I’ve been so busy the last few days, I forgot to put up this post. Matt Nisbet, who blogs at Framing Science, is a professor of communication at American University. He will be giving a free talk tonight in Madison on science communication.

His talk is titled What’s Next for Science Communication? Promising Directions and Lingering Distractions. It will be in 1100 Grainger Hall, from 7-9 pm TONIGHT June 25, 2009.

The description:

Despite recent innovations in science communication such as deliberative forums, the application of framing research, and partnerships with the arts and humanities, these approaches are still all too commonly defined as simply novel ways to persuade the public to view scientific debates as scientists and their allies do. Instead, the question should not be how to “sell” the public on science and emerging technologies; but rather how to use communication research and its applications to empower greater public participation in the governance of these issues.

Elaborating on much-discussed articles published at Science, Environment, The Scientist, Nature Biotechnology, and other leading outlets, Nisbet argues that the sophistication of these emerging communication strategies needs to be complemented by an equally sophisticated view of public engagement. In particular, in areas such as biotechnology, evolution, and climate change, Nisbet emphasizes the need to use framing, partnerships with the arts, and new forms of digital journalism to generate “participatory conversations” with diverse publics and stakeholders that result in meaningful input on policy choices and decisions.

This lecture is part of a series on science communication hosted by the Life Sciences Communication department.

I’ll be there taking notes, pictures, mugshots, etc. If you are in town and can’t make it, I hear that it will be videotaped for both online viewing and rebroadcasted by Wisconsin Public Television. Hopefully, Matt will be available during his trip to “one of [his] favorite cities” to do a little interview…

This evening, Ariela and I saw the new Star Trek film, for the second time. Phil Plait and PZ Myers have both already reviewed it, but I think left out a few really interesting (and disappointing) things about the film, so I would like to add my own review to the pile.

To summarize, it was awesome. Despite a few plot holes, scientific inaccuracies, and awkward interations between characters, it was an excellent Trek movie, worthy enough on this description alone to have broken the “Curse of the Odd-Numbered Trek.”

Warning: Spoiler Alert - You have been warned.viagra patent levitra Cheap Mexico Viagra viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Viagra South Korea cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Viagra Drug Intereaction “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Counter Over Viagra herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Approval Emea Tadalafil Cialis Pah viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Viagra Crohns taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Prices Soft Tab Cialis generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Cialis Buy Cialis Online viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Viagra S snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Viagra Expiration viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Viagra Kamagra cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Cialis Overnight Shipping Usa Pharmacy “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Viagra Afghanistan herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Wrigleys Viagra Gum viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Viagra On Females taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Online Drug Stores Viagra generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Arginine Ornithine Viagra viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! How Does Cialis snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Is Generic Levitra Safe viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Define Viagra cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Cialis 1 “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Approval Cialis Fda herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Find Viagra Edinburgh Sites Search Pages viagra patent levitra
Read On…

This morning I attended my lab-mate’s Ph.D Exit Seminar, where she discussed her research for the last five to seven years on Chromatin in maize as well as Transformation Efficiency. Now I am pleased to announce that she has now attained (besides a few formalities) the distinction of henceforth being known as M. Annie McGill, Ph.D.

Congratulations!

In a reference to Top Gun, Annie is known in the lab as “Maverick,” which her mad Biolistic Transformation (”Gene Gun”) skills have earned her. Her office for years has been in the so-called “Danger Zone,” which has also been my office for the last two years. Along with another grad student in our lab who may be finishing his degree in a couple months, I also have a similarly-themed nickname. Can you guess which one is mine?

Dr. Annie, seen here removing her name placard, will be leaving in a month to go work for Monsanto in Connecticut, and she will be missed! The time that we spend together as grad students in the same program and lab, may sometimes seem long, and at other times too short. Congratulations again, Annie, today you’re Top Gun!

viagra anxiety; Ill Never Stop Taking Viagra taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Carrying On Viagra generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Viagra From Mexico viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Cialis How Soon Before snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Viagra Bottle viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Cialis 20 Mg Discoun cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Cialis Viagra Comparison “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Viagra Cuddly Chemical herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Cialis Best On-line Drugstore viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Generic Cialis Mg Amp Mg taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Subaction Showcomments Viagra Smyle Older generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Los Angeles Over The Counter Viagra viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Grow Viagra snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Cialis In Mexico viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Viagra Recipes cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Viagra Efects For Women “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Cialis Viagra And Levitra herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Viagra Plus Cialis viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Viagra For Jet Lag taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Viagra Result generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Viagra Online Cheap Discreet viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Viagra High Blood Pressure snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Phoenix Liquid Cialis viagra anxiety;

They may be your friends, or family members. Indeed, there is an almost religious-like following going on which aims to gather your money and send you on an endless spiral toward endless unfulfillment. Is it heavy metal music? No. Scientology? Not this time. Is it the Apple Computers’ have-to-buy-the-next product cult? Yes.

Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy was having a conversation with Wesley Crusher Wil Wheaton about their latest “upgrade”, which made things worse for them. It happens from time to time when newer versions of products come out that are worse than their predecessors. Like Windows Vista. But it is always funny when it happens to Apple because it is the Un-Microsoft. Or is it?

Anyway, this is all just a way to show you the image that Phil made for the occasion that tickled me until I fluoresced:

I have spent my lifetime building up a resistance to the iWhatever.

taking viagra woman Cheep Viagra cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Cialis Soft Tablets “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Effects Of Viagra On Youth herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Viagra Next Day Shipping viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Expired Viagra Pills taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra 100 Mg Viagra Us Pharmacy generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” What To Expect From Viagra viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Viagra Generic Equivalent snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Cialis Viagra On Line viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Viagra Health Net Sucks cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Viagra For Younger Men “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Viagra Oysters herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Viagra Bodybuilding viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Viagra Operation taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Cialis 30 Oral generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Viagra From Canada Legitimate Msnbc viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Target Google Viagra Order Cheap snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Viagra Composition viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Cheap Viagra For Men cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills France Viagra “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Cialias Vs Viagra herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Viagra Home Recipe viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Female Viagra Fda Approved Products taking viagra woman

I now know something that no one else on this planet, or for that matter, the universe, knows.

…I hope.

cheap gerneric viagra Effects Of Androgel On Levitra generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Clarisa Nora Doctorovich Viagra viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Generic Name For Cialis snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Viagra Tablet Cutters viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Cialis Risks cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Alcohol Levitra “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Viagra Makes You Blind herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health How Many People Use Cialis viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Viagra And Love taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Viagra Low Cos generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Viagra Antidote viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Cialis Ed Danger snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Cheapest Viagra Us Licensed Pharmacies viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Viagra In The Dominican Republic cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Prices In Uk Viagra “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Viagra Cancun herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Formulation Of Viagra viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Voto Eletronico Viagra Para Eleitores Passivos taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Levitra Chemical Formula generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Viagra And Other viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Clarithromycin And Cialis snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Why Do Men Take Cialis viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Effects Of Viagra On Young Adults cheap gerneric viagra

Today, I find myself in Atlanta Georgia. I am attending the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s 2009 International Convention, representing the Biofortified blog, and I am also the Council for Biotechnology Information’s guest blogger. You can read about what I’ll be doing here at Biofortified, but first, how did I get here?

A few months ago, the Council for Biotechnology Information contacted me and invited me to be their guest blogger for the convention. They created a news blog to report on the agriculture-related talks and panels, and offered to cover my expenses to help them report on the conference.

I’ve never been to the BIO conventions, which host presentations on more than just ag biotech issues. It would also give me the chance to promote Biofortified, get exposed to the biotech zeitgeist, and meet some interesting people. I also saw a public benefit - I could help people learn about the things going on at this conference as I learn about them. So what’s the catch?generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Natural Alternatives And Viagra And Reviews “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Viagra 9.99 herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Viagra Comparison Prices Online viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Polska Viagra taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Cialis Pro generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Viagra On Heart Medication viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Charles Linskaill Find Search Viagra snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Marketing Viagra To Baby Boomers viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Purchasing 50 Mg Viagra On Line cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Viagra Use Tips “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Effexor With Cialis herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Cheapest Generic Viagra viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Cheap Viagra Generic taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Active Ingredient In Viagra generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
“can i take viagra” Ingredients Viagra viagra how it works
herbal viagra forums! Viagra Blue snorting viagra health
viagra patent levitra Australian Viagra Alternative viagra anxiety;
taking viagra woman Ordering Cialis Online cheap gerneric viagra
generic viagra levitra and cialis pills Viagra And Orgasm “can i take viagra”
viagra how it works Four Bitchin Viagra Mp3 herbal viagra forums!
snorting viagra health Young Men Take Viagra viagra patent levitra
viagra anxiety; Alternative Viagra Drug taking viagra woman
cheap gerneric viagra Cheapest Viagra Prices Uk generic viagra levitra and cialis pills
Read On…

Well, victorious with two-second prizes. The Chlorofilms plant science video contest winners have been announced, and both my entries got second place! Read all about it at Biofortified.

Now I’m a “Three time award-winning producer”! That ought to help me get another grant to keep churning out this stuff for years to come.

I just took my Botany final this afternoon, and my hands are about ready to abscise. Luckily there wasn’t any Ethylene in the air to make that happen, and ironically enough there’s no need to worry about Abscisic Acid - it does not cause Abscision! An irony of the plant sciences - there’s now a compound named after something it doesn’t even do. We should probably change its name eventually. Seriously, we should. It would be one way to one-up the zoologists who still refer to tissues in Barnacles as if they were tissues in a mollusc, when they’re actually arthropods. I’m all-into newer and better nomenclature.

Now to finish up a relaxing evening filled with homemade chicken soup (four carcasses I carved up previously), and a little blogging. I’ve got a lot of stuff coming down the pipeline with my research, and several blog posts that I have to write (mostly my own imposition), and I’ll be doing some more filming tomorrow for my videos. It’s a busy life I got myself into! Still feels like a weekend today.

Stay tuned here and at Biofortified for some goodies this week.

The Onion, while lauded for its weekly satirization of pop culture and news headlines, has a less well-known component, its AV Club. While I do not often read much from this section, even though they are just down the street.

But now in anticipation of the new Trek movie coming out this weekend, The Onion’s AV Club put together an intelligent and funny review of the sociological commentary that Star Trek has provided over the years, whether written well or not. Read Space-Racism is Bad.

A few of my favorites are in there, such as a comment on the stupidity of the Borg Queen concept while talking about keeping perspective in First Contact, and some subtle lessons about both immigration and abortion rights in Up The Long Ladder. But the best part of the article was Read On…

(Hat tip to the Ethicurean.)

Daniel Engber writes in Slate about the campaign against High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Delving deep into not only the science of sweeteners, but also the sociology of foodies, he concludes that HFCS is on the decline not because of what it is, but what meanings are imparted upon it.

Read Dark Sugar.

Here are some of my favorite parts:

There may be other reasons to blame obesity in the United States on high-fructose corn syrup. According to a critique popularized by Michael Pollan, the development of HFCS allowed cheap, subsidized corn to be converted into cheap, subsidized sugar. Food processors plumped up with empty calories, and America got fat. But it’s not clear we’d be consuming any less sweetener if corn weren’t so cheap and plentiful. Since the corn content of HFCS contributes less than 2 percent (PDF) to the cost of producing a can of soda, the effect of the subsidies amounts to just a few pennies in the retail price. And while the price of corn syrup is kept artificially low by farm subsidies, the prices of other sweeteners are artificially inflated by tariffs and quotas on imported raw cane sugar and refined sugar. In other words, if we wiped out all of our subsidies and trade restrictions, we’d still have plenty of cheap sugar around, and processed foods would be just as caloric. As Tom Philpott points out in Grist, you don’t need high-fructose corn syrup to rack up American-style obesity rates: Australia manages similar numbers with a food industry based largely on cane sugar.

And the following paragraph:

The unwholesome reputation of HFCS has no doubt been exacerbated by the general view that it’s less “natural” than other forms of sugar. The notion that anything natural is healthy—and anything artificial is not—seems especially silly when it comes to added sweeteners. If fructose is indeed the problem, we’d do well to avoid the all-natural sweeteners in health-food products and fruit drinks, which often include concentrated apple or pear juices. These are almost two-thirds fructose—and might be significantly worse for your health than HFCS. (Organic, raw agave nectar could be even more dangerous, containing 90 percent fructose.)

That’s one of the things that I’ve been telling people - if the fructose content of HFCS is a problem, then look out for the fruit juices sweetened by concentrates made from apple, grape, and apparently pear. Read On…