Climate Scientists Face Hostility, Undermining Scientific Freedom

From the American Association for the Advancement of Science:
"Reports of personal attacks on climate scientists, including harassment, legal challenges, and even death threats, have created a hostile environment that inhibits the free exchange of scientific findings and makes it difficult for factual information to reach policymakers and the public, the AAAS Board of Directors said in a statement of concern."

Read “Statement of the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Regarding Personal Attacks on Climate Scientists.” [pdf] Approved on June 28.

Faculty-Student co-authored publication in J PHYS CHEM

Recent publication by Adam Birdsall, '11 and Professor of Chemistry Matt Elrod, as found in ISI Web of Science:
Comprehensive NO-Dependent Study of the Products of the Oxidation of Atmospherically Relevant Aromatic Compounds.
Birdsall, AW.; Elrod, MJ.

Journal home page

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A 115 (21): 5397-5407 JUN 2 2011. [subscriber access, @ ACS publications]

Imams add their support for teaching evolution

The Clergy Letter Project expands and creates opportunity for Muslims to support evolution, explains Michael Zimmerman in a recent Huffington Post column (posted June 2, 2011).   

Extracted from Zimmerman's column:
"One of the overarching goals of The Clergy Letter Project is to demonstrate that the battle that so many want to portray as being between religion and science is actually something very different. In fact, there are religious individuals whose beliefs are at odds with science, and those people, typically fundamentalists regardless of their religion, are convinced that their perspective is the only "correct" one; that all other religious views are wrong. But, regardless of how much attention these people receive, they are in the minority and their views are every bit as much in conflict with the broader religious world as they are with the perspectives of the scientific community. These fundamentalists are attempting to claim all of religion for themselves by casting it in their own image while working feverishly to redefine science in a way that privileges their idiosyncratic readings of ancient texts."

Related reading:
Being human in Islam : the impact of the evolutionary worldview / Damian A. Howard
Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2011

Black lung disease is back with a vengence

Living on Earth on May 27, 2011 presented a sobering story on a highly aggressive form of black lung, or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, saying "An investigation into last year’s [Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch] coal mine disaster in West Virginia reveals a tragedy within a tragedy: autopsies show most of the men who died in the explosion also had black lung."  The prevalence of black lung had been declining since the 1970s, due to stricter regulations governing the amount of coal dust permitted in active work areas. "Lax enforcement and monitoring of dust" are considered likely contributors to the increased incidence and severity of black lung, coupled with changes in mining practice that result in more silica dust as well as coal dust in smaller, confined areas.

The Government Accountability Office in 2008 found that 87% of miners' claims for disability benefits due to black lung were initially denied (Black Lung Benefits Program, report to U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Health Care, Committee on Finance).

Ironically, Senate Hearing 110-527 [Coal: a Clean Future] does not once mention black lung in its 252 pages (hearing before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure, Committee on Finance).  The "clean future" does not, apparently, include miners' lungs -- or the environment around coal mining sites.

More about --
Black lung:  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Massey's denial of culpability for the disaster: Wall Street Journal, June 3.
Mountain top removal for coal extraction.

Three new publications from science faculty

Articles by Dan Stinebring, Francis D. Federighi Chair in Physics, and Mike Moore, Assistant Professor of Biology, were published recently:

PNAS.org May 17, 2011

Contemporaneous and recent radiations of the world's major succulent plant lineages.
Arakaki, Monica; Christin, Pascal-Antoine; Nyffeler, Reto; Lendel, Anita; Eggli, Urs; Ogburn, R. Matthew; Spriggs, Elizabeth; Moore, Michael J.; Edwards, Erika J.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 108 (20): 8379-8384 MAY 17 2011
--
Angiosperm phylogengy: 17 genes, 640 taxa.
Soltis, Douglas E.; Smith, Stephen A.; Cellinese, Nico; Wurdack, Kenneth J. ... Moore, Michael J., et al.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 98 (4): 704-730 APR 2011
--
Effects of intermittent emission: noise inventory for the scintillating pulsar B0834+06.
Gwinn, C. R.; Johnson, M. D.; Smirnova, T. V.; Stinebring, D. R.
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL 733 (1): Art. No. 52 MAY 20 2011

Welcome to Alumni, Family and Friends of Grads!

OA Librarian Blog

The science library will be open for 17 hours during Commencement/Alumni weekend, and we look forward to greeting all visitors - especially former student assistants of the science library (and family and friends of our graduating seniors).  Stop in and make yourself at home!  Check out the science faculty & student publications display at our entrance, enjoy access to the Web from any of the 19 public Macs, and learn about open access journals in the sciences by following the link on the Science Library web page [Open Access Journals in the Find Articles box].

It isn't too early to start planning for Open Access Week.  Please share good ideas for promoting open access on campus.  I will be in the library on Sunday afternoon - be sure to say hello!  [Staff profile]

The Books Are All Shelved!

It's true, we've completely caught up with shelving all of the end-of-semester book returns.  At least until the next armload is deposited on the circ desk or dumped into the book return.  You can return books to the outside book drop (east wall of the library) anytime, so if the warm breeze, blue sky and brilliant sun have kept you happily engaged outdoors (and who could blame you?), drop off your library books anytime you remember - before you leave campus!

Summer reading possibilities are endless, if you're staying in Oberlin for the summer (even if you're going away but plan to return for fall semester!).  Take a look at the New Books list;  The Darwin archipelago caught my interest.  You're sure to find something appealing here!

If you really want the books currently checked out to you (for the summer), just stop by and let us update your patron record with your summer address.  Takes just a moment or two!

On this day in 1925 - John Scopes arrested for teaching evolution

This comes from:

The illustrated almanac of science, technology, and invention day by day/facts, figures, and the fanciful / Raymond L. Francis.  New York : Plenum Trade, c1997.

1925 - "John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in a Tennessee public school.  In the famous 'Monkey Trial' the next month in Dayton, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100.  The verdict was reversed on appeal.  Ironically, Scopes was not a biology teacher (he was a physics teacher substituting for a sick biology teacher), and he was not even in school the day when evolution was taught."

The Scopes trial is considered in this recent book in the science library:

Galileo goes to jail : and other myths about science and religion / edited by Ronald L. Numbers.  Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2009.  The myth in this case being that the Scopes trial ended in defeat for anti-evolutionists - they won the case then (though lost on appeal), and continue to push anti-evolution legislation.  

Learn more about current efforts to challenge the teaching of evolution at the National Center for Science Education.

ncse.com

 

Biology and Chemistry student-faculty collaboration: J Chem Ecol paper

This paper, published in the April issue of Journal of Chemical Ecology, is the result of collaboration among faculty members in Biology and Chemistry (Garvin and Whelan, respectively), current students Rutter and Austin, and recent graduate Shaw:

Gray Catbird - thanks to Lake County Species report.

Volatile and Semivolatile Compounds in Gray Catbird Uropygial Secretions Vary with Age and Between Breeding and Wintering Grounds.

Shaw, Clara L.; Rutter, Jordan E.; Austin, Amy L.; Garvin, Mary C.; Whelan, Rebecca J.

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ECOLOGY 37 (4): 329-339 APR 2011 [access at OhioLINK EJC for subscribers]

Transactions from WIT Technology conferences, 1993-2009, now open access

From a press release received today.  More @ WIT Press e-library website

WIT Press has announced that, effective immediately, Wessex Institute of Technology papers in their e‑library published from 1993 through 2009 are available on an Open Access basis.

The Wessex Institute of Technology is making the papers Open Access in order to ensure the widest dissemination of papers presented at WIT Conferences.

The WIT Press e-library consists of six sets of Transactions containing papers presented at Wessex Institute of Technology conferences, as follows:

• Biomedicine and Health
• The Built Environment
• Ecology and the Environment
• Engineering Sciences
• Information and Communication Technologies
• Modelling and Simulation

A seventh set of Transactions, State of the Art in Science & Engineering, contains selected chapters from WIT Press books on the latest developments in various fields of science and engineering.

Happy 226th Birthday, John James Audubon

Enjoy just a small selection of John James Audubon's beautiful birds by browsing one of the many compilations of his works and guides in the science library.  Start with:
Audubon : early drawings / introduction by Richard Rhodes ; scientific commentary by Scott V. Edwards ; foreword by Leslie A. Morris.  Cambridge, Mass. : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2008.  QL674 .A85 2008 (in oversize shelving)
and follow up with an author search in OBIS on Audubon, John James, 1785-1851

The University of Pittsburgh Library has made available, online, their complete double elephant folio set of Audubon’s Birds of America, accompanied by his Ornithological Biography. It is a marvelous collection to have digitized and made public.  Thank you, University Library System staff!  Univ Pittsburgh Audubon web site.

Thanks also to Google Doodle for commemorating John James Audubon.

"In Brief" in New Scientist - always satisfying!

If you're curious about the natural world and don't have time or the inclination to delve deeply into scholarly journal literature, the New Scientist section "In Brief" is for you.  Every week, just 10 minutes will reward you with a wealth of startling new research findings, summed up in engaging reports aimed at a general audience.  You can always find an issue of New Scientist on our "Journals Received This Week" display - settle into the comfy chair positioned there and enjoy brief summaries condensed from peer-reviewed journal articles.  New Scientist writers are marvelous at their craft, and you may well be drawn to read the entire issue cover to cover.

"In Brief" this week includes:

• Angry birds kiss and make up after a brawl
• Stem cells grow into partial eyeball
• Prejudice linked to fertility cycle
• Like cannabis, but without the buzz
• Bye-bye electrons, hello atomtronics

The headings alone draw one's attention, and reading these short summaries is always satisfying.  So pause as you pass by the new journal display, and learn something amazing - did you know, for example, that bird parents choose which chicks to feed by discerning the amount of UV light reflected from the chicks' foreheads?  Wild, right?  Heavier chicks reflect less UV light than lighter nestlings, and parents give more food to the chicks reflecting more UV light.  The study that led to this conclusion:  Aviles, J., et al.  Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, DOI: 10.1007/S00265-011-1164-8.

Thousands of Scientific Posters in Open Access Repository

Access F1000Posters.com

The Faculty of 1000 Open Poster Repository for Biology and Medicine offers the poster presentations from 180 international meetings, to date.  Free access to anyone in the world, with links to the full-text of subsequently published articles (accessible by subscription, as required).  F1000 invites submissions for the repository.  The most recent conference invited to be represented in the repository is the New York Academy of Sciences meeting on Music, Science and Medicine, including a presentation on music treatment for redirecting repetitive behaviors of children on the autism spectrum.

Scientific posters presented at conferences typically represent the most up-to-date research in a given area, with results and methodology that may or may not be published at a later date.  The information in posters has traditionally been limited to those attending the conference; the F1000 repository allows access to anyone, widening the potential impact of the research and speeding communication.

More info.

When Science and the Media Mix

Christopher Reddy's editorial, When Science and the Media Mix, published April 1 in Science (the print issue just received today) is perfectly timed with today's symposium (Day 2 of Journalism in the Age of New Media), sponsored by The Oberlin Review and a host of other college departments and organizations.

Reddy says, "At their best, science and journalism both research exhaustively, discover knowledge, and communicate it accurately and objectively."  Come hear David Schlesinger, former Editor in Chief of Reuters give the keynote presentation today at 4:30pm, followed by a panel at 7pm including Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad of Radio Lab.  Krulwich and Abumrad excel at communicating science for the general public, and would no doubt agree with Christopher Reddy's statement, "Communicating is risky, but not doing so is riskier."  He goes on to say that scientists and journalists must "make continual efforts to learn each other's languages" so that knowledge is not "locked in laboratories, misunderstood, unused, or even worse, misused."

The journalism symposium events are in Hallock Auditorium of the A.J. Lewis Center.

Reading for Spring Break

Some lovely and important books were received today - consider taking one along on your spring break travels, or to enliven a quiet spring break on campus.

This is especially relevant if you're heading to warmer climes:

Hot : living through the next fifty years on earth / Mark Hertsgaard [publisher's description]

Noted journalist Hertsgaard has covered climate change stories for years, and the birth of his daughter five years ago gave rise to an entirely new perspective on the urgency for action.

The slim volume noted below will inspire you to give serious consideration to a science teaching career, and packs into a small spot in your luggage or back pack:

• The X factor : personality traits of exceptional science teachers / by Clair Berube 
The author readily admits that nothing in the book can be proven, contrary to what one might expect in a book about science, and includes the ability to channel rebelliousness and nonconformity as an important trait for teaching science. A bit of rebellion and nonconformity are useful for challenging dogma or advancing new scientific ideas, and need to be fostered productively in science classrooms and labs, says the author. It is an interesting read!

There are at least two dozen other good books on the new book shelf. Take a look as you turn your thoughts to a break from required reading and academic deadlines.

Understanding the earthquake in Japan

From today's News & Analysis on the AAAS Science web site:
"The 11 March Tohoku earthquake ranks among the five strongest temblors recorded by modern instrumentation. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Japan Meteorological Agency now peg the magnitude at 9.0. The quake ruptured more than 400 kilometers of crust along the Japan Trench subduction zone, where a tectonic plate is diving beneath the northeast coast of Honshu Island."

Learn more about subduction zones, plate tectonics and earthquake occurrence in these titles:

access at USGS pubs

• Subduction zone geodynamics / Serge Lallemand, Francesca Funicello, editors. Berlin : Springer, c2009   
• Fault-zone properties and earthquake rupture dynamics / [edited by] Eiichi Fukuyama. Boston : Elsevier Academic Press, c2009
• Dynamic planet: monitoring and understanding a dynamic planet with geodetic and oceanographic tools  / Paul Tregoning, Chris Rizos (eds.)
  Berlin ; New York : Springer, c2007
• Relative motions between oceanic and continental plates in the Pacific Basin / David C. Engebretson, Allan Cox, Richard G. Gordon. Boulder, Colo. : Geological Society of America, c1985
• Earthquakes and tsunamis in the past : a guide to techniques in historical seismology / Emanuela Guidoboni, John E. Ebel.  Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009
• The orphan tsunami of 1700 : Japanese clues to a parent earthquake in North America / Brian F. Atwater ... [et al.]. Reston, Va. : U.S. Geological Survey ; Seattle : In association with University of Washington Press, 2005

New publications by science faculty and students

Oberlin Author:
Karla Parsons-Hubbard, Associate Professor of Geology.

• The relationship of bionts and taphonomic processes in molluscan taphofacies formation on the continental shelf and slope: eight-year trends: Gulf of Mexico and Bahamas.  Powell, EN; Brett, CE; Parsons-Hubbard, KM; Callender, WR; Staff, GM; Walker, SE; Raymond, A; Ashton-Alcox, KA.  FACIES 57 (1): 15-37 JAN 2011 [access at OhioLINK EJC]

More about facies in AccessScience

Oberlin Authors:
Adam Darer '11, Neil Cole-Filipiak '10; Alison O'Connor '11; and Associate Professor of Chemistry Matthew Elrod.

• Formation and stability of atmospherically relevant isoprene-derived organosulfates and organonitrates.  Darer, AI; Cole-Filipiak, NC; O'Connor, AE; Elrod, MJ  ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 45 (5): 1895-1902 MAR 1 2011 [access at ACS web site]

More about organosulfur compounds in AccessScience.

Recent science publications by Oberlin students and faculty

Three new publications from Oberlin authors were just indexed in ISI Web of Knowledge:

Oberlin author:  Professor of Chemistry Rob Thompson

• Applications of argentation solid phase extraction to the capsaicinoids: Purification of commercial standards and isolation of homodihydrocapsaicin (8-methyl) from 'Bhut Jolokia.'  Thompson, Robert Q.; Loa, Kathleen.  FOOD CHEMISTRY 126 (3): 1424-1430 JUN 1 2011 [access in OhioLINK EJC]  [image of capsaicin]

Oberlin author:  Julia Bair, 5th year, double degree student.

• What subcortical-cortical relationships tell us about processing speech in noise.  Parbery-Clark, Alexandra; Marmel, Frederic; Bair, Julia; Kraus, Nina.  EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE 33 (3): 549-557 FEB 2011 [access in OhioLINK EJC]

Carbon is published by
Elsevier; more info at
Sciencedirect.com

Oberlin author:  Jacob Schalch, Senior physics major.

• Micro-channel development and hydrogen adsorption properties in templated microporous carbons containing platinum nanoparticles.  Yang, Yunxia; Brown, Craig M.; Zhao, Chunxia; Chaffee, Alan L.; Nick, Burke; Zhao, Dongyuan; Webley, Paul A.; Schalch, Jacob; Simmons, Jason M.; Liu, Yun; Her, Jae-Hyuk; Buckley, C. E.; Sheppard, Drew A.  CARBON 49 (4): 1305-1317 APR 2011 [access in OhioLINK EJC]

Discovery shuttle headed for home

Space shuttle Discovery undocked from  the International Space Station this morning, on the last leg of its final journey.  Noah Adams presented a nice piece yesterday on All Thing Considered, about the push from museums to "land" a shuttle for permanent display.  It would be great to see Discovery come to roost in Ohio, at The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force! (located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base just a few miles from Dayton).  An archive of events and work completed on Discovery's last journey is at the NASA web site archive of mission updates.
Today's feature from Reuters.com

Will Scripps Institution of Oceanography lose its library?

The news that University of California San Diego may have to close its Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library is alarming news, indeed.  Losing the expertise of the staff, some of whom would lose their positions, as well as losing the integrity of a collection of such historical and research significance, would affect the the oceanographic teaching and research community far beyond California's borders.  Although selected parts of the collection would remain available, both digitally and in a proposed consolidated science library, the use and management of those materials in a cohesive marine science collection with dedicated staff, would be adversely impacted.  The prospect is sad to contemplate.

Learn more:  Nature news article; Library Journal report.  Save the SIO Library now has a Facebook presence, and Deep Sea News posted a Scripps Library update yesterday.