Friday’s Elk, October 14, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings! It’s been a pretty busy week.

Last Saturday night, the Online News Association held their annual award ceremony in Washington. My “Game of Genomes” series for Stat won an award for explanatory reporting.

I couldn’t be there to accept it, but if I had been, I would have done so on behalf of the talented team who turned my obsession into a stylish piece of online journalism: my editor Jason Ukman; Stat’s multimedia guru Jeff Delviscio; Alissa Ambrose for visual editing; Molly Ferguson for the delightful illustrations; Dom Smith for the smart animations; the web masters Corey Taylor, Ryan DeBeasi, and Jim Reevior; Tony Guzman, the project manager; copy editor Sarah Mupo; and Stat’s fearless leader, Rick Berke. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 14, 2017” →

Genes for Skin Color Rebut Dated Notions of Race, Researchers Say

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, October 12, 2017

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For centuries, skin color has held powerful social meaning — a defining characteristic of race, and a starting point for racism.

“If you ask somebody on the street, ‘What are the main differences between races?,’ they’re going to say skin color,” said Sarah A. Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania.

On Thursday, Dr. Tishkoff and her colleagues showed this to be a profound error. In the journal Science, the researchers published the first large-scale study of the genetics of skin color in Africans.

Continue reading “Genes for Skin Color Rebut Dated Notions of Race, Researchers Say” →

Friday’s Elk, October 7, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

As regular readers of Friday’s Elk know, I’ve been chugging away for a couple years now on a book about heredity–its history and its future, what scientists have discovered about it and what it means to us all.

At last, I can share with you the cover of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: What Heredity Is, Is Not, and May Become. I wish I could say that this lovely image was my idea. But the jacket design is the work of Pete Garceau, and the art was created by Sandra Culliton. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 7, 2017” →

What’s a Science Reporter to Do When Sound Evidence Isn’t Sound?

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, October 6, 2017

Link

On Tuesday, Michael Mason, my editor on the science desk, shot me an email. Would I consider writing an article about “this sonic ‘attack’ business”?

I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had been vaguely puzzled about this business for months.

Earlier this year, my colleagues at The New York Times started to report on a medical mystery that has turned into an international standoff. American diplomats in Cuba have fallen ill with a variety of perplexing symptoms, including — reportedly — some that might denote mild brain injury.

Continue reading “What’s a Science Reporter to Do When Sound Evidence Isn’t Sound?” →

A ‘Sonic Attack’ on Diplomats in Cuba? These Scientists Doubt It

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, October 5, 2017

Link

A scientific enigma lies at the heart of a strange confrontation between the United States and Cuba.

According to the State Department, nearly two dozen diplomats at the American Embassy in Havana have been stricken with a variety of mysterious medical symptoms, including hearing loss and cognitive difficulties.

After concluding that staffers were the victims of a stealth attack, the department withdrew nonessential personnel from Havana and issued an advisory urging Americans not to visit. On Tuesday, the Trump administration expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from the United States.

Continue reading “A ‘Sonic Attack’ on Diplomats in Cuba? These Scientists Doubt It” →