October 14 – 18 This week. Oh cripes, this week. We’ve been told that the US government shutdown cost more than the NASA budget, and had all kinds of knock-on effects on everything from basic science to public health. But what’s it like on the ground when a city shuts down? Helen gave us the […]
October 7 – 11 This week, another LaWONian did us proud: Michelle is in the Best American Science and Nature Writing 2013! In her latest post she finds biologists fretting over a flock of very tiny — and very endangered — sandpiper chicks. Cameron and cursive are not friends. But that doesn’t mean the end […]
September 30 – October 4 This week — on the off chance that you haven’t heard — Christie won the National Association of Science Writers’ Science in Society Award for last year’s dynamit post about pink ribbon cancer denialism. Cassie sets out to do a story on how Bolivia can have a navy without a […]
23 – 27 September Have you ever wondered what it’s like to attend a wild horse and burro auction? This week, Mary Caperton Morton reports. Christie tried her hardest not to eulogize newsprint. Helen ate whale. Verdict? Underwhelming. “A lot of us hoped that once we had the Internet we might have more information about the […]
9 to 13 September This week began and ended with bugs: guest poster and insect illustrator Mayaan Harel dissected cultural notions of disgust, which she had to overcome in order to pursue her chosen field. I revealed my abiding desire and thwarted quest to eat them. Roberta watched avian tornadoes. Helen found a museum that […]
I spent the summer cultivating an increasing desperation to eat an insect. The first hankerings developed as I spent a couple of months researching and editing a feature on entomophagy for New Scientist — after sifting through enough butter roasted locust risottos and lemon pepper cricket broths, the idea went full spectrum from hilariously gross […]
August 19 – 23 This week, Ann told the complicated history of two gods of physics. An app that fights cancer? Why, yes: by boosting your positive thinking! Christie promptly took out her Science Machete and chopped the press release’s head off. Cassie wondered if we should be so gung ho to kill “invasive species” […]
August 12- 16 Snark week! In which we tell you what happens when cute animals get ugly. Christie introduced us to the creature that goes Cock-a-doodle DIE. Roberta told chilling tales of the gribble: chubby, adorable scourge of the sea. Cameron explained whys we should fear the bunny. Michelle warned us about petting the pretty […]