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S#*@ scientists say

How do you define "aerosol", or "manipulation"? What about "organic", "mutant" and "confidence"? The truth is that scientists often say words that do not mean what the general public thinks they mean....

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How To: Debunk a myth

I'm going to bookmark The Debunking Handbook, a quick-read pdf with all sorts of great advice for effectively countering misinformation. It's put together by the same people behind Skeptical Science,...

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Tweeting and talking about science communication

I'm at the Science Online conference this week in Raleigh, North Carolina. SciO brings together scientists, bloggers, and journalists to talk about communicating science to the public, how we screw it...

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Describe a flame, win a VIP pass to the World Science Festival

What is a flame? If you can explain that, on a level that an 11-year-old can understand, then you could win a VIP pass to the World Science Festival, May 30 to June 3 in New York City. This is one of...

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Bloggers and students: Apply for Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize

If you live in the UK or Ireland, write about science, and have not been paid for that work, then you are eligible to apply for the Wellcome Trust's Science Writing Prize. The Prize is aimed at...

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Beautiful watercolor notes from the Aspen Environmental Forums

I've been live-tweeting today from the Aspen Environmental Forums. But in a session this morning, I noticed that my friend Rachel Weidinger—director for the ocean advocacy group Upwell—had a far...

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TEDx Meta

The New Yorker's Nathan Heller looks at five of the most popular TED Talks of all time and uses them to explain why, exactly, this series of public lectures is so much more popular than all other...

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Why do dogs bark? (And what are they saying when they do?)

Barking might just be a reflex for agitated dogs. It might be a side-effect of domestication — i.e., when you select for less-aggressive animals you get ones that tend to bark. Or, it really might have...

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Great moments in pedantry: Actually, there is a Jedi mind meld

It's right there in the Expanded Universe book series, says Chris Peterson, a research assistant in MIT's Center for Civic Media. It's a form of group communication. What's more, Peterson writes, if...

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Are "theory" and "hypothesis" dead?

Do you understand the difference between a "hypothesis" and a "theory"? Physics professor Rhett Alain thinks you probably don't. But he says that's not your fault. The words just aren't terribly...

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Do GMOs yield more food? The answer is in the semantics

Today, on Twitter, I learned something new and interesting from environmental reporter Paul Voosen. Over the years, I've run into reports (like this one from the Union of Concerned Scientists) showing...

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Yet another reason why jargon sucks

Yes, it's useful for communicating within your group, but as soon as you step outside that circle jargon becomes a problem. That's true even for scientists trying to communicate between disciplines and...

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New, high-tech cancer detector: Great idea, or still in need of work?

MelaFind is a new device that helps doctors identify melanoma skin cancers. In many places, it's being reported as the greatest breakthrough in skin cancer prevention to come along in decades. But,...

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Senator requests NASA investigation of Space Vikings

Image: Ved Chirayath This photo, taken by astronautics grad student and photographer Ved Chirayath, was meant to be a bit of free promotion for NASA and space exploration. It's part of an art...

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The difference between "being right" and "being persuasive"

If you're into science literacy — or, even, if you're just into arguing with other people on the Internet about science — you need to read this post by neuroscientist Chris Holdgraf. It's a great...

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Notes on communication

John Scalzi's posted ten points about free speech, conversation, debate and related subjects. There's lots of good stuff there: "8. If people do not engage you, it is not necessarily because they are...

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1871 plans map out the first circuit of the globe by telegraph

The Library of Congress site contains gems like this map showing the proposed final link of the original world wide web: the proposed trans-Pacific telegraph line, envisioned with Civil War-era...

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Why the US Navy wanted to communicate using whale language

In the 1960s and 1970s, the US Navy researched whether they could use synthesized whale sounds for submarines to have encoded conversations across long distances underwater. Called Project COMBO, it...

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Chart of every Nokia dumbphone from 1982-2006

Prepare to take a technological trip down memory lane with this enormous comprehensive chart of every Nokia dumbphone model starting 35 years ago. Extendable antennas, clamshells, you name it. (more…)

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Neuroscientist explains the same concept about the brain to a 5-year-old and...

https://youtu.be/opqIa5Jiwuw Bobby Kasthuri is a neuroscientist at Argonne National Laboratory. In the video he was asked to explain what a connectome is to 5 different people; a 5 year-old, a 13...

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100,000 payphones still haunt the United States

You may not have noticed, what with there being a cellphone in pocket of almost all Americans, but according to CNN, there's still 100,000 payphone in the United States. This is great news for Maroon...

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Online communication: "If you just message 'hi' and nothing else I assume I’m...

I have a friend who used to always put "Mark" and only "Mark" in the subject line of emails to me. It vaguely bugged me but I never told him to stop. Then I found out he did it to a mutual friend and...

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How to speak chimpanzee

Evolutionary psychologist Katja Liebal literally wrote the book on Primate Communication. A professor of developmental psychology at the Freie Universität Berlin, Liebal's research focuses "on the...

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Talking with your hands directly influences what others hear

It's common for people to "talk with their hands" when conversing with others. Now, researchers show that simple hand gestures during face-to-face conversations can have a very direct influence on what...

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In "The Lonely Orbit," a satellite technician rediscovers connection

Benjamin Morard and Frederic Siegel's "The Lonely Orbit" features an inattentive satellite technician who crashes global communication. A delightful near-future sci-fi animation. The directors' notes...

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Watch a bonobo and Peter Gabriel make music together

"We can use data analysis and technology tools to give non-humans a lot more choice and control," the former Genesis frontman, dressed in his signature Nehru-style collar shirt and loose, open...

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Chimpanzees and bonobos greet each other and also signal their goodbyes...

Chimpanzees and bonobos greet each other and also signal their goodbyes, according to a new scientific study. The animals, the researchers write, "will orient their bodies toward each other, gaze at...

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Scientific breakthrough: Man uses brain-computer interface to request beer

In a recent study published by Nature Communications, scientists from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva, Switzerland shared remarkable new details about a human being using a...

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Dolphins recognize each other by the taste of their urine

Dolphins don't need to see or hear nearby family or friends to know they're around. They can just taste their urine in the water, according to new research published in the journal Science Advances....

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The surprising history of giving someone the finger

Jerry Seinfeld has a funny bit (below) in which he reveals the absurdity of giving the finger: "Someone shows me one of their fingers, and I'm supposed to feel bad." Of course, it isn't just any...

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