Guest Thinkers — August 16, 2010

A Look Back at AAAS 2008: “The Scientist Delusion” Column Receives Science & Society Journalism Honor

In a provocative article published last year, Nature columnist David Goldston tackled the topic of science and religion, focusing on the implications for public engagement and emerging policy debates. In the column, Goldston used as a backdrop the “Communicating Science in a Religious America” panel that I organized and that he moderated at the 2008 AAAS meetings in Boston.

Yesterday, in recognition of the column, Goldston was awarded an honorable mention in the National Science Writers Association’s annual Science & Society Journalism Awards. Double congratulations are in order to Goldston as he was recently named Director of Government Affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

▸

7 min

—

with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

On Climate Bill, Advocacy Groups Target Town Hall Meetings

As I wrote last week, deliberative forums and town hall-type meetings are one of the major innovations in science communication and engagement. Whether forums are focused on climate change or […]