CSPO Soapbox

June 2009

• Homeopathy: pseudo or alternative? The infamous physicist Alan Sokal, who gained a "reputation" in SSK and STS by his critical parody "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" published in Social Text in 1996, launched another assault on what he called "pseudo-medicine" in his public lecture "What is science and why should we care?," given on February 27, 2008 in London. (June 22, 2009) Read More
   
• Flag Day 2009: As Flag Day arrives on June 14, I have a confession to make. Outside of an endearing International Day ceremony at my girls’ school featuring brightly colored flags carried by elaborately dressed children, my patriotism has been strained in recent years. Yet now I am intrigued by the rhetoric of hope coming from the capital. While some may be wishing for less transparency to fortify their hope, I am encouraged by promises to restore the integrity of political life and to rethink progress. (June 14, 2009) Read More
   
• Harmonic Convergence or Black Hole: Ten years ago, the Institute of Medicine report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System demonstrated that up to 98,000 patients die in United States’ hospitals each year as a result of avoidable medical errors. With this mortal diagnosis for health care delivery, how can it be that subsequent meetings of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the executives responsible for health care delivery institutions, continue to focus primarily on their leadership development and self-promotion? (June 8, 2009) Read More
   
• Unintended consequences and unclear ethics: Among the many complications it has encountered along its now 30-year march down the path of so-called “reform and opening up,” China is now projected to have a surplus of 20 to 30 million males by the year 2020. (June 1, 2009) Read More
   

May 2009

• Progress and the Final Sacrifice: I sing the honor of our fallen soldiers; and their final sacrifice on behalf of country, freedom, security; And technological innovation. (May 25, 2009) Read More
   
• The Museum of Human Frailty: May is National Museum Month so I forced my 7-year-old son to accompany me to the Museum of Human Frailty. Housed in a restored factory building in a depressed mid-sized rust belt city in upstate New York, the MHF's promotional brochure describes the museum’s mission as helping "children of all ages understand their own emotional and rational contradictions and limitations." (May 18, 2009) Read More
   
• Mothers know best: There are few jobs more demanding, more confusing, or more closely scrutinized than that of a mother. How do mothers ever make sense of the constant deluge of expert and scientific advice? What can we do to help them, and what can they teach us about evaluating expert advice? (May 9, 2009) Read More
   
• Are We Squealing Too Loudly over Swine Flu? Swine flu has infected everyone in the United States. But it’s not swine flu itself that has been spreading like a pandemic – it’s the panic-stricken rhetoric associated with the disease. (May 3, 2009) Read More
   

April 2009

• Tenacity and optimism in science-policy engagement: Damn. I’ve temporarily disqualified myself from making the incisive and witty kinds of political comment that Dan Sarewitz and CSPO colleagues regularly make in these Soapbox articles, because I’m currently enjoying a 12-month secondment in a challenging policy role. What I thought I’d do instead is to relate some of the values that I see as fundamental to science-policy practice to the legend of ANZAC, an important part of Australia’s national psyche. This is timely because the 25th of April is ANZAC day here in Australia. Confused? Relax – this might all make sense in a moment. (April 25, 2009) Read More
   
• Earth Day 2009: A Voice for the Voiceless: The environmental movement has made great strides since this day 39 years ago, when Earth Day was first declared a holiday. Amidst the ebbs and flows of public attentiveness for environmental concerns, legislation has been passed and regulations implemented in cities, states, and the federal government to protect our water, air, ecosystems, species, roadless areas, ocean health, etc, etc. (April 22, 2009) Read More
   
• Passover and Progress: I'm sitting in an airplane at 38,000 feet and young children are crying from rows in front and in back of me. If the Exodus was this loud, I might have stayed in Egypt. What would it have been like to be part of that mass, that throng of people? And their animals? And their camels? (April 13, 2009) Read More
   
• The View from a Tuc-Tuc: We often forget that technologies are more than just a bundle of metal, gears and electronics. To provide us with any benefits, machines have to be woven into our practices and daily lives. There are few technologies that exemplify this better than the automobile. (April 5, 2009) Read More
   

March 2009

• Science Has No Social or Political Relevance… April Fools! Wednesday is April Fools’ Day. So as you’re stuffing snakes into peanut brittle cans, inflating whoopee cushions or winding your joy buzzer in preparation, CSPO types might take a moment to consider the legacy of the most “science and society-ish” practical joke ever. (March 29, 2009) Read More
   
• Biological Pumps for All Sorts of Purposes: Why There May Be No Difference Between Stem Cell Therapies and Stem Cell Enhancements: Dr. Clive Svendsen at the University of Wisconsin has sought to use human stem cells as biological pumps that can be implanted inside the human body where they will pump out drugs to cure diseases. Dr. Charles Murtaugh at the University of Utah wants to insert stem cells into the pancreas to produce insulin so diabetes sufferers will no longer have to carry around mechanical pumps. The pumps will be inside, instead, using the body’s resources to operate as little biological engines. (March 22, 2009) Read More
   
• Public Funding for Stem Cell Creation and Extraction: The Right Reason: As The New York Times pointed out in its editorial, limitations still remain on federal funding of stem cell research. The Times is right to argue for federal funding of this research, but they do so for the wrong reasons. It’s important to get the reason right. (March 15, 2009) Read More
   
• One Marshmallow: A famous psychology experiment presented five-year-old children with a choice: take one marshmallow now, or wait twenty minutes and get two marshmallows. The children who chose to wait for two seem to be more likely to turn into more socially and intellectually successful adults than the kids who chose immediate gratification. (March 9, 2009) Read More
   

February 2009

• A graduate student goes to Washington: I once viewed science policy as an omnipresent and omnipotent but unseen force that guides via research funding. From my perspective there was little organization and no master plan, as research grants seemingly were awarded or denied at random. (February 26, 2009) Read More
   
• Scientists Not Immune to Partisanship: In their recent letter to Science, Dave Guston, Dan Sarewitz and Clark Miller remind us that the claim that science and values can be kept apart in the policy world confuses the means of science with the ends of democracy--a confusion that is dangerous for the health of both. (February 21, 2009) Read More
   

January 2009

• Technology and the Big Game: The strength, speed and agility of highly trained athletes, the guile and planning of genius coaches, the grit and determination of men working in solidarity toward a common goal – these are things that come to mind when we think of football. Yet geeks in laboratories have had a large impact on how the Big Game is played and experienced. (January 29, 2009) Read More
   
• Scene from the Mall: CSPO Director Dan Sarewitz sang the National Anthem with Beyonce - read his Scenes from the Mall reflecting on the Inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial. (January 20, 2009) Read More