Please don’t blindly follow PopSci’s lead and get rid of comment spaces

Originally posted by Marie-Claire on her home blog, Boundary Vision. Reposted here with permission, because EXACTLY.

A tiny explosion happened in the online science communication world yesterday. Popular Science.com announced that they will be closing off opportunities to post comments on their news stories: no more public comment spaces. Why? They argue that uncivil commenters have an overly negative effect on readers, so negative that it isn’t worth maintaining the comment spaces. They make some scary claims too about a small number of negative commenters poisoning the way readers perceive the stories and about a war waged on expertise. They use an New York Times Op-Ed written by Dominique Brossard and Dietram A. Scheufele to back up those claims.

I must, however, respectfully disagree. Continue reading “Please don’t blindly follow PopSci’s lead and get rid of comment spaces”

Meet the Four-Eyed Fish

Within the family Anablepidae, there is a genus Anableps which are known as four-eyed fish. They are found in Central and South America in fresh or brackish waters. These fish are live bearers and interestingly they exhibit a “sidedness”. Males that are left-handed may only mate with females that are right-handed.

Now the fish do not have four eyes exactly, but in both eyes they can see above and below water simultaneously. This is a good super power to have when you spend most of your time on the surface foraging insects.

Photo Credit: Paul Zahl/National Geographic

The retina is specialized so that half receives light from the aquatic environment and the other from the aerial environment. Recent research found that the dorsal and ventral retina have differential gene expression. Click here for a link to the article to learn more.

“Meet the…” is a collaboration between The Finch & Pea and Nature Afield to bring Nature’s amazing creatures into your home.

Support Your Local Artist

Portrait of a Human by Michele Banks (All Rights Reserved – Used with Permission)

Michele is a bit bashful about using this as a forum to promote her own work. I, for better and worse, run this joint. So, I feel no compunction about using this platform as I see fit. I also happen to believe that figuring out how to support our artists in this online era is a critical challenge for science communication.

We all should support our local artists, bearing in mind that the Internet has rewritten the definition of “local”. Around here, Michele is our local artist and we think she deserves your support. Continue reading “Support Your Local Artist”

Uluru and Kata Tjuta

I’ve been busy lately, as you may have noticed by my lack of posts. I desperately need a vacation, but since that’s not an option, I can look at some of my favourite photos of previous vacations. Like this photo of sunrise at Uluru:

Sunrise at Uluru

Uluru is the iconic enormous rock that sits all by itself in the middle of the Australian desert. It looks so imposing and out of place that you can’t help but wonder how it got there. Australia’s indigenous people have had explanations for the rock for ages, all involving spiritual stories. Both a government website and the site of the local tourist resort are unable to share those tales, though, because the stories are restricted by sacred rules. Luckily for us, geologists are more forthcoming with their interpretations about the origin of Uluru, as well as the neighbouring rock formation Kata Tjuta. Continue reading “Uluru and Kata Tjuta”

Baby’s First Genome

Human_genomeSomeday in the future each child that is born will have a file of their genome sequence prepared at birth. For some newborns in Boston, Kansas City, San Fransisco, and Chapel Hill the future is now. The National Institutes of Health is funding a new initiative to examine how the early availability of a child’s genome  will affect medical care decisions and the families. $25 million dollars over 5 years is to be allocated between research sites. Each location is approaching the issue of infant genomes slightly differently. Continue reading “Baby’s First Genome”