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Howdy! The following blog post comes to you from "Out West," the American west, where cacti bloom and flash floods create some of the most gorgeous rock formations you've ever seen. The above shot was taken in Secret Canyon, a slot canyon on the Navajo Indian reservation in Page, Arizona. Slot canyons, according to our guide to Secret Canyon, are unlike the Grand Canyon and other canyons cut and eroded by a continuous water flow such as the Colorado river. A slot... Read more
The blue dasher, or Pachydiplax longipennis (meaning long wings), is a prize for macro photographers. With its beautiful colors, graceful poses and metallic eyes, what photographer wouldn't love to be able to creep up close enough to get a "bugs-eye" view of these abundant creatures? Also known as "blue pirate", this dragonfly contributes to pest control by consuming hundreds of smaller insects every day. I didn't even know dragonflies at bugs until I caught one in the act on camera!... Read more
I was asked this week to write an essay taking a stance on internet regulation and the freedom / control issue. My research into the topic lead me into discussions of the House's recent passing of the CISPA cybersecurity bill, and other dubious propositions for internet regulation and surveillance. The Internet: According to a 2012 article by Josh Hansen, the last decade “has witnessed the irresistible rise of online media and it is becoming increasingly obvious that it is steadily... Read more
Someone asked me recently whether I thought it was strange, or at least uncommon, that I’ve developed so much of a creative side with my writing and photography since my days as a biomedical lab scientist. Hmm. I guess it is common knowledge that analytical scientists and creative artists are on opposite sides of a spectrum. But are they so different? Artists and scientists both have to be creative: they both have to develop original ideas and push frontiers. Is... Read more
This photo was taken in Clear Springs, Mississippi, using a 100mm Macro lens and Canon Rebel T3i. This is, I believe, an orb weaver, hanging upside down from his web. This spider was actively spinning his web when I happened to spot him on the side of a walking trail! This spider, believe it or not, is quite tiny! I believe this spider is actually cutting silk in the process of creating a web. You can also faintly see small hairs on... Read more
Now for a little exercise. You've entered a PhD program (in science, mass communication, political science - you name it). You are in your second year, and right on track with coursework and student-lead research projects. You've got a conference or two under your belt, 2-3 research paper ideas, and perhaps even a single research paper submitted to a scholarly journal (with your fingers crossed). You are feeling good about your progress, but your professors think you could have your... Read more
So here is the deal. George is one of the founders of a fairly new public relations and marketing consulting firm. The firm has begun to branch out into political campaign consulting and has landed its first major client, a candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives from a local district in the general election. The candidate for the other party is a fairly conservative businessman and former clergyman. Some of the main issues in the campaign, as... Read more
This essay was originally written for a Mass Communication course on philosophy of journalism. Essay Question(s) of the Week: Do Campaign Finance Limits Violate Free Speech? Should corporations have free speech under the First Amendment in the same way as individuals do? In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned part of the federal campaign finance law in a case known as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. According to the Bill of Rights Institution, in the Citizens United v. Federal... Read more
Physicists do it (Glanz 2000). Psychologists do it (Kruglanski and Webster 1996). Even political scientists do it (cites withheld to protect the guilty among us). Research findings confirming a hypothesis are accepted more or less at face value, but when confronted with contrary evidence, we become “motivated skeptics” (Kunda 1990), mulling over possible reasons for the “failure,” picking apart possible flaws in the study, recoding variables, and only when all the counterarguing fails do we rethink our beliefs. Whether this... Read more
Tales of a little wonder of a film for climate science are popping up everywhere, from today's feature story at Louisiana State University, to a recent Guardian blog post, to a Smithsonian story on the film's stunning visual art. "Beasts of the Southern Wild," a 2012 film directed by Benh Zeitlin and based on a play written by Lucy Alibar, is a film about loss, courage, climate changes and human perseverance in southern Louisiana. The fictional island in the film,... Read more
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