CENtral Science

Chemistry Newsbytes

Slate is calling an end to the War on Science. But when only 18% of Americans know a scientist, CNN axes its entire scitech desk, and scientific role models identified in surveys include Al Gore and Bill Gates, you have to wonder–did we lose the war? Slate

The science, or lack thereof, behind wine-enhancing devices. NY Times

Media makes a mess of methane on Mars. Discover

Astronauts making a long haul into space may find silkworms on the menu. Yum? ScienceNow

Pheromones shmeromones. NPR

Chemotherapy may be most effective in the morning.  LA Times

Check out an excerpt from Steven Johnson’s new book about Joseph Priestly, “The Invention of Air.” NPR

An interesting piece loosely speculates that an Obama Administration might help keep more women in science, with some interesting factoids: 70% of tenured male science faculty are married with kids compared with only 44% of their tenured female colleagues; women earn only 20% of the bachelor’s degrees in physics but 50% of the bachelor’s degrees in that other math-heavy major–mathematics. Also, chemistry is called “not quite plush toy material.” NY Times