biojournalism.com

TODAY’S CONTENDERS

Gary Arendash, PhD, of the University of South Florida in Tampa, and colleagues
VS.
National Geographic News ( by Ker Than)

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I study both journalism and biology and I've come to realize just how different subjects and ideas are addressed in those fields.

Scientists and journalists should really be best friends. After all, scientists often labor over writing grants, trying to convince people that their research is relevant and interesting so it will be funded. Journalists are trying to find a story that is relevant and interesting... even if its not, they will try and prove that it is.

The problem arises when these two very different people try to communicate. They speak different languages.

For example, Gary Arendash, PhD, and Ker Than (Nat'l Geo) have very different ideas of appropriate headlines for their articles.

Electromagnetic Field Treatment Protects Against and Reverses Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease Mice
VS.
Cell Phone Use May Fight Alzheimer’s, Mouse Study Says

This study caught the attention of many media outlets in early January this year and was pretty controversial considering previous cellphone-based science news in the media usually explores the possible negative effects of cellphones.

Why the disparity in titles?

Scientists are sticklers for facts. So are journalists, but a scientist can use however many words he or she wants to to define every concept, method or result. A journalist not only has to make that long sounding title interesting and relevant, they are also limited in how many words they can use.

The Proof? Arendash’s article ran 19 pages in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Than’s article clocks in at a mere 700 words.

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I sometimes wonder what scientists think when journalists try to translate their jargon into something that can be read by the general public. I admit I snickered a tad to think of their reaction to the simplistic distillation of all that serious research to "mouse study."

Then I read Arendash's abstract and came across this line:

Although caution should be taken in extrapolating these mouse studies to humans, we conclude that EMF exposure may represent a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic therapeutic against Alzheimer’s disease and an effective memory-enhancing approach in general.

Never mind.
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P.S When I run out of inspiration and relevant public domain images and am operating on lack of sleep, I resort to lame mouse-like emoticons…. my apologies for any detrimental effects this has on my readers.

A beautiful Carbon Sink. Photo:Giampaolo Macorig via flickr

A beautiful Carbon Sink. Photo:Giampaolo Macorig via flickr

Climate change, behind habitat loss, is the second biggest threat to biodiversity and may become the largest factor responsible for species extinctions in the coming years (Chivian et al. 2008). Forests store carbon and loss of this carbon sink can have a large effect on the climate (Bradshaw et al. 2009).

Unfortunately, less than 10% of the world’s forests are protected. It is estimated that 13 million hectares of the world’s forests are cleared annually (FAO).

The northern Boreal forests are large coniferous forests that contain roughly 30% of all the stored carbon on earth—an estimated 550 gigatonnes of carbon in soil and above ground pools (Bradshaw et al. 2009) Boreal forests are the largest contiguous forest left. However, this crucial carbon sink may become a carbon source if global warming increases decomposition rates and the growing season. The location of the Boreal forests at the northern latitudes makes one of the largest carbon sinks highly susceptible to climate change. Continued logging of this important forest will release carbon, speeding up global warming.

One study modeled carbon fluxes in the 21st century, looking at climate change, human interaction and deforestation rates of tropical forests. High deforestation (129 thousand km squared per year) could give more than 360 gigatonnes of carbon. This could lead to an addition 29 to 129 ppm (parts per million) concentration in the atmosphere (Cramer et al. 2004). That is a LOT, considering that in 2007, CO2 levels were estimated at 384 ppm. That level of deforestation is not ridiculous considering how the rates have been climbing.

SO DO SOMETHING! We need forest so they can act as a climate stabilizer (and for many many other reasons). The rate of deforestation needs to decrease in order to prevent it from having a significant contribution to climate change.

Sources:

• Bradshaw, Corey J.A, Ian G. Warkentin and Navjot S. Sodhi. Urgent preservation of boreal carbon stocks and biodiversity. 2009. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 24.10: 541-546.

• Chivian, Eric and Aaron Bernstein. Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity. Center for Health and the Global Environment. Oxford University Press, 2008.

• Cramer, Wolfgang, Alberte Bondeau, Sibyll Schaphoff, Wolfgang Lucht, Benjamin Smith and Stephan Sitch. Tropical forests and the global carbon cycle: impacts of atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate change and rate of deforestation. 2004. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences. 359.1443: 331-343.

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Forestry: Managing Forests for the future. 2009. Rome, FAO.

So.

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner. By now, perhaps the pumpkin pie has been consumed and everyone is getting a little drowsy after the big meal.

But why?

Well, there are people who claim that consuming lots of turkey, as people are apt to do during thanksgiving, will make people more drowsy. This is due to an amino acid called Tryptophan. Tryptophan is awesome and our bodies need it, but it is a natural sedative.

However, this is probably just a fun idea… In most cases, if you eat a lot of food, you feel drowsy. Especially if you eat a lot of carbs with your meal.

There are a number of different reasons, but part of it is teh amount of blood being diverted to the intestines. This means the blood, and oxygen isn’t going elsewhere….

Earth Hour: Trying to save the world from climate change, one switch at a time.

Earth Hour is a movement trying to convince people to turn off their lights for one hour a year.

Think about it. Flipping the light switch off…

The main way environmental activists have tried to get apathetic parties interested in a certain cause is through economic means. If they make a particular conservation effort also economically viable, they stand a better chance of making the effort a reality. I propose a more unorthodox method; use people’s annoyance to further a cause.

Perhaps this is an odd topic for a post, but it was asking to be written about.

Middle school is not the best time for students to learn about biology.

Middle school students are right at the pre-adolescent stage. Too old…

I would not bore my readers with the below project:

However, since this was a feat of biojournalism, here are a few excerpts from the essay:

Dividing up the Fish:…

This post should really be called “Adventures in Info Hell.”

I have been working all term on a 100 page assignment on a certain topic. I have researched it thoroughly.

When it is completed, I will probably upload the entire project… although…