Notices by Sheril Kirshenbaum (sheril@mastodon.social), page 2

My sweet pup's having surgery right now.

I wish we could have more time with our #dogs. We really don't deserve them.

I adore this comic by @elisegravel.

“So, yeah, YOU can be a scientist, too!” #science #art #education

Physicist Lise Meitner’s brilliance led to the discovery of nuclear fission. But her long time collaborator Otto Hahn, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry without her in 1944, even though she had given the first theoretical explanation.

Albert Einstein called Meitner “our Marie Curie." She also adamantly refused to work on the atomic bomb during WWII. https://whyy.org/articles/lise-meitner-the-forgotten-woman-of-nuclear-physics-who-deserved-a-nobel-prize/ #science #history

An observation on how #Mastodon is growing 👀

Over the past month, multiple journalists from top outlets have contacted me related to content I’ve shared.

While this was not uncommon on #Twitter when I was active there, it’s relatively new for me in the #fediverse. I suspect this suggests professional news outlets are becoming more comfortable here & posts have increasing impact. Good.

@Gargron good. I hope lots of folks buy merch to support admins!

Almost a month ago, the vet told me Happy, at 13.5yrs, was nearing liver failure. It was almost certainly cancer based on her bloodwork.

Here she is today, after many more vet visits, an overnight in the ER & 4 meds. Turns out it was a bacterial infection. She’s recovering & I highly recommend pet insurance.

I’m so grateful for more time with this very good girl. I also know that matter how many years we’re fortunate to have with our dogs & cats, it’s never going to be enough. #DogsOfMastodon

In case you need some delight in your day, it’s impossible not to smile at David Zinn’s latest sidewalk #art

Too many people I work with in policy describe the rise of misinformation as a dangerous new phenomenon.

Yes, social media has recently added countless new opportunities & dimensions, but circulating rumors & lies have been plaguing us for at least as long as we’ve been around to record them. Just look to the history of medicine or nutrition.

Humans believe & widely share all sorts of stories that aren’t true. It’s not new.

After witnessing a white doctor refuse to treat a sick, elderly Native American woman who later died, Susan La Flesche Picotte decided to become a physician to help her people. Born in 1865, she grew up on Nebraska’s Omaha reservation.

In 1889, Picotte became the first female Native American to earn a medical degree in the U.S. She raised funding & opened Wathill Hospital in 1913 - the first private hospital on a reservation. https://drsusancenter.org/dr-susan #HistoryRemix #history #science

The history of Earth as the length of a human’s outstretched arm - representing 4.5 billion years of time.

At this scale, humans emerged so recently that we could be filed off from a microscopic slice at the very tip of a fingernail.

Infographic by Katie Scott from original article in Nautilus. Details at https://ncse.ngo/deep-time-really-really-deep-man #space #time #science

Meat industry blocked the IPCC’s attempt to recommend a plant-based diet

“A leak of a draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on #ClimateChange (#IPCC) report..has been particularly enlightening when it comes to just how much how delegations negotiate, watered down & delete scientists’ findings.”

https://qz.com/ipcc-report-on-climate-change-meat-industry-1850261179 #science #food

Ben Barres was a trailblazing transgender neurobiologist who promoted equity & diversity.

His pioneering research on glial cells changed science & he became the 1st #trans person admitted into the National Academies of Science.

Barres was also a strong advocate for women, early career scientists & the #LGBTQ+ community at a time when few people openly discussed gender identity.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/12/28/mourning-ben-barres-the-transgender-scientist-who-changed-neuroscience/?sh=380fa19554bf

Excerpt from his autobiography: https://stanmed.stanford.edu/ben-barres-autobiography-transgender-scientist/ #history #HistoryRemix

One of my favorite animals is the very rare blanket octopus. Few people have seen them firsthand. https://youtu.be/QJcXMPJ9XN8

The female has a spectacular ‘cape’ enclosing her tentacles, which makes her look larger to predators. She can grow >6.5ft or 2m!

Meanwhile, the male is smaller than a walnut. He weighs 40,000x less than the female, measuring just 2.4cm.

Blanket octopus are the most extreme example of gender size discrepancy across the (non-mircoscopic) animal kingdom. #nature #science

Born in 1914, Hedy Lamarr was a famous American actress who pioneered the technology that would lead to WiFi, GPS, cell phones & Bluetooth communication.

Lamarr was brilliant. Among many fascinating inventions, she developed a new communication system with composer George Antheil that used “frequency hopping” among radio waves.

Once called the “most beautiful woman in the world," Lamarr is now remembered as "the mother of Wi-Fi."

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/thank-world-war-ii-era-film-star-your-wi-fi-180971584/ #science #history #HistoryRemix

Physicist John Tyndall is often credited with discovering the greenhouse effect, which he wrote about in 1859.

But female scientist Eunice Foote published a paper - 3 years earlier - demonstrating how atmospheric water vapor & CO2 affected solar heating. She theorized that heat trapping gases in Earth’s atmosphere warm its #climate.

Tyndall was widely read. And Foote, being a woman, wasn't even permitted to present her own work. https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/happy-200th-birthday-eunice-foote-hidden-climate-science-pioneer #history #science #ClimateChange

Rather than teach #science by compartmentalizing biology, chemistry, physics, etc., we should focus on systems thinking.

The world is interconnected - oceans, food, #climate, energy, health, security, biodiversity & on.

When more of us, all around the world, consider how the pieces fit together & influence each other, we’ll be better equipped to meet global challenges.

Book recommendation: https://donellameadows.org/systems-thinking-book-sale/ by the inspiring scholar Donella Meadows

The Arctic blast in the northeastern U.S.& Canada reminded me of this #ClimateChange comic from nearly a decade ago by @rosemarymosco of Bird and Moon Comics. https://rosemarymosco.com/ #weather

“If current trends continue, women & men will be equally represented in the field of biology in 2069. In physics, math & engineering, women should not expect to reach parity for more than a century.“

“The data show that women are systematically denied the chief currencies of scientific credit: publications & citations.”

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674919297&fbclid=IwAR1n_I15VP9IWil1uOoFjUwcxvrm_k9tKfxaAQExVUeaL7kYVGsB4b1zC9w&mibextid=Zxz2cZ #women #science #books

In the 1960s, the sugar industry funded its own research on the effects of sugar on health.

The results didn't look good - for them. Studies revealed a high-sugar diet may increase risks associated with heart attacks, strokes & certain cancers.

But... rather than share emerging findings, the study was curiously halted & the industry successfully shifted blame onto fats.

It took decades to widely link sugary diets to disease. It didn't have to. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/11/21/565766988/what-the-industry-knew-about-sugars-health-effects-but-didnt-tell-us #food #science

Fission is in the news, but few recognize that a woman physicist was behind the discovery.

Lise Meitner’s brilliance led to the discovery of nuclear fission. But her long time collaborator Otto Hahn, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry w/o her in 1944, even though she had given the first theoretical explanation.

Albert Einstein called Meitner “our Marie Curie." She also adamantly refused to work on the atomic bomb during WWII. https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201502/physicshistory.cfm #women #history #science #energy