Jun
30
30
Rachel Pepling
The Art Of Science
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 30, 2008 in The Editor's Blog
Rudy sings high praises for Bill Green’s “Water, Ice & Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes” in his editorial this week.
Frameworks, Jobs, Fraud, And Stuff
Jun
19
19
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 19, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages
In case you haven’t already flipped through this week’s issue of C&EN (or it hasn’t come in one piece yet), here are a few stories of interest:
- Chemists aren’t necessarily thinkin’ outside of the box when it comes to frameworks of compounds in the CAS registry.
- The U.S. job market isn’t looking so hot right now, but it’s looking less not-so-hot for chemists.
- What is hot? Preventing fraud in journal articles.
- Everybody’s favorite, What’s That Stuff?, returns to tackle liquid bandages.
High Potency
Jun
16
16
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 16, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages, The Editor's Blog
Nothing terribly controversial in this week’s editorial. Rudy highlights Senior Correspondent Ann Thayer’s cover package on the manufacturing of highly potent compounds for pharmaceuticals and on conjugates of potent drugs and biological molecules. Rudy also highlights “C&ENtral Science,” though if you’re reading this post, you’re already aware of our humble blog. So feel free to focus on the highly potent compounds part.
Defending Science
Jun
9
9
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 9, 2008 in The Editor's Blog
From the June 9 editorial:
“An ACS member recently wrote me to complain about the lead News of the Week story on CO2 and climate change in C&EN’s April 7 issue (page 9). In his letter, the member wrote that regulating CO2 “would change the national economy and decrease our standard of living” and, as such, “it is critical to know whether or not increased CO2 emissions would be a significant danger to the public.”
I chose not to publish the letter for reasons that will become clear in the remainder of this editorial. My correspondent does not think that increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere contribute to climate change. To support that position, he cited a paper by Arthur B. Robinson and coworkers at the Oregon Institute of Science & Medicine (OISM) published in the Journal of American Physicians & Surgeons (2007, 12, 79).
Huh? The Journal of American Physicians & Surgeons (JAPS)? What has a journal with that name got to do with climate change? With all due apologies to my correspondent, the answer is: nothing.”
Read the rest of Rudy’s editorial.
Smorgasbord
Jun
2
2
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 2, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages
A few stories from the June 2 issue that you might find of interest (plus, a movie review):
Associate Editor Britt Erickson takes a close look at the bisphenol A issue. BPA has been around for years, is in numerous everyday products, and has been deemed safe by federal and industry regulators. Industry, however, is bowing to consumer pressure and, when possible, switching to BPA-free plastics. Meanwhile, lawmakers are discussing banning the compound entirely, at least from products used by kids. Prudent or overly cautious?
Money talk–the 2007 Starting Salary Survey results are in (albeit far later than usual). Chemists who graduated between June 2006 and July 2007 seem to be doing pretty well. The market’s looking a bit shakier now, so let’s hope the ‘08 grads fare the same.
And Assistant Editor Tonia Moore reviews “Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull” in Reel Science. She gives it a 3-flask rating. What do you think?
Grab your BPA-free water bottle, a tub of popcorn, and the C&EN Classifieds (C&EN Online is hiring, by the way), and enjoy!
A New Kind Of God
Jun
2
2
Posted by Rachel Pepling on June 2, 2008 in The Editor's Blog
Last week, Rudy opined about the environment. This week, Managing Editor Ivan Amato tackles religion:
Ever since I had even a rudimentary grasp of the biggest story of all—you know, the one that begins with a Big Bang out of which fundamental particles congealed and then coalesced into galaxies, planets, and a living kingdom that includes people capable of wondering where the whole shebang came from—I have revered the universe for its inherent creative power.
This is why a brilliant field of stars, a dragonfly executing aeronautical acrobatics, and an insight into how a protein’s structure elicits its biological function all can evoke in me a sense of awe. One of the greatest gifts the scientific enterprise offers, I have come to believe, is an ever-growing basis for revering the universe and experiencing awe.
Which is why I find Stuart A. Kauffman’s new book, “Reinventing the Sacred: A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion” (Basic Books), so provocative, courageous, and potentially important.
Few are those scientists who passionately acknowledge the awe and even religious sensibility that contemplation on the evidence-based portrait of the universe can catalyze. And almost as rare as a Higgs boson sighting is an accomplished scientist who argues that the “relentless creativity of the universe” should be spoken of as God and that this new conception of God should supplant the thousands-year embrace by billions of human beings of a transcendent creator God.
Read the rest of Ivan’s editorial.
Journal Metrics
May
29
29
Posted by Rachel Pepling on May 29, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages
In this week’s issue of C&EN, Senior Editor Sophie Rovner explores the world of journal metrics. The traditional impact factor clearly has limitations, and several potential alternatives either exist or are in development. Which metric do you favor? What wild ideas do you have for measuring the significance of a journal?
Bush And The Environment
May
27
27
Posted by Rachel Pepling on May 27, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages, The Editor's Blog
From this week’s editorial:
What’s with the Bush Administration and environmental regulation? What is it about President George W. Bush and his closest advisers that has led to an almost complete rejection of the 30-plus-year consensus in the U.S. that legislative and regulatory means are required to ensure a healthy environment for us and for future generations?
I’m not talking here about efforts to prevent global climate change. We now know that President Bush’s 2000 campaign promise to regulate greenhouse gases was as bogus as his claim to be a “uniter, not a divider.”
No, I’m talking about the more mundane, but still vitally important, control of mercury from coal-fired power plants, ozone in urban environments, air quality in national parks, and reporting toxic releases from industrial plants, to name just a few examples. In every one of these cases, and in many others, the Bush Administration has worked for seven years to undermine coherent regulation on these issues and the agencies, especially the Environmental Protection Agency, responsible for that regulation.
Read on, then share your thoughts here.
JACSβ Launches
May
22
22
Posted by Rachel Pepling on May 22, 2008 in Uncategorized
Our friends over on the journals side launched JACS Beta yesterday, where you–yes you, dear readers–can play around with new functionalities and give your very welcomed feedback. Features currently being tested over on JACS Beta are virtual issues (theme-based collections of free content that include synopses of articles), audio summaries, and PowerPoint slide sets. On the basis of your feedback, functionalities you love will eventually end up on the JACS site; functionalities you don’t will ride off into the cyber-sunset. So go play in the sandbox and tell them what you think. And aside from all journal content being free (duly noted), give your ideas of what you’d like to see (either technical- or thematic-wise) on the JACS site. I hear new features will be added to the beta site on an ad hoc basis.
Life And Death
May
19
19
Posted by Rachel Pepling on May 19, 2008 in Ripped From the Pages, The Editor's Blog
There’s lots of discussion fodder in this week’s editorial. Rudy highlights several articles from this and last week’s issues:
- Jean-Francois Tremblay’s cover story, “Sourcing From China“
- A trio of heparin contamination stories in the May 12th issue
- William Schulz’s story on lethal injections (subscription required)
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