Scott of the National Center for Science Education. If you're in the New York area, there's a screening at the New York Academy of Sciences on October 25th at 7:00pm, and Genie will be there. For more information visit the Evolution in the Classroom page at the New York Academy.
It's not quite that easy of course, but you can now buy a first class stamp from the Postal Service that will not only get your letter delivered but also support conservation efforts aimed to protect threatened and endangered species.
The U.S. Postal Service is proud to offer the Save Vanishing Species™ Semipostal
stamp. Featuring a bold graphic of an Amur tiger cub, the artwork
depicts just one of the magnificent animals that this stamp is designed
to help. Your purchase benefits conservation funds that are helping
create hope for the future.
Read more about the stamp and the projects it will support at shop.usps.com. As the URL suggests, you can also buy the stamp online.
I don't know whether it's a Mac/Windoze problem or what, but I heard from several people that they weren't able to view the video of my comments that I posted yesterday. I just posted this one to YouTube. Presumably it will work.
The MacArthur Foundation named its 2011 Fellows on Tuesday, and I am proud to say that one of my academic sisters, Sally Otto, is among them. Congratulations, Sally. I am delighted you're getting the recognition you deserve.
Not that 50. I turned 50 years old several years ago. I now have 50 followers on Twitter. Thanks @fourpartswater for being number 50. Click on the image below to see the whole list.
I know. I know. Being proud of having 50 followers is pretty pathetic. Carl Zimmer has almost 79,000. But I can't help it if I have only tiny accomplishments to brag about.
I managed to capture just the portion of President Herbst's inauguration where I speak, following an introduction by Peter Nicholls, Executive Vice President and Provost. Click on the image below to activate the player. (It may take a while to load, and it will replace this page with a new one.)
Unless you buy recycled paper, the paper you use1 is probably made from wood pulp. Cotton and linen are added to "fine" papers, and there are wood free alternatives. But here's a wood-free alternative you're not likely to find from your local supplier.2
Mahima Mehra, a Delhi-based paper merchant, turned to elephant dung as the raw material [for her paper]. Ms Mehra sells her paper, produced by her business partner Vijayendra Shekhawat, under the name Haathi Chaap, Hindi for "Elephant Mark". They stumbled on the idea during their visit to Amer fort in Jaipur. They observed that the clumps of roughage left behind by elephants ferrying tourists up to the fort bore a striking similarity to the raw fibre used in paper-making. ("Frugal innovation: wholly shit", The Economist, 14 September 2011)
What are [scientists] really like? For many people, scientists seem scarily clever. And so they see science as "off limits". In fact most scientists are pretty regular people. They have different personalities and outlooks on their life and work. But they don't often get the opportunity to talk about them.
So [Steve] made a film by interviewing six scientists who are at different stages of their careers. They were kind enough to share their stories of how they got into science and to talk about why they like doing it and what they think it takes to be a good scientist. Most importantly of all, they reveal their favourite type of cheese.
Climate change is occurring, is very likely caused primarily by human
activities, and poses significant risks to humans and the environment.
These risks indicate a pressing need for substantial action to limit the
magnitude of climate change and to prepare for adapting to its impacts.
Unlike many other issues that divide Republicans and Democratic voters, such as healthcare or how to deal
with the deficit and debt, a majority of Americans from both major
parties agree on global warming, the poll found. Some 72 percent of
Republicans believe global warming is happening and 92 percent of
Democrats do, it found.
We may be able to argue about how to respond to a warming climate. But it's way past time to stop arguing about whether the climate is getting warmer.
President Herbst's entire inauguration ceremony is available online. Click here to go directly to the video stream. You'll need to install the Silverlight plugin to watch. If for some reason you're particularly interested in what I had to say (and you haven't read yesterday's post), click the arrow at the top of the left half of the screen until you get to slide 49 of 55, click the slide, and you should pick me up in the middle of acknowledging Senator Dodd.
If you'd like to see still photos from the event, like the one of me above, you can visit a Flickr album devoted to President Herbst's inauguration.
Today is the first day of Fall into Phenology. What's that? It's part of Project BudBurst at NEON, Inc. Still confused? Just head over to the website, register for Project BudBurst, pick a plant, make an observation, and report it.
Why would you want to do that?
Because scientists want to know when plants are losing their leaves, when they're flowering, and many other things. And we want to know it about as many different kinds of plants from as many different places as we can. There are too many plants and too many places for us to do it ourselves, so NEON is asking for your help. It will only take a few minutes, and your data will be very valuable. Please join in.
Here is the text of the remarks I made at Susan Herbst's inauguration as the 15th President of the University of Connecticut earlier this afternoon.
Good afternoon.
President Herbst,
Governor Malloy, members of the Board of Trustees, members of the legislature,
students, faculty, staff, and friends of the University of Connecticut, I am
honored to be here this afternoon.
Neil Rudenstine,
the former president of Harvard, has argued that the fundamental purpose of a
university is "to evaluate ideas and ask new questions in a way that advances
the cause of learning, of new knowledge, and of understanding." President
Herbst, you wrote in your most recent book that "it is through argument and
critique that students and adults learn best."
As a faculty
member at the University of Connecticut, I am fortunate to be part of an
institution that fosters argument, critique, exploration, and discovery as it
advances the cause of learning and understanding. From art to anthropology,
from biology to business, from law to literature, and from engineering to
economics, every day the faculty of this university probe into the mysteries of
life, the universe, and the human heart. They share their discoveries with
students in classrooms, laboratories, and studios. Their discoveries lead to
new businesses and new products, yes, but also to poetry, art, and music. Their
work enriches the lives of all citizens - in Connecticut and beyond.
The University of
Connecticut has been fortunate to have presidents who guided our transition
from the regionally prominent institution I joined 25 years ago to an institution
on the cusp of national leadership. They were supported by the state's
commitment to the University through UConn 2000 and more recently through Bioscience
Connecticut and Tech Park. A university president must respond to many needs
and many constituencies - not just faculty, staff, students, parents, and
alumni, but also a state deeply constrained by other vital obligations.
President Herbst, there are sure to be times when faculty and staff would make
choices different from yours, and you can be sure that we will tell you about
those differences in the spirit of civil argument and critique you so rightly
encourage. But you can also be sure that we will stand at your shoulder as we
work together to make this great university even better.
President Herbst,
the faculty and staff of the University of Connecticut are delighted to have at
the helm not only a skilled administrator but a genuine scholar, someone who
knows what it means to write, to publish, to teach, to advise students - all
the things that are at the core of a great university. President Herbst, on
behalf of all members of the faculty and staff, I am honored to welcome you as
the 15thpresident of
the University of Connecticut.
Later today Susan Herbst will be formally installed as the 15th President of the University of Connecticut (3:00pm Jorgensen Auditorium; reception at 4:00pm in the Alumni Center).
Because I am Chair of the University Senate Executive Committee, I've been asked to welcome her on behalf of faculty and staff. It should be a very nice ceremony. All of us have been asked to keep our remarks short, so I think there's a good chance that it really will take no more than an hour. Governor Malloy, a variety of state legislators, member of the Board of Trustees, and many others will be there.
I'll post a copy of my remarks this evening, but if you're nearby, please stop by.
I recently learned that Peter Sneath died last Friday. I suspect that if I were to poll graduate students in my department, few of them would recognize the name. But anyone who's old enough to remember the battles between cladists and pheneticists will certainly remember the book Numerical Taxonomy (first edition Sokal and Sneath, second edition [the one I own] Sneath and Sokal). It's fair to say that along with Robert Sokal and others, Sneath's use of computers to analyze variation and classify species revolutionized taxonomy. Although biologists no longer use the clustering algorithms they describe for classification, those algorithms are the foundation of modern clustering algorithms that are used in many different fields.
Joe Felsenstein has a nice appreciation of Sneath at Panda's Thumb.
Every year U.S. News and World Report ranks colleges and universities in the United States. Last year the University of Connecticut was ranked #27 among public universities. As you can see from the image above, this year we broke into the top 20. We're tied for #19 with Texas A&M, Florida, and Pitt.
There are problems with the U.S. News rankings, but other members of the top 20 are schools whose quality anyone would recognize: Berkeley, UCLA, Virginia, MIchigan, and North Carolina are the top five. It's nice to be part of a crowd like that.
If you are in or near New York next Monday, you might want to attend a panel discussion on climate change and non-communicable diseases being sponsored by the Public Health Institute. Confirmed panelists include experts from the World Health Organization, the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
This discussion will explore what is known about the interaction between climate and health, identify gaps in knowledge, and plan a course for the future.
Just about any time scientists collect data, they use statistics to interpret them. We say things like "There is a statistically significant relationship between blood cholesterol levels and the risk of heart attacks." The phrase "statistically significant" is hard to understand, but it's vitally important.
The data we collect are just a sample of all observations that could have been made. I care that data from the Framingham heart study show that relationship because I suspect that it applies to me. I care, in other words, because I am extrapolating from a sample to a much larger population.
That's where statistical significance comes in.
The principles of statistics tell us how likely it is that a difference we observe is just a fluke. We typically call a result statistically significant when the chance of getting what we saw in the absence of a real difference is less than 5 percent.
What we sometimes do is a bit more complicated. Let's suppose in a clinical trial we find that drug A lowers cholesterol by 8 percent and that the lowering is statistically significant. We'd be justified in saying not only that drug A lowered cholesterol in our sample but in saying that our evidence suggests it would do so in the whole population. Suppose that drug B lowered cholesterol by 5 percent in our sample but that the lowering is not statistically significant. We'd have to say that we have no evidence that it would lower cholesterol in the whole population -- not that it won't lower cholesterol in the whole population, only that we don't have evidence that it will.
That last point is really important. It's very tempting to conclude from these observations that drug A lowers cholesterol and drug B doesn't -- tempting but wrong. If we don't have evidence that a 5 percent lowering of cholesterol is different from no lowering at all, we probably don't have evidence that 8 percent lowering is different from 5 percent lowering since that difference is only 3 percent. To know for sure, we'd need to do a statistical test that directly compared the 5 percent lowering with the 8 percent lowering.
Unfortunately, a lot of smart scientists don't seem to understand this.Sander Niewenhuis and his colleagues recently reviewed 513 papers on neuroscience published in 5 of the top international journals. Of the 157 articles they found that made a comparison like the one I just described, 78 did the correct direct comparison. 79 did the incorrect "This one is significant, that one isn't" comparison.
One more thing: In writing about this paper in The Guardian, Ben Goldacre concludes with this thought:
But the darkest thought of all is this: analysing a "difference in
differences" properly is much less likely to give you a statistically
significant result, and so it's much less likely to produce the kind of
positive finding you need to look good on your CV, get claps at
conferences, and feel good in your belly. Seriously: I hope this is all
just incompetence.
Ben, I'm pretty sure you can rest easy. I've met a lot of honest, hard-working scientists who don't understand this point. I haven't met any who made this mistake on purpose. They make this point because the way most of us are taught statistics encourages this kind of conceptual error. I would have made it myself until 10-15 years ago (longer than I care to remember after receiving my Ph.D.).
Nieuwenhuis, S., Forstmann, B., & Wagenmakers, E. (2011). Erroneous analyses of interactions in neuroscience: a problem of significance Nature Neuroscience, 14 (9), 1105-1107 DOI: 10.1038/nn.2886
A few weeks ago I pointed to a news article about Aaron Swartz who was stealing articles from JSTOR, allegedly for the purpose of making them available free over the Internet. A few days ago JSTOR announced that it is making all content from the United States that was published before 1923 available for free. Content from other parts of the world published before 1870 will also be available for free. Here's some of what their announcement says.
On September 6, 2011, we announced that we are making journal content in JSTOR published prior to 1923 in the United States and prior to 1870 elsewhere freely available to anyone, anywhere in the world. This "Early Journal Content" includes discourse and scholarship in the arts and humanities, economics and politics, and in mathematics and other sciences. It includes nearly 500,000 articles from more than 200 journals. This represents 6% of the content on JSTOR. While JSTOR currently provides access to scholarly content to people through a growing network of more than 7,000 institutions in 153 countries, we also know there are independent scholars and other people that we are still not reaching in this way. Making the Early Journal Content freely available is a first step in a larger effort to provide more access options to the content on JSTOR for these individuals. The Early Journal Content will be released on a rolling basis beginning today. A quick video tutorial about how to access this content is also available.
I am delighted to see JSTOR take this step. Some advocates of open access are likely to see it as less than a half step, but we have to remember that it costs JSTOR a lot of money to maintain the servers and Internet connections that make their content available. They can't make it all available for free (unless a wealthy benefactor gave them a very large endowment). This move balances JSTOR's need for revenue with everyone's interest in wide availability, free access where possible, to the scholarly literature.
The Biological Sciences Directorate at NSF announced new procedures for proposal review recently.
The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) has initiated new
procedures for the submission and review of regular research proposals
to the core programs within the Division of Molecular and Cellular
Biosciences (MCB), Division of Environmental Biology (DEB), and Division
of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS). The changes for MCB were
previously announced in a new solicitation (NSF-11-545). Effective immediately, DEB and IOS will both implement an annual cycle of preliminary and full proposals beginning in January 2012. Preliminary proposals will be accepted in January. New Solicitations NSF 11-572 for IOS and NSF 11-573 (for DEB) provide further details.
There will be a webinar on Monday from 1:45pm to 3:00pm1 describing the changes. I'm sure there will be more opportunities to tune in, and I'll post links here as soon as I hear about them.
Every year the Howard Hughes Medical Institute sponsors holiday lectures designed to bring the latest scientific research into the classroom. This year's live webcast will feature John Shea, Sarah Tishkoff, and Tim White discussing
Bones, stones, and genes: The origin of Modern Humans
The live webcast is scheduled at 10:00am Eastern Daylight Time on the 6th and 7th of October. For a detailed schedule visit http://www.holidaylectures.org. After the 11th of October, the webcast will be available on demand from www.biointeractive.org/lectures.
Several years ago Randy Olson released "Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy." Now it's coming to the stage in Chicago. The New Suit Theater Company has adapted the movie for a stage production, and they've set up a Kickstarter fundraising drive. If you're in the Chicago area, I encourage you to buy tickets and attend one of the performances. If you're not in Chicago, I encourage you to visit the Kickstarter page and make a donation to support the project.
New Suit Theatre Co. is proud to present its third show "Sizzle: A Global Warming Comedy" - an adaptation of the documentary film of the same name. It follows Dr. Randy Olson, a scientist turned filmmaker, who is convinced that he can make a movie that will end the global warming debate just by interviewing scientists and placing their ideas side by side. When things don't go as planned, it's up to his sensible production assistant, his crazy producer, and his skeptical cameraman to help him maintain his faith in humanity.
"Sizzle" is a story that has its roots in the credibility crisis currently enveloping science in America. It is about the hilarious (and not-so-hilarious) ways we behave when unable to bring others to our point of view. It is about communication and miscommunication. Ultimately, it is about moving forward together.
Performed on the West Stage at the Raven Theater Complex
Once a year, tens of thousands of participants gather in Nevada's Black
Rock Desert to create Black Rock City, dedicated to community, art,
self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having
left no trace whatsoever.(http://www.burningman.com)
Well, Burning Man may have left no trace in Nevada, but it's on YouTube, and there's science. Here's one example, a microzoo from the Exploratorium.
A colleague just pointed me to a couple of web sites that may help you find an opportunity.
http://www.stopdodo.com/ claims to be "the busiest site for Environmental Jobs, News, Courses & Events."
http://www.idealist.org/ "connects people, organizations, and resources to help build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives."
If you know of others, please post links in the comments. If there are enough suggestions, I'll collect them into a "Conservation and environment jobs" page.
Late last year the General Assembly of the United Nations voted to form an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
IPBES will be an interface between the scientific community and policy
makers that aims to build capacity for and strengthen the use of science
in policy making.
...
IPBES will be the mechanism that addresses the gaps in the science policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
And there are prizes. $500 each for the best dance in physics, chemistry, biology, and the social sciences. The overall winner will receive an additional $500 and a trip to Brussels to to be crowned the winner at TEDxBrussels in Belgium on 22 November 2011. Last year's biology winner was Shiori Oshima.
I happen to know a biologist who takes ballet classes and who will be defending her dissertation soon. Some of you know her too. What do you think the chances are that she'll enter this year's competition?
Win a travel award
for best evolution-themed
blog Deadline: December 1, 2011
Are you a blogger who is
interested in evolution? The
National Evolutionary
Synthesis Center is offering
two travel awards to attend
ScienceOnline2012, a science
communication conference
to be held January 19-21,
2012, at North Carolina State
University in Raleigh, NC.
The awards offer the
opportunity to travel to
North Carolina to meet with
several hundred researchers,
writers, editors and educators
to explore how online
tools are changing the way
science is done and communicated
to the public.
Each winner will receive
$750 to cover travel and
lodging expenses to attend
the conference. For more
information about the
program for this year's
conference, visit http://
scio12.wikispaces.com/
Program+Suggestions.
To apply for an award,
writers should submit a blog
post that highlights current
or emerging evolutionary
research. In order to be
valid, posts must deal with
research appearing in the
peer-reviewed literature
within the last five years.
Posts should be 500-1000
words, and must mention
the NESCent contest. Two
recipients will be chosen by
a panel of judges from both
NESCent and the science
blogging community. Please
send your name, contact
information, the title and
date of your blog post, and
a URL to travel.award@nescent.org. Winners will
be notified by December
15th, 2011.
For more information contact
Craig McClain at cmcclain@nescent.org, or Robin Smith
at rsmith@nescent.org.
That's not quite what George Monbiot says. It's not what he says at all. But he makes a good case that next to the ruthless capitalism of one set of business, Rupert Murdoch is a wimp. If you've followed this blog for a while, you've read my take on the business of scholarly publishing. You should also read Monbiot's. Here's a taste of what you'll find.
Who are the most ruthless capitalists in the western world? Whose
monopolistic practices make Walmart look like a corner shop and Rupert
Murdoch a socialist? You won't guess the answer in a month of Sundays.
While there are plenty of candidates, my vote goes not to the banks, the
oil companies or the health insurers, but - wait for it - to academic
publishers. Theirs might sound like a fusty and insignificant sector. It
is anything but. Of all corporate scams, the racket they run is most
urgently in need of referral to the competition authorities.
...
The returns are astronomical: in the past financial year, for example, Elsevier's operating profit margin was 36% (£724m on revenues of £2bn). They result from a stranglehold on the market. Elsevier, Springer and Wiley, who have bought up many of their competitors, now publish 42% of journal articles.
More importantly, universities are locked into buying their products. Academic papers are published in only one place, and they have to be read by researchers trying to keep up with their subject. Demand is inelastic and competition non-existent, because different journals can't publish the same material. In many cases the publishers oblige the libraries to buy a large package of journals, whether or not they want them all. Perhaps it's not surprising that one of the biggest crooks ever to have preyed upon the people of this country - Robert Maxwell - made much of his money through academic publishing.
The knowledge monopoly is as unwarranted and anachronistic as the corn laws. Let's throw off these parasitic overlords and liberate the research that belongs to us. ("Academic publishers make Murdoch look like a socialist", by George Monbiot, The Guardian, 29 August 2011)
