Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

july, 2012, the, science, decoded, sunday, endangered, pages, saturday, 28, thursday, 26, archive, subscribe, to, search, this, blog, popular, posts, where, you, can, learn, cool, things, labels, vacation, adventure, la, brea, tar, pits, new, job, dana, farber, cancer, institute, book, review, perfect, storm, how, is, enough,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (248), and (99), that (61), was (30), you (28), about (25), what (23), with (23), tar (22), are (22), for (20), species (20), think (17), #science (16), can (16), pits (16), dfci (16), brea (15), have (15), this (14), all (14), but (14), from (14), would (14), when (14), they (14), been (13), like (13), research (12), cancer (12), share (12), really (12), new (11), not (11), endangered (11), storm (11), one (11), get (11), junger (11), how (10), more (10), some (10), which (10), job (9), still (9), also (9), just (9), boat (9), area (9), years (9), museum (9), book (8), july (8), perfect (8), institute (8), has (8), out (8), interesting (8), while (8), public (7), posts (7), comments (7), enough (7), farber (7), freshwater (7), does (7), because (7), their (7), were (7), work (7), page (6), 2012 (6), worth (6), don (6), specific (6), story (6), going (6), bbc (6), much (6), most (6), million (6), boston (6), ago (6), physics (5), media (5), things (5), october (5), dana (5), time (5), give (5), pearl (5), article (5), help (5), covering (5), who (5), make (5), then (5), event (5), extinct (5), definitely (5), see (5), there (5), many (5), read (5), 000 (5), water (5), happened (5), first (5), last (5), andrea (5), gail (5), after (5), into (5), over (5), world (5), jimmy (5), los (5), angeles (5), ground (5), good (4), writing (4), review (4), watch (4), blog (4), reading (4), may (4), pinterest (4), facebook (4), blogthis (4), email (4), posted (4), unknown (4), mussel (4), than (4), mussels (4), coverage (4), only (4), important (4), readers (4), information (4), any (4), being (4), nearly (4), people (4), thought (4), wasn (4), doing (4), writers (4), website (4), down (4), crew (4), way (4), weather (4), through (4), fund (4), leukemia (4), pit (4), sloth (4), animals (4), written (3), erin (3), podolak (3), history (3), funding (3), conservation (3), bad (3), beats (3), where (3), learn (3), vacation (3), adventure (3), atom (3), decoded (3), august (3), september (3), november (3), december (3), january (3), february (3), march (3), april (3), june (3), care (3), looking (3), attention (3), mollusk (3), cover (3), stories (3), your (3), love (3), them (3), could (3), made (3), though (3), wonder (3), other (3), classifications (3), mostly (3), least (3), term (3), iucn (3), red (3), list (3), back (3), die (3), caused (3), lake (3), easy (3), nonfiction (3), great (3), narrative (3), recommend (3), writer (3), try (3), pieces (3), together (3), during (3), its (3), her (3), tyne (3), faced (3), along (3), makes (3), able (3), treatments (3), medical (3), foundation (3), using (3), particular (3), project (3), fossils (3), bones (3), three (3), hancock (3), family (3), until (3), remains (3), oil (3), awesome (2), theme (2), technology (2), cells (2), state (2), bear (2), power (2), life (2), interviewing (2), culture (2), astronomy (2), dot (2), earth (2), around (2), cool (2), write (2), month (2), subscribe (2), 2010 (2), rare (2), type (2), wiped (2), summer (2), united (2), danger (2), boy (2), wolf (2), online (2), likely (2), less (2), jaded (2), perhaps (2), general (2), affect (2), questions (2), damned (2), both (2), even (2), cause (2), become (2), provide (2), something (2), process (2), lack (2), giant (2), panda (2), probably (2), problems (2), face (2), thus (2), learned (2), familiar (2), land (2), nuance (2), too (2), very (2), evidence (2), need (2), concern (2), level (2), lost (2), via (2), went (2), check (2), off (2), loss (2), according (2), called (2), margaritifera (2), sunday (2), experienced (2), ways (2), find (2), took (2), enveloped (2), those (2), another (2), days (2), swordfishing (2), 1991 (2), six (2), members (2), tell (2), never (2), found (2), next (2), hemingway (2), authority (2), comparison (2), tells (2), definitive (2), patterns (2), billy (2), honest (2), understand (2), ship (2), hard (2), recreation (2), explain (2), different (2), scenarios (2), fact (2), states (2), gave (2), shatford (2), traveling (2), felt (2), fishing (2), film (2), making (2), growing (2), under (2), companionway (2), long (2), air (2), trying (2), comes (2), officially (2), started (2), twitter (2), donor (2), relations (2), wouldn (2), suggest (2), taking (2), look (2), interested (2), organization (2), relationship (2), sox (2), program (2), childhood (2), patient (2), visited (2), braves (2), later (2), adults (2), sidney (2), center (2), chemotherapy (2), yes (2), breakthroughs (2), incredible (2), fascinating (2), treatment (2), late (2), drugs (2), report (2), accomplished (2), year (2), donors (2), researchers (2), interview (2), finding (2), clinical (2), group (2), cancers (2), oldest (2), sense (2), looked (2), animal (2), surface (2), visit (2), despite (2), recovered (2), since (2), excavations (2), uncovered (2), county (2), began (2), remarkable (2), several (2), mammoths (2), dire (2), short (2), saber (2), toothed (2), ice (2), age (2), dates (2), pleistocene (2), credit (2), william (2), identified (2), piece (2), asphalt (2), located (2), trapped (2), trip (2), inc, images, powered, blogger, pixhook, zoology, tsunami, stem, journalism, space, sequencing, policy, robotics, perceptions, prosthetics, primates, pretty, pictures, polar, phobia, past, articles, obituary, nuclear, personal, misconduct, headline, makers, guest, lecture, grad, school, government, regulations, genetics, fossil, evolution, environment, employment, earthquake, cognition, climate, chemistry, cell, botany, blame, biotechnology, awards, anatomy, labels, stabil, scicurious, brain, panic, virus, loom, gleaming, retort, symbiartic, superbug, sushi, retraction, psych, scoop, primate, prose, becoming, domestic, laboratory, goddess, exactly, rocket, neurotribes, neuron, laelaps, geekosystem, embargo, elemental, culturing, cocktail, party, clastic, detritus, anthropology, practice, clock, filling, empty, habit, universal, flu, vaccine, sfsyo, scientist, pete, etchells, popular, search, 124, 101, 2011, 2013, archive, home, older, newer, unless, throes, limbo, doubt, moment, cumbria, kingdom, daily, perusing, saw, couldn, warrant, close, calls, result, cried, response, print, having, platform, costs, lovers, non, minded, choice, lots, got, thoughts, matter, hear, leave, situation, argument, sides, muddy, waters, speak, exasperated, seem, pertinent, grand, scheme, necessary, helping, survive, walks, fine, line, between, appealing, entertaining, relevant, reflection, uninteresting, sexiness, bigger, stir, theoretically, seeing, peril, always, worrisome, argue, solid, positive, start, personally, opinion, majority, context, evaluating, helps, avoid, confusion, misrepresentation, determine, should, however, possible, shift, okay, causing, evaluated, data, deficient, near, threatened, vulnerable, critically, wild, wikimedia, commons, struck, itself, classification, before, define, status, nine, summary, massive, peal, reported, single, total, estimated, population, england, scotland, speculated, outflow, temperature, oxygen, levels, significant, individual, incident, listed, international, union, nature, almost, told, teachers, best, create, lesson, embrace, considering, classes, madison, deborah, blum, literary, course, spent, semester, sebastian, whose, discover, enjoy, done, dave, eggers, decided, shot, added, published, 1997, famous, disappeared, coast, nova, scotia, board, believe, spoilers, two, decades, breaks, ahead, apart, fuel, tanks, debris, drowned, released, certainly, weigh, whether, apt, say, masterful, communications, suspended, final, hours, record, communication, evening, open, interpretation, interpret, based, she, built, captain, conditions, scenario, knows, sure, works, everything, else, circumstances, surrounding, disappearance, achieves, amount, elegance, grace, justice, tragedy, unfolded, presenting, facts, probable, outcomes, sinking, knowing, drown, particularly, poignant, plausible, acceptable, presents, options, language, raw, did, his, homework, talked, end, same, outcome, adds, element, strength, recreations, plainly, chills, pierre, sullivan, moran, murphy, dead, anyone, technical, aspects, design, mechanics, coupled, sea, well, interspersed, holds, entire, handle, draw, put, basics, boats, rescue, protocol, ocean, social, side, opens, noting, 2000, starring, george, clooney, mark, wahlburg, bobby, haven, seen, recommendation, trailer, looks, cinematic, liberties, taken, putting, ever, absolute, darkness, landslide, tools, gear, rising, roar, waves, muted, hull, takes, might, attempt, escape, lungful, hall, aft, door, far, fast, waists, chests, chins, lungs, minute, heartbreaking, staggering, genius, zeitoun, previously, war, incredibly, crazy, moving, full, announced, few, weeks, accepted, position, realized, background, joining, force, right, means, kind, doctor, qualified, answer, talk, someone, call, 866, 408, 3324, note, basic, learning, proud, honored, working, such, wait, video, feel, bit, formation, organizations, successfully, use, fundraising, awareness, campaigns, radio, 1948, featuring, baseball, team, prompted, huge, influx, donations, construction, building, now, main, campus, longwood, 1953, named, official, charity, left, city, continues, expanded, include, 1969, renamed, 1979, honor, founder, name, changed, again, 1983, reflect, support, charles, guess, everyone, developed, achieved, better, idea, milestones, nutshell, required, move, jersey, tiring, experience, founded, 1947, children, treat, automatic, death, sentence, achieve, temporary, remission, acute, lymphotrophic, common, form, combinations, once, speed, beat, given, showcase, accomplish, starting, excited, amazing, approaches, related, diseases, cutting, edge, processes, available, come, take, spend, role, gather, projects, pre, assigned, subdivisions, regarding, women, approach, institutes, serious, commitment, yawkey, helloboston, whining, pontificating, thursday, loved, ability, ignite, imagination, visualize, imagine, mastodon, wandering, bubbling, peaked, yourself, must, kids, fun, informative, grounds, walk, peer, want, chance, ride, without, riding, continue, 1906, representing, 231, vertebrates, addition, 159, plants, 234, invertebrates, estimate, size, collection, items, today, series, crates, samples, neighboring, art, excavated, build, underground, parking, lot, ongoing, initial, 1913, 1915, acre, estate, turned, scientific, exploration, density, richness, examples, prehistoric, including, mastadons, wolves, bears, sloths, cats, forget, north, america, had, tremendous, large, mammals, driven, favorites, dinosaurs, roamed, lived, dated, carbon, radiometric, dating, showed, 800, old, display, 400, skulls, known, early, 1780, 1875, denton, professor, wellesley, college, property, rancho, bone, tooth, cat, belonging, typical, modern, 1901, geologist, orcutt, checking, prospects, production, noticed, armored, hide, real, uncovering, hidden, park, pictured, above, crude, underneath, seeps, fault, lines, reaches, forms, pools, becomes, seeping, tens, thousands, times, deep, thick, trap, dust, leaves, obscure, wander, struggle, attract, predators, eventually, these, preserving, yup, week, blogging, hiatus, moved, california, recommended, led, houses, largest, collections, constantly, active, urban, excavation, site, please, intrigued, agreed, our, natural, saturday, contact, links, sciobeantown, sci4hels, sci, olds, why, pages, woman, adventures, navigating,

Text of the page (random words):
an one million bones have been recovered representing over 231 species of vertebrates in addition to 159 species of plants and 234 invertebrates an estimate of the size of the page museum s collection is at about three million items three million excavations are still going on today at the la brea tar pits with project 23 a series of 23 crates of samples from the pits that were uncovered when the neighboring los angeles county museum of art excavated the area to build an underground parking lot you just can t visit the la brea tar pits without riding the ground sloth or at least that is how i felt what i loved about the la brea tar pits was the ability to ignite a sense of imagination i thought it was great to try to visualize what the area would have looked like some 40 000 years ago trying to imagine an animal like a mastodon just wandering by you as you watch tar bubbling up to the surface of the lake pit definitely peaked my sense of wonder at the world if you find yourself in the los angeles area i definitely recommend the la brea tar pits as a must see for kids and adults the museum is fun and informative and the grounds that you can walk around and peer into the pits are definitely interesting to see really who wouldn t want the chance to ride a ground sloth posted by unknown at 2 14 pm 76 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest thursday july 26 2012 new job the dana farber cancer institute after an incredibly crazy month of traveling interviewing and moving i have officially started my new full time job at the dana farber cancer institute in boston i announced on twitter a few weeks ago that i accepted a position with dfci as a science writer for donor relations but i realized i never really gave my blog readers any background on what i ll be doing after all my whining and pontificating about growing up and joining the work force it wouldn t be right to not explain what my new job is all about dfci s new yawkey center via helloboston as a science writer for donor relations my role is to research gather information and interview pi s about research projects mostly pre clinical and clinical on specific beats that i ve been assigned the beats are all specific subdivisions regarding research at dfci it could be a specific group of cancers like women s cancers a particular research group or institute or a particular program or approach to looking for treatments dfci is one of the oldest and most accomplished cancer research institutes in the united states with a serious commitment to both research and patient care once i m up to speed about what has been going on with a particular beat i write up a narrative report about all of the cool things they have accomplished in the last year that report is given to donors to showcase the work that dfci researchers are able to accomplish with the funding that the donors give to the institute i m just starting to get into my first project but i m really excited i m going to get to interview amazing researchers and get to learn more about really interesting approaches to finding treatments for cancer and related diseases dfci is using the most cutting edge technology and processes available to come up with new incredible ways to take down cancer cells and i get to spend my days finding out all about it so that is my new job in a nutshell it required a move from new jersey to boston which has been an incredible though tiring experience for those who are interested dfci has a fascinating at least i think it is fascinating history making breakthroughs in the treatment of cancer dfci was founded in 1947 as the children s cancer research foundation by dr sidney farber who was looking for a way to treat childhood leukemia in the late 40 s leukemia was an automatic death sentence farber was the first in the world to achieve temporary remission of acute lymphotrophic leukemia the most common form using drugs and later combinations of drugs as treatment the foundation expanded to include adults in 1969 and was renamed the sidney farber cancer center in 1979 in honor of its founder the name was changed again in 1983 to the dana farber cancer institute to reflect the long term support of the charles a dana foundation i m going to guess everyone is familiar with the term chemotherapy yes chemotherapy was developed at dfci there have been many other breakthroughs achieved at dfci over the years i suggest taking a look at the milestones to get a better idea another interesting bit of dfci is the formation of the jimmy fund and the organization s relationship with the boston red sox dfci was really one of the first cancer research organizations to successfully use public fundraising and awareness campaigns a radio program in 1948 featuring jimmy a childhood leukemia patient being visited by members of the boston braves baseball team prompted a huge influx of donations and the construction of the jimmy fund building on what is now dfci s main campus in boston s longwood medical area in 1953 the boston red sox named the jimmy fund their official charity after the braves left the city which is a relationship that continues nearly 60 years later that is just some really basic information about my new job and dfci in general i really suggest taking a look at the dfci website and the jimmy fund website if you are interested in learning more about the institute i m proud and honored to be working for such a great organization and i can t wait to see what comes next also watch this video and feel the awesome note by no means am i an authority on cancer research or treatments of any kind i am not a medical doctor and am not qualified to answer any medical questions you may have if you would like to talk to someone at dfci you can call the institute at 866 408 3324 posted by unknown at 8 48 pm 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest sunday july 8 2012 book review the perfect storm i have been told by many teachers and writers more experienced than i that one of the best ways to create good writing is to read good writing this is a lesson i find easy to embrace considering i love to read one of the first classes i took at uw madison was deborah blum s literary nonfiction course in which i spent the semester enveloped in the work of some great narrative nonfiction writers one of those writers was sebastian junger whose 2010 book war i ve written about previously and recommend when i discover a writer that i enjoy i try to go back and read their other work i ve done this with dave eggers reading zeitoun what is the what and a heartbreaking work of staggering genius i decided to give another of junger s pieces a shot and added the perfect storm to my summer reading list the perfect storm was published in 1997 and is the book that made junger famous it pieces together the last days of the swordfishing boat the andrea gail which disappeared during a 1991 storm off the coast of nova scotia with all six crew members on board i don t believe in spoilers more than two decades after a story breaks so i ll go ahead and tell you that apart from some fuel tanks and some debris the boat has never been found and its crew drowned when the perfect storm was released junger was called the next hemingway i certainly am not enough of an authority on hemingway to weigh in about whether that is an apt comparison but i can say that junger is masterful in the way he tells the story of the andrea gail communications on the boat were suspended in its final hours so there is no definitive record of what happened the last communication from the boat was on the evening of october 28 1991 after that what happened to the boat and her crew is open to interpretation but interpret junger does based on research on the storm and weather patterns about the andrea gail and how she was built about swordfishing and what an experienced captain like the andrea gail s billy tyne would do when faced with the weather conditions junger pieces together a likely scenario for what the andrea gail and her crew went through in that storm as a work of nonfiction that tells a story where no one knows for sure what happened i think the perfect storm really works junger is honest with the readers that the only way to try to understand what happened to the ship is to understand everything else about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance he achieves this with an amount of elegance and grace that does justice to the tragedy that unfolded while still presenting hard facts along with probable outcomes as evidence i found the recreation of what it is like to be on a sinking ship knowing you are going to drown to be particularly poignant they re in absolute darkness under a landslide of tools and gear the water rising up the companionway and the roar of the waves probably very muted through the hull if the water takes long enough they might attempt to escape on a lungful of air down the companionway along the hall through the aft door and out from under the boat but they don t make it it s too far they die trying or the water comes up so hard and fast that they can t even think they re up to their waists and then their chests and then their chins and then there s no air at all just what s in their lungs a minute s worth or so i think that what makes junger s recreation so plausible and acceptable is that he presents options while still writing with definitive language i think the book is honest and raw and that is what makes it work you can also tell that junger really did his homework and talked to so many people and read so much about what it is like to be on a boat that he is able to explain the different scenarios the fact that the scenarios all end up with the same outcome also adds an element of strength to junger s recreations he states it so plainly that it gave me chills tyne pierre sullivan moran murphy and shatford are dead i recommend the perfect storm to anyone the technical aspects of boat design and mechanics coupled with weather patterns and the physics of how together they affect a boat at sea are so well interspersed with narrative that the story holds your attention the entire way through i thought the book was easy to get into and handle while still being able to draw you back over and over if you need to put it down or are reading while traveling i felt like i learned the basics about fishing boats weather rescue protocol the physics of the ocean and the social side of fishing life there is so much information it opens up a different world for readers which i think makes it really worth your time it is also worth noting that the perfect storm was made into a film in 2000 starring george clooney as billy tyne and mark wahlburg as bobby shatford i haven t seen it and thus have no recommendation to give but from the trailer it looks like some cinematic liberties were taken with the story while still making an interesting film i ll be putting it on my ever growing list of things to see when i have more time posted by unknown at 9 41 am 8 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest sunday july 1 2012 how endangered is endangered enough do you care that a rare type of freshwater mussel has been nearly wiped out unless you are like me in the throes of summer and i am still looking for a job limbo i doubt you have the time to give more than a moment of attention to the freshwater pearl mussels in cumbria in the united kingdom if that in my daily perusing of the bbc i saw this article rare mussels almost wiped out and i couldn t help but think a how in danger is in danger enough to warrant media coverage and b does covering close calls for endangered species result in boy who cried wolf response from the public in summary the article is about a massive die off of freshwater peal mussels margaritifera margaritifera which are a type of mollusk the bbc reported that 80 000 of the mussels were lost in a single event out of a total estimated population of 12 million in england and scotland it was speculated that the event was caused by a loss of outflow from a lake that caused water temperature to go up and oxygen levels to go down according to the bbc s article the loss is significant because it happened in an individual incident and because the freshwater pearl mussel is listed by the international union for the conservation of nature iucn as one what the bbc called the most endangered species i was struck by the term most endangered because endangered is in itself a classification i ve written about iucn red list classifications before but i went back to their website to check how they define the status of a species the iucn has nine classifications for a species they are via wikimedia commons extinct extinct in the wild critically endangered endangered vulnerable near threatened least concern data deficient not evaluated i can t help but wonder how much nuance is too much nuance i think it is very important to provide context and evidence when doing something like evaluating the state of a species as science writers we need to be specific because it helps avoid confusion or misrepresentation i think the classifications are good because they help people determine how a species is doing and what should be of most concern however is it possible that by covering the shift of a species from level to level or a mostly bad but there are still some that are doing okay so all is not lost event we are causing the public to care less how many people read the bbc s article and thought oh no not the freshwater pearl mussel but is lack of love for the freshwater pearl mussel really a reflection of uninteresting media coverage or just the lack of sexiness of the mollusk would the giant panda cause a bigger stir just because it is a giant panda probably though theoretically all species are important and seeing one in peril is always worrisome while you can definitely argue that species like this and the problems they face don t get nearly enough media attention and thus the coverage that it does get is a solid positive i can t help but wonder if people start to get jaded when they see stories like this personally i thought the article in the bbc was interesting i learned about a species that i wasn t familiar with and problems that it and other species face i think it was worth the time and worth the coverage i just don t think that opinion is going to land me in the majority so then is this a damned if you do and damned if you don t situation perhaps it is i think the argument could be made on both sides covering an event that is important to a specific species even when it does not cause it to become endangered or extinct can muddy the waters so to speak and make readers exasperated with stories that don t seem pertinent in the grand scheme of things covering an event that is important to a specific species can also provide the public with in...