What are you doing next Thursday? I’ll tell you what—if you live in the New York City area, you’re going to the #NYCSciTweetUp! Join the gang on March 29th, at the Peculier Pub in NYC for an informal evening of science and networking.. Updated details can always be found on the Facebook page. And as per [...]

Maker Faire invites young Makers to enter a world of innovation and imagination. If you can dream it, you can build it—particularly as experienced Makers are on-hand and willing to share what they know. How can we better encourage a broader participation in this science and technology showcase by underrepresented groups—beginning in the very neighborhood [...]

The third #NYCSciTweetUp was a huge success! Thanks to all who came out to The Peculier Pub. It was a pleasure seeing so many new faces mingling with familiar ones! What is the tweetup, you ask? It’s an informal monthly (or so) gathering for the science community in New York City. As Story Collider‘s Ben [...]

Every month or so, the science community in New York City gathers to talk science over beer. The event—or TweetUp if you will—began as a means of connecting the online science community offline, which is why it bears a hashtag in its name. While the gathering is still in its infancy, turnouts have been fairly [...]

Ed Note: This article is from the Anthropology in Practice archives, and was originally posted on August 24th, 2010. I’ve elected to repost it given the introduction of the Google+, which offers (necessitates?) a new means to connect. Incidentally, if you would like connect with me on G+, you can find me at gplus.to/krystaldcosta. Facebook [...]

To the public, museums are mysterious, magical places. Science, history, and context are carefully preserved and displayed—though the guy-wires are carefully hidden so as to not disturb the experience of the visitor. The work that goes into constructing the fancy dioramas and exhibits, the science that helps construct the scenes that we view as visitors [...]

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones in my day job, because we just launched the new physics blog physicsfocus! We have a whole range of posts already up, covering topics from latest physics results, to education and science communication. You can catch up with everything from our launch week here. Readers of Basic Space [...]

Elise Andrew runs the most popular Science page on facebook. I know so, because I see her content reshared dozens of times daily in my news feed. Well, it’s not really her content, but I’ll get back to that in a minute. The point is, I F*cking Love Science is big. By posting photos, cartoons, news [...]

I am not going to tell you what this animal is. At least, not yet. Instead, I’d like to use the absence of a caption to mention the importance of accompanying science images with the right text. Why? Artists and photographers spend enough time crafting images that it’d be a waste to lose potential viewers [...]

Late last month, I pondered the implications of a piece of research that was mentioned but not described in detail in a perspective piece in the January 4, 2013 issue of Science. [1] In its broad details, the research suggests that the comments that follow an online article about science — and particularly the perceived [...]

Later this week at ScienceOnline 2013, Emily Willingham and I are co-moderating a session called Dialogue or fight? (Un)moderated science communication online. Here’s the description: Cultivating a space where commentators can vigorously disagree with a writer–whether on a blog, Twitter, G+, or Facebook, *and* remain committed to being in a real dialogue is pretty challenging. [...]

I find online science communication fascinating. I am enthusiastic about its possibilities and intrigued by its challenges. With an interest in online communication, comes an interest in text. While videos, animations and images are powerful too, the written word is often the simplest and the default mode of online communication–-think blog posts, tweets, status updates, [...]

Yesterday, former International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield fell from space like a meteor and  gently touched down on his home planet after five months in a state of constant free fall. He was greeted with a recliner and a blanket, ready to cradle his thinner bones and atrophied muscles. Maybe, as he was comforted [...]

Third genders, two spirits, and a media without a clue. Author’s Note: Earlier this month the UK Daily Mail reported on continued excavation at an archaeological site near Prague where researchers described an individual with an alternative gender identity. The following post originally appeared at Neuron Culture hosted by Wired after the original report last [...]

Conferences are social grooming events for relatively hairless apes. A few will stand before the multitude, beaming with pride or shaking with nervousness (as the case may be), and present the latest research in contemporary ape thought. As their vocalizations reach a crescendo, those sitting demurely below will produce flesh-slapping noises that indicate they were [...]

Whether we are exploring our family genealogy or the genetic tree of our primate ancestors, all of us have a common yearning to know from whence we came. Origin stories captivate our imagination and offer a narrative structure for better understanding where we are today. The reality is that a knowledge of the history of [...]

Click here for Part One: Carl Zimmer on the Art of Science Writing Carl Zimmer has an uncanny knack for getting under your skin, quite literally. While travelling through the village of Tumbura in southern Sudan he encountered invisible monsters that live inside the subcutaneous tissue of their innocent victims. Under a microscope these creatures, [...]

Click here for Part Two: Carl Zimmer Delves Beneath the Surface of Science Writing Carl Zimmer is one of the most insightful and trenchant science writers working today. Whether he is delving into the soul of the scientific revolution or exposing the precise horror of parasites to reveal our relationship with the natural world, he [...]

Author’s Note: The following originally appeared at Nature Network. It was subsequently selected as a PLoS ONE Pick of the Month, as a Finalist in the 2009 Quark Prize in Science and appeared in the 2009 edition of The Open Laboratory: The Best Science Writing on the Web (buy it here). You can still nominate entries for [...]

“It’s the animal in us,” we often hear when we’ve been bad. But why not when we’re good? This is the question that has driven Frans de Waal for the past 30 years. From his pioneering research on alliance formation in Chimpanzee Politics, to reconciliation behavior in Peacemaking Among Primates and Good Natured, to the [...]

If I told you that a tennis ball could kill, would you roll your eyes or laugh in my face? What if I showed you this? Like a cork in a bottle, a fumbled tennis ball in an innocent game of fetch can lodge in a dog’s esophagus with the unfortunate consequence of asphyxiating your [...]

I really don’t enjoy playing Internet Police. After this happened and this needed to be said, I don’t want to write another story about image misappropriation. About another brazen misuse of some science illustration. Le sigh. Oh wait, first rule of writing something impactful: start positive. Ok. Ahem. Once more unto the breach! In a [...]

A particular drum I like to beat, is about science communicators learning how to use images effectively. Give your blog post illustration some thought. Don’t just stick any old candied cherry on the top of your post: make sure it’s the right maraschino cherry. Then add sprinkles. If you are having trouble finding good images [...]

Freelancing is tough. Most of us learn on the job and get a lot of bumps and scrapes along the way. There are success stories, though, and if you can master the basics of Small Business 101 the benefits of being your own boss and managing your own schedule are rewarding. When I look around [...]

Okay so you’re blogging about science, putting your expertise out there, hoping to reel people in so they can see how cool everything you do really is. Show ‘em. Right. Typetypetypepublish. But it doesn’t look right. You’re looking at your favourite science blogs and they all have these cool images. Copyright scares you a little. [...]

One of the most popular fields of science with children and adults alike is paleontology. And there’s a very good reason for this. Since the first fossil was recognized and found, it inspired imaginations to envision what the animal was like when it was alive. From the myths of giant cyclops to sinewy dragons, fossils [...]

Last month, we posted a wide variety of science-art here at Symbiartic. We thought it’d be nice to post an overview in case you missed or wanted to revisit any. Enjoy!

  Charles Darwin’s grand discovery of evolution by natural selection (oh and hey – what’s up, Wallace!) has been with us for over 150 years and transformed medicine, society and any number of scientific disciplines. Paleoart and nature illustration are thriving, lively fields. So why are we still stuck with the Ascent of Man, March [...]

“Young stars burst forth from a nebula, like seeds spreading through the galaxy. Just as seeds grow flowers that make more seeds, nebulae form stars that eventually form new nebulae. Cosmic cycles of life and death are apparent at all scales. This painting was the inspiration for the dandelion motif that runs through the TV [...]

A well done science comic is one of the most effective ways to convey science communication. The visual hook of a narrative with lively (or in this case, sleepy) characters peppered with the facts creates a flow that a wall of text can’t match. This comic by Maki Naro of Sci-ənce is a perfect example. [...]

Tomorrow night, Friday February 22 at 7:30pm, Cinefamily and and Cinespia Salon will present the latest installment of the their Science on Screen series at the old Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles. The evening’s screening will feature an independent film called Bestiaire. A truly breathtaking exploration of interspecies observation, Bestiaire is the rare documentary [...]

What responsibilities do filmmakers have in terms of scientific accuracy? Usually, I argue that filmmakers are storytellers first, and while scientific accuracy (or plausibility) can often support a narrative, the first responsibility of the filmmaker is to weave a captivating tale. But what happens when the film (or TV series) in question is overtly scientific [...]

Earlier this summer, evolutionary biologist, wildlife photographer, and (most importantly) my friend Neil Losin asked if I wanted to drive down to Long Beach with him to check out the grunion run, and try to get some decent photos of it. We went, and it was awesome, so I tweeted about it. You guys. You [...]

Last week (June 5, 2012), the lucky citizens of Earth were in just the right place to watch Venus’s transit across the face of the sun. While this occurred just eight years ago as well, it won’t happen again for more than a century. The next time any Earthling will be able to watch Venus [...]

Here is a slightly modified version of the slidedeck I used in my talk at Experimental Biology this weekend. Jason G. Goldman EB2012 science communication View more presentations from jgold85 For more on getting started in science blogging, see my Science Blogging 101 series: Science Blogging 101: Part 1 Science Blogging 101: Part 2 – [...]

Just a quick announcement that I’ll be joining fellow SA blogger Danielle Lee, Dr. Isis, and Pascale Lane in what promises to be the “world’s most amazingest session ever” on Saturday at 3pm at the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego.

The final 50 posts (plus one poem) that will comprise the next edition of the yearly anthology of the best science writing on the web have been officially announced by this year’s editor Jennifer Ouellette. Having served as editor for last year’s edition, I know just how hard and painful the editing process can be [...]

I grew up watching M*A*S*H reruns with my dad, so even early in life, Alan Alda, who played Dr. Hawkeye Pierce throughout the show’s eleven seasons, was a familiar name and face. You might also recognize him from TV shows like The West Wing or movies like Murder at 1600. What you might not know [...]

Longtime science blog readers will certainly remember the popular cognitive psychology blog Cognitive Daily, written by Greta and Dave Munger, that had a fantastic five-year run at Scienceblogs. While Dave is still involved in the science blogging community through projects like Research Blogging and Science Seeker, and of course writing his own blogs, Greta has [...]

This January, John Hawks (of his eponymous weblog) and I are moderating a session as part of the education track at Science Online in North Carolina. Blogging in the undergraduate science classroom (how to maximize the potential of course blogs) (discussion) – Jason Goldman and John Hawks This session will mainly feature a roundtable discussion [...]

  I saw a tweet for this article this morning, April 3, 2013.  I read the byline and realized that it was an original article written for The Root. It was not a wire story with a link to an article originally published somewhere else (like many of their pieces). No, this was a very [...]

Hip Hop Education is taking over the world. My brother in science and hip hop Dr. Chris Emdin and The GZA of Wu-Tang have rolled out an amazing science education and engagement platform: Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S.  High School students create rhymes and battle each other to demonstrate not only their MC prowess but science comprehension [...]

In President Barack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration Speech, he vowed “to restore science to its rightful place” in society. Hearing those words from him filled me with an excitement and eagerness to do and share science more than before. It excited me then and now into his second term he has announced the STEM Master Teacher [...]

I love the internet! I especially love how video and audio conferencing technology makes it possible for people to access experts across the landscape. Moments before I signed on to G+ to host a chat between Journalists and Scientists, my friend and colleague Skyped me up to better explain a concept to his population ecology [...]

Jacquelyn Gill at The Contemplative Mammoth offers 5 key tips to answer: How can scientists actively engage with the media? Some of us have been banging our heads to the wall trying to make inroads. Inspired by the SciJourn misfire at ScienceOnline 2013, a handful of us decided to meet On Air to hash it out.  [...]

During a recent Twitterchat #L21MediaChat on Race & Media hosted by The Loop 21 and UNITY Journalists I recommended that Science belongs in this conversation – and not as aside. Here is a summary of the conversation on the intersection of Science, Race, and Media. [View the story "#L21MediaChat: How #Science fits in #Race & [...]

Last month, UNITY: Journalists for Diversity and Loop 21 conducted a survey in which journalists were asked how race relations affected modern-day media, and now we want to here from you. Join the race and media conversation as we discuss how stories like the Trayvon Martin case and President Obama’s election were portrayed in print, [...]

Why my campaign to promote quality and relevant science news in the Black Press matters: Real outcomes are at stake. Science Literacy is Social Justice! Obesity Coverage in Black Newspapers is Mostly Negative, MU Study Finds Negative health stories could discourage men in the African-American community from taking action Feb. 14, 2013 Story Contact(s): Nathan [...]

On February 6, 2013, I got into a big Twitter chat with the esteemed Ebony Magazine (link here). For those of you unfamiliar, Ebony Magazine, founded by John H. Johnson, first hit the newsstands in 1945. It was THE source of news of relevant African-American issues, showcasing celebrities and highlighting the interests of this community [...]

[View the story "Making headway with Ebony Magazine - getting the Science Right in the Black Press" on Storify] Why did I come so hard and so fast? 1. It was 5:30 in the morning and I wasn’t falling asleep anytime soon, and had my tethers raised. 2. I figured I’d make my points on [...]