Posts

Rethinking Communication- Ranchers, Beef Industry

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I'm in Denver, CO, my flight is delayed, and I'm feeling exhausted.  I really want to go home and I'm absolutely sick of traveling. But it is so worth it.  Every week I look at the calendar with dread, but after every trip I'm grateful for the opportunity, and glad to meet so many wonderful people.  I was able to attend the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Communicators Conference and it was an amazing morning.  It was a small meeting of industry reps, producers and retailers.  The central theme was the idea of sustainability-- a fuzzy term in many respects.  We sometimes have a hard time defining it, but we know it when we see it.   I don't think this kind of thing would have happened even five years ago.  The need for precise, honest and consistent messaging around the things ag does well has never been more important. Now farmers, ranchers, and associated industries are stepping into it, impressively.  Really sweet to meet such wonderful profes

The Misleading and Deceitful Ways of US-RTK

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If you are unsure about genetic engineering or believe that food science is dangerous, please read the following.  If you think scientists are paid dupes of industry and activists aren't, you see it is exactly the other way around.  If you think US-RTK or the Organic Consumers Association are honest peddlers of the truth, please read objectively and reach out if you have any questions.  This is important.  Take it on with an open mind, and ask yourself, "Who is lying to me?"  Thanks.  Conventional wisdom says that when someone is aggressively spreading false information about you, it is best to just let it slide.  People are smart enough to figure it out, so just keep doing good work and let that speak for itself.  That's pretty much how I've been handling the inane criticism from US-RTK, Thacker, GM Watch and the rest of the web's libel artists.  Why respond?  Does anyone really care what they say?  Not really.  Their hate speech and falsehoods get a handf

The Rats that Kill

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How can a scientific paper have a body count?  When it successfully maligns a technology and influences policy decisions. Looking back five years now at Seralini et al., 2012, a paper that instilled fear, influenced policy, and permanently shapes public opinion on the internet-- despite never being replicated or expanded. Here is my discussion on Medium.

Talking Biotech 100

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In the 100th episode of Talking Biotech Podcast Chis Barbey interviews me about my research, outreach, scicomm and next steps.  Click Here to Listen

Cosmic Plumber Nixed from Biohacking Conference

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Agricultural Alchemist and Cosmic Plumber Nixed from Scientific Conference  Kudos to the science fans that raised awareness of David Avocado Wolfe being invited to address a scientific conference.  The Biohacker Conference in Helsinki removed him from the proceedings after a substantial outcry by science enthusiasts in social media.  Wow!  Special shout out to @Sarah_Zhr and Sebastian Cocioba for bringing this to my attention! This is an example of the need for continued surveillance. Charlatans are invited to scientific events either by accident or because they create their own sections of the conference and organizers don't notice.  Keep paying attention to the lineups of such events. Keep in mind that they never invite scientists to pseudoscience events, so we should never invite pseudoscientists to a scientific event! Nice work, science community.  More about what happened here . 

TB98- Cats! Domestication and Radiation

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Domestic cats evolved from wild cats that found utility in human association.  They would benefit from protecting stored human food from rodents, and humans benefited from their grain stores remaining unmolested.  This week's podcast speaks with Prof. Eva-Maria Geigl from the Jaques Monod Institute and the University of Paris Diderot.  She is part of a team that has examined the DNA isolated from the mummified remains of cats, and draws important conclusions about their evolution and history.   

Triscuit - That's One Insulting Commercial

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I actually did a spit take last night, snirked a perfectly good vodka tonic out my nose. It was induced by a Triscuit commercial .  The new Triscuit commercial extols that it is now "non-genetically modified"-- which it never was, as there is no GM wheat It is the familiar deceptive advertising that caters to fear to make a buck, and shame on Triscuit and Nabisco for doing that.  Yes, they'll sell a few more crackers to science-fearing conspiradorks, but they also propagate fear of food, vilify farmers and pass higher prices onto the poor.  The commercial ends with the actress saying, "I'm not genetically modified."  Someone better notify the vegetative propagule she budded off of.  She probably is a genetic amalgam, a hybrid of mom and dad, two genomes slammed together in unprecedented ways. That's a pretty radical genetic modification!  But this is not about science, this is about fear mongering to sell a product.  There is no GE wheat,