A somewhat standard article on a very interesting subject. I am glad that Mr. Paddock did not simply report on EBay's press release, but found out why exactly they had been prompted to do something. Unfortunately, he did not ask EBay about the other endangered animal products listed on their site, and he did not find a antique deal whose business might be impacted by this ban.

This is a textbook example of scientific journalism. It includes a readable, yet very informative summary of a published paper, commentary not only from the paper's authors, but unaffiliated experts in the field, and a report on the implications of this research outside of the academic community. In short, this article provides an excellent way for the public to learn about the state of the art in this particular corner of the scientific community.

As always, the crucial ingredients in a report on scientific or technical disputes is not only the central facts of the debate, but also an explicit account of who is providing those facts. Mr. Morgan is not really providing us with these story elements. He does an admirable job providing a good combination of scientific and economic evidence, both for and against the new EPA oversight. But exactly where those facts are coming from is unclear. For example, in the 10th paragraph, he lists some of the effects of high nutrient levels in Florida water systems, but does not say where who documented these phenomena, and more importantly, who is claiming a causal link between them and high nutrient levels. That being said, ... More »

A solid article. Mr. Arango provides a good variety of sources, from all sides of the debate; internet marketing associations, government regulators, academics, and a blogger. I only have two problems with the story. First, the response against the regulations from a law firm representing marketing groups representing companies that influenced blogger seemed canned and detached. Perhaps no company would go on record against these regulations. But I would have been nice to hear from a source that had a slightly more personal problem with the new rules. Secondly, I missed an account of how the FTC plans to enforce this new ruling. Certainly plans to control what bloggers say and how they say it is a huge regulatory undertaking.

Not the most balanced picture of the current debate to bail out Detroit. While Ms. Zagaroli does get a great number of sources for this article, some statements from groups who are unabashedly pro-bail out are quoted without a grain of salt. For example, the author writes, "Experts say ...failure of these companies could affect national security." But she then goes on to explain that the expert in question is a former MI Senator, and his argument is that bankrupt part suppliers may not be able to supply defense contractors; this scenario seems a few steps below a national security threat, as suggested in Ms. Zagaroli's summary. However, the fact that she included the full quote so that we could come to that conclusion is ... More »

Not the greatest piece of prose ever published, be a really nice succinct survey of the modern problems in mathematics, and a great collection of links to layman-grade sources of more information about these problems. If you know a math student who needs a pep-talk, this article will certainly do the trick. Math Rules!

A tongue-in-cheek blog post about the soon to be booming Woolly Mammoth marketplace. Certainly not straitlaced reporting, but it is well sourced, entertaining, and often times the cultural and technological developments that are a few years down the pipeline can only be reported as satire. I for one welcome our new woolly overlords.

This story should be of interest to every NewsTrust Sci/Tech reader; it deals with the very core of Scientific Journalism: how non-experts can responsibly summarize and report on the work of experts. While this article certainly does not take stock of this issue as a whole, it provides an excellent, in depth look at a particular case where one academic clashes with the politicization of her work. I especially love this piece because it ask the reader to consider both how political agendas might distort the work of scientists, and how the political agendas of scientists might cause them to guard their work against an interpretation with which they may not agree. I certainly find NARTH guilty of manipulation; but the fact this ... More »

This article does an admirable job of translating some of the more complex features of modern internet attack into a fast-reading news clip. It is important that some of the subtle, technical details of "tech news" be delivered in short, fast-reading news clips. But Mr. Markoff essentially re-hashes a press release from Arbor Networks, a company that makes money by selling software to combat this very problem. Not a very in-depth or well sourced account of a global problem. Check out the Washington Post for *much* better coverage of the botnet phenomenon, including the steps and potential oversteps being taken to combat it.

The articles written a year from now about the UN's Green Economy Initiative will be much more worthwhile, because there will be a story to write. Mr. Lean does a passable job re-hashing the UN's press release on the project, but this article contains few concrete details about the project, and does not acknowledge any possible difficulties a non-governmental organization may have implementing a global version of the New Deal.

A very short article on a very complex subject. However, I applaud the effort to delve beyond the attention grabbing numbers cited in the first paragraph, to explain how the study reached the conclusion it did. As always, I die a little inside when the result of complex quantitative model is summarized as 'Plan X will boost household income by $48 billion in 12 years.' But when it comes to journalism about science, beggars can't be choosers.

A fantastic story. On one hand, it cuts through the vague promise of electric cars and an petroleum independence to present the facts on projects that might lead to that goal, and the substantial obstacles that stand in the way of those projects. But at the same time, Mr. Mufson is the best kind of idealist. He points to the system obstacles in the way of electric cars, and asks a wide variety of smart people how to overcome them. A great jumping off point for anyone who wants to seriously consider how to make concrete progress towards energy independence in the United States.

The title of this article is misleadingly broad. This is a focused, balanced look at each candidate's plan to regulate carbon emission. Strikes a decent balance of breadth and depth, but is probably light on details for those with a science background. Of course, policy details are hard to come by during campaign season. This piece is worth a read for anyone looking to orients themselves between these two energy platforms.

Ominously, this article mixes hard facts with estimates and opinions, without emphasizing the differences between these sources of information. In paragraph 3, official government statistics are given on the number of grow sites and plants eradicated by the government. But the author pivots ambiguously from these facts about grow sites to speculation about the pollution caused by this activity. This interpolation between statistics and speculation happens several more times throughout the article. I am certainly not claiming that Ms. Cone is making up facts, or that marijuana production does not pollute. But this article gives the improper impression that this phenomenon is well-documented and quantified. In reality, it seems ... More »

This is an admirable piece of scientific journalism, because it attempts to report on findings that are not nearly conclusive. The author strikes an excellent balance between framing a dramatic set of scientific findings about ocean chemistry in an engaging way, while at also emphasizing the vast uncertainty around this topic. A breath of fresh air after the usual template for science journalism, which is a headline proclaiming "X% of Ys are Z!"

It is unclear what Janet Ritz is really adding to this story by re-hashing it, rather than simply linking to msnbc. This is certainly bad news for the Palin camp; a rebuke by the Federal Bureaucracy is no fun for any candidate, and perhaps that little gem of embarrassment was enough warrant a full article on Huffington Post. But I with the author had stuck her neck out a little further to put this in the larger context of the campaign: either as evidence that Palin tries to balance the competing demand of development and conservation, or that the McCain environmental policy is a sham. Such a neutral blog post, however well done, seems like a waste.

Wow! This is a model blog entry. It cites tons of sources, gives bunches of facts, yet is clean, crisp, and to the point. It's only weakness in on the balance side. While it gives a great link to a site that casts doubt on "clean coal" technology, giving those concerns a few sentences would have given them more impact for casual readers who are unlikely to follow the external links.

This article full of well-researched facts about a story that will necessarily be wrapped in speculation and rumor. I don't think it entirely succeeds in balancing the view of the McCain campaign, but makes a concerted effort to do so. This is an important piece to read if you hope to wrap you head around Palin-gate.

This story is a real non-starter. From the perspective of international politics, this is perhaps a big deal. As a science article, it is light on technical details, and there are no ecologists, engineers, or scientists of any kind cited. Consider reading this story if you are a big Central Asian Security Studies wonk. If not, pass.

Great article. This has great technical depth, but more importantly, it frames the technical details provided in the macroscopic world of the global internet, along with the government agencies and ISPs that make up its major players. It interviewed a wide range of experts to provide a larger technical context as well. The only weakness I can point to is that no one was interviewed from one of the network equipment companies or ISPs who would actually have to implement a fix.

This is a story about a research paper, nothing more. These stories absolutely have their place in science journalism; it is critical that technical, lengthy articles be summarized for consumption by the general public. But in a perfect world, the author would have got some background commentary from other scholars in the field, to give the reader some sense of where this result fits in political science today.

Overall, a well researched and concise account of Islam's complex relationship with Indonesian politics. The most engaging part of this article is the authors treatment of the political strategists behind the scenes of this transformation; there are fascinating parallels to be drawn with the place of religion in modern American politics.