Science Matters is a group that seeks to monitor the media for science articles and stories. When they need a fisking, Science Matters members may do so. When good science journalism is found, it should be celebrated and shared.
Each Wednesday the Science Matters group aims to publish a diary that is a collection of stories we've seen and enjoyed. It should cover various fields. Any editor/admin of the group can enter stories. They are not curated nor consensus items, they are member submissions. Therefore there may be differing views among the group, and discussion of any differences in perspective may subsequently appear in the comments.
Contributors should not edit anyone else's items [except in emergency typo situations or link problems of some sort]. Use the template to copy/paste your pieces, filling in the appropriate other information. Someone should check the queue to see that the diary is ready to go at noon ET on Wednesdays.
Template for your items:
<HR>
<strong>Story title/link:</strong> [should be self-explanatory]
<strong>Source/hat tip:</strong> [if available/relevant, give credit to your source; if tweetable, link to that for ease of re-tweeting]
<strong>Why this is worth reading:</strong> [Few words on content, why it's good, important etc]
<strong>Contributed by:</strong> <i>your_handle_here</i>
</p><HR></p>
And here are items we've discovered over the past week. They may be older than a week, but just recently noticed by the team.
Story title/link: Epidemiology: Study of a lifetime
Source/hat tip: @NatureNews
Why this is worth reading: It describes an important long-term study of Britons that has provided excellent new knowledge over the lifespan of this set of individuals all born in 1946. It describes the study and many key results. Favorite item: "Cleverness 'delays the menopause'"
Contributed by: mem from somerville
Story title/link: How Much Would It Cost to Identify Every Animal on Earth?
Source/hat tip: personal reading
Why this is worth reading: It speaks to the value of biodiversity, the challenges of studying it, and the need to act quickly to evaluate it. And calls for more citizen science contributions to make up the gap in taxonomists.
Contributed by: mem from somerville
Story title/link: Curing Mosquitoes of Malaria
Source/hat tip: WBUR, NPR in Boston
Why this is worth reading: This is a very clever strategy to take out malaria, at the same time avoiding the potential for development of resistance in the mosquitoes. Malaria is a major killer, and it's been very difficult to combat.
Contributed by: mem from somerville
So that's the first week and template. Contributions encouraged and welcomed from any Science Matters team members. Blog Admins/Editors should have the capacity to edit. If you want those roles, contact the team to get bumped up.