A panel of marine scientists at a AAAS Annual Meeting press briefing warned that regional tuna populations are being depleted at a dangerous rate, due to population mismanagement and the national palate for juvenile tuna.

If nothing is done to reverse the trend, the 18 February 2008 panel said regional tuna populations may experience a collapse similar to the Atlantic cod -- a favorite dish in Boston, once considered cheap and plentiful, that “shaped the economy of whole nations.”

“We will never know more about a fish than we knew about the Atlantic cod, yet their populations still collapsed,” said Daniel Pauly, a researcher at the University of British Columbia. “We need to make sure the same thing does not happen with tuna.”

For more information, read the full story.

The AIDS epidemic is far from over, but the fight against the disease has entered a new phase that could contribute to healthier communities around the world if handled properly, experts said at the final plenary session of the AAAS Annual Meeting.

AIDS is the number one cause of death in Africa and the seventh largest cause of death worldwide, and places like Eastern Europe, Vietnam and China are the latest hotspots in the epidemic, said Peter Piot, executive director for UNAIDS and under-secretary general of the United Nations. He called AIDS "the make or break issue of our times."

For more information, read the full story.

Whole communities, not individuals, should be the targets for understanding and combating childhood obesity across the globe, researchers agreed at a special town hall forum at the AAAS Annual Meeting.

The forum speakers said the childhood obesity epidemic is really twin epidemics of poor nutrition and diminishing physical activity, driven by powerful economic and cultural forces. As the scientists reported, children will lose the  battle against these pervasive forces unless they have the support of their schools, families and towns.

"We have to change the environment so it's simple for kids to make a healthy choice," said Steven Gortmaker, director of the Harvard Prevention Research Center.

For more information, read the full story.

Listen and learn more from the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting: You can hear from young science explorers who participated in Family Science Days over the weekend, and listen to ScienceNOW editor David Grimm talk about what it's like to cover the meeting on the Science magazine blog, Findings, in a series of Science podcasts here, along with coverage of researchers working on a sustainable bioeconomy. The Findings blog also probes the psychological disconnect between what you anticipate and what really happens, while AAAS radio program Science Update talks to a UCLA researcher about the link between ultrafine air pollution particles and heart disease.

In a AAAS Annual Meeting plenary, Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of One Laptop per Child (OLPC), detailed how he transformed a desire to provide access to learning into a successful non-profit organization providing low-cost computers to children in the developing world.

At its core, Negroponte said during his 17 February 2008 address, One Laptop per Child uses technology to foster in children a desire to learn and attend school by making education both interesting and useful.

For more information, read the full story.

The final day of the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston opens with a 8:00 a.m. salon-style plenary on global health challenges moderated by AAAS President David Baltimore.

The panel will feature Jim Young Kim, MD, director of the Francois Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University; Peter Piot, MD, executive director of the UNAIDS program; and Timothy Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund.

Beginning at 9:15, the final symposia include presentations on a possible link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease, new strategies for protecting tuna populations, and the evolving definition of a planet.

A call for symposia proposals is underway for the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting, with the theme of "Our Planet and Its Life: Origins and Futures," which will convene 12-16 February 2009. See you in Chicago!

For more information, read the full story.

Speaking at a AAAS Annual Meeting press briefing on 17 February 2008, a panel of researchers said air pollution could lead to the hardening of arteries – atherosclerosis – with an impact similar to smoking.

While the results remain preliminary, the researchers said small-particles air pollutants, including gasoline and diesel exhaust, appear to cause increased plaque production in vascular systems of studied mice.

For more information, read the full story.

To learn more about the solar system’s formation and the potential for extraterrestrial life, speakers in an AAAS Annual Meeting press briefing said debating what makes a planet is not as important as finding bodies that have planet-like characteristics.

At the 17 February 2008 briefing, Michael Meyer, an associate professor and astronomer at the University of Arizona, cited a paper he authored in the 1 February issue of The Astrophysics Journal in which he estimates between 20 and 60 percent of stars contain rocky planets similar to Earth around them.

These rocky planets, he said, might contain the necessary conditions to support life.

“I do not know exactly what a planet is, nor am I interested in a precise definition,” Meyer said. “I am much more interested in finding the characteristics of bodies in space.”

For more information, read the full story.

Findings, the Science magazine news blog, lives up to its name this week with reports on research presented at the 2008 AAAS annual meeting on pesticide mixtures' impact on salmon and satellites aiding human rights efforts,  and podcasts on emerging chemical contaminants, the evolution of morality, and the engineering challenges of the 21st century.  But the blog also moves beyond the sessions to single out faces in the crowd for attendee interviews; lets you listen in on a cocktail hour conversation about historic figures in the Royal Society, which celebrates its 350th anniversary in 2010; and tells you five more things you didn't know, this time about AAAS president-elect and climate scientist James McCarthy. Meanwhile, the AAAS radio program Science Update is reporting on the impact climate change may have on reintroducing predators to the Antarctic.

The world needs more science diplomats who can lend their expertise and passion to solving global problems of environmental degradation and poverty in developing nations, said Nina Fedoroff in her AAAS plenary address on 16 February 2008.

Fedoroff, science and technology adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State and adviser to the Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said scientists are already roused to work on these problems, but may be paralyzed by the thought that they have nothing to contribute. (See a video of the plenary address.)

For more information, read the full story.

Science and technology advisers to the U.S. presidential campaigns of Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama outlined their candidates' S&T plans and took questions from a standing-room-only audience at the AAAS Annual Meeting on 16 February 2008.

For more information, read the full story.

A free town hall-style event on understanding obesity and childhood nutrition at 1:15 p.m. will bring teachers, students, public health professional, and scientists to the Boston Marriott Copley Place. The event will cover key topics including childhood nutrition worldwide, nutrition instruction in the K-12 science curriculum, and finding time for exercise.

Invited participants include: Boston Mayor Thomas Menino; Sally Squires, Washington Post health reporter; Mark Fenton, PBS host of “America’s Walking;” and Virginia Stallings, MD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

This special event—planned under the auspices of the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology—is free and open to the public as well as all AAAS Annual Meeting registrants.

At 6:30 p.m., Nicholas Negroponte, chairman and founder of One Laptop per Child, will deliver a plenary address also in the Boston Marriot. Negroponte’s non-profit association was launched in 2005 to provide low-cost laptops and Internet access to poor children in developing countries. A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he has provided start-up funds for more than 40 companies, including Wired Magazine.

At AAAS Family Science Days, children could discover the science behind the “walking the dog” Yo-Yo trick, explore underwater earthquakes and tsunamis through Second Life, and learn how racecar drivers use science to cross the finish line first.

But perhaps the most inventive display at Family Science Days – which ran 16-17 February 2008 at the AAAS Annual Meeting -- was an exhibit with two machines dispensing candy and lemonade. These were not your average vending equipment. They were Rube Goldberg Machines designed by four aspiring engineers in the Science Club for Girls.

For more information, read the full story.

Speakers at a 16 February press briefing at the AAAS Annual Meeting weren't sure when we would see laptops in baseball dugouts, but explained teams are increasingly relying on advanced statistics to evaluate player performance.

While the use of advanced statistics in baseball--also known as sabrmetrics--is not new, the panel said teams will soon be using them to evaluate overall defensive talent, fielding range, and managerial strategies.

“Fielding is a very important part of a player's performance, but it poses challenges if you want to statistically compare or model players,” said Shane Jensen, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. “The defensive statistics are just not as apparent as counting home runs, hits, or runs.”

At the Women and Minorities in Science Networking Breakfast at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting, attendees were introduced to a collection of inspiring stories from famous and not-so-famous "remarkable women" researchers.

Published by the AAAS/Science Business Office, the booklet "Beating the Odds: Remarkable Women in Science" shares the secrets of women who juggle family and career, make their careers in industry and share their love of research with their communities, explained Science commercial editor Sean Sanders, who helped compile the volume. The booklet was created in partnership with the L'Oreal Foundation, which also supports the L'Oreal USA Fellowships for Women in Science program administered by AAAS.

The world faces a shortage of "atomic detectives" that can trace smuggled nuclear materials and advise decision makers on the critical steps to take after a nuclear explosion, according to a new report by AAAS and the American Physical Society (APS).

Michael May, head of the panel that wrote the report, outlined its conclusions 16 February at a symposium and news briefing at the AAAS Annual Meeting. Filling the nearly-empty pipeline of nuclear forensic researchers should be a priority for the United States, he said.

For more information, read the full story.

Virtual children--life-size animations--are being used to help high-functioning autistic children learn social interaction skills, according to research released at the AAAS Annual Meeting yesterday, 15 February. As a virtual participant in the meeting, you have two chances to listen to new media technologist Justine Cassell describe her findings: on the Science Update radio program's podcast, and Science magazine's podcast. Writers at Findings, the Science magazine news blog, let you tag along virtually as they wander the exhibit halls, where magnets drew them into the booth of the International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor, and the meeting sessions, where they describe new findings about lace coral invading shallow waters around the world in an unusual evolutionary move.

When Jennifer Walz was a biomedical engineering undergraduate at the City College of New York (CUNY), a professor told her that her disability, epilepsy, would prevent her from becoming a scientist.

“He told me I should be a housewife,” Walz said a 15 February 2008 luncheon at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

Walz ended up proving him wrong in 2007 by graduating Valedictorian from the CUNY Grove School of Engineering.  She is now a Ph.D. student working at Columbia University’s Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing.

“I did not think I had a disability, but only that I had some challenges,” said Walz, who often wears sunglasses and has to adjust her work schedule to accommodate tiredness in the morning.

Walz spoke alongside six other ENTRY POINT! Alumni at the luncheon filled with local high school students, sponsoring organizations, university administrators.

For more information, read the full story.

The AAAS/Science Careers Facebook Meet was the place to be seen late Friday, 15 February, where more than 90 young scientists gathered for food and refreshments, along with light talk about Ph.D. research and getting your first peer-reviewed article published.

Many of the attendees -- undergraduates, 20-somethings, post-docs, and those a bit older -- were members of Facebook groups set up by AAAS and Science Careers last year.

Through Facebook, an online social networking program, the young scientists are able to post questions, professionally and socially network, upload images, play games, and give each other tips on techniques, such as how to solve organic chemistry problems.

“It is really important to bring young people into the scientific community,” said Science Careers’s Jose Fernandez, who created the Science Careers Facebook page in June 2007. “It allows them to network with people like them and learn about resources to help them succeed.”

For more information, read the full story.

People in the developing world are bearing the brunt of global climate change, and require assistance from the developed world to adapt to deteriorating conditions. But so far, research initiatives lag behind what is needed to provide the necessary resilience, according to Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin, who delivered the 15 February 2008 plenary lecture at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

The third day of the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting starts early with a breakfast for women and minorities in science, the 2008 Fellows Forum, and a symposium on baseball statistics that will show why Red Sox player Coco Crisp is a better fielder than Yankee Derek Jeter.

At 10:00 a.m., the exhibit hall opens on the second level of the Hynes Convention Center. Registrants there can visit booths from the European Commission, Subaru, AAAS Science and Policy Programs, Island Press, Science, and more.

Right next door, the Science Career fair will bring meeting participants together with recruiters from organizations including Canon, Clark & Elbing, Vertex, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

From 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. today and Sunday, Family Science Days will feature lab demonstrations that show the fun of science, kid-friendly chemistry projects and other intriguing events. Exhibits include a look at the science behind Yo-Yos, weather making, and robots, and lasers.

At 6:30 p.m. this evening, Nina Fedoroff, science and technology advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will deliver a plenary address about science in the developing world.

Although competition between countries for talented science and technology workers and S&T industry is "good, natural and healthy," international cooperation between researchers should be encouraged strongly because it helps all nations get the most out of the S&T enterprise, said panelists at a 15 February topical lecture at the AAAS Annual Meeting.

For more information, read the full story.

Our fellow bloggers at Science magazine's Findings blog have been listening to scientists consider what the world would be like without advances in engineering, how fieldwork with tsunami survivors affected a sociologist researching them, and when it's right to be wrong--in this case, on research about poverty's impact on brain development. But you can do your own listening from the hallways of the AAAS Annual Meeting today, 15 February, by checking out the Science podcasts, including an interview with Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Whether talking about climate change research or fruit fly genetics, scientists face many opportunities to share their knowledge and research with public audiences--in lectures, media interviews, school visits and public presentations--but communication skills are rarely part of their traditional training. Now a new Web site and series of regional training workshops, launched at the AAAS Annual Meeting on 15 February by the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, respond to this need in science communications with a wide variety of resources. Scientists, journalists, public information officers and other meeting participants heard about the issue, and the new resources, in a special workshop held earlier today.

For more information, read the full story.

If you think you know Rwanda, challenged by poverty and linked with recent genocide in the public mind, consider this: 96 percent of its primary-school-age children receive a free education. More than 600,000 of its people are mobile phone subscribers. And by the year 2012, its government hopes to invest five percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on building its science and technology capacity, surpassing similar spending by the United States, said Rwandan President Paul Kagame in a plenary address before the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting.

Listen to the Science podcast.

For more information, read the full story.

Researchers looking for ways to prevent cancer are reaching back toward older drugs and newer screening technology -- and may find a excellent ally in the common multivitamin, said speakers Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting.

For more information, read the full story.

At a news briefing Friday, Feb. 15, 2008, researchers said impoverished conditions early in life could have dramatic effects on the brain’s development and function.

Children who grow up in environments with family stress, negative social and environmental characteristics, and little cognitive stimulation may not fully develop brain areas critical for learning, memory, and language abilities, the panel said.

Because poverty is generally associated with lower performance on many cognitive diagnostics, the researchers said poverty “presumably plays a role in the persistence of poverty across generations.”

For more information, read the full story.

BOSTON--David Baltimore spent part of his AAAS presidential year crossing continents, taking on the role of AAAS ambassador as the organization embarked on a yearlong exploration of science as a global enterprise. And after seeing one of his articles edited in a modern glass tower in India and visiting revitalized science institutes in Rwanda, the Nobel laureate is convinced that developing countries need to start slow, grow small, and protect academic freedom to have the best chance at building science and technology capacity.

In his Presidential Address at the 2008 Annual Meeting on Thursday, Baltimore announced his five rules for international academic development, inspired by his travels and informed by his own career accomplishments at places such as the California Institute of Technology and Rockefeller University.

For more information, read the full story.

Eleven journalists have been selected to receive the AAAS Science Journalism Awards for excellence in reporting scientific news in newspapers, magazines, television, radio, online and children's media. The winners represent media outlets ranging from the Los Angeles Times to Scholastic Science World, covering topics that include altered oceans and mysterious elk deaths.

"Informed reporting is essential if the public is to remain engaged with the crucial science issues of the day," said Alan I. Leshner, the AAAS Chief Executive Officer and Executive Publisher of the journal Science. "The awards this year honor truly excellent work, both in national media and in some enterprising local outlets."

For more information, read the full story.

Covering over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and threatened by pollution and climate change, oceans will be the big topic when the second day of the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting opens.

At 8:30, participants in the Managing Threats to Marine Ecosystems seminar series will hear from scientists who've created the first-ever global atlas of human effects on the world’s oceans. Released yesterday at a press briefing, the atlas shows areas most affected by humans as well as those that remain untouched. In addition, there are morning symposia on deep-sea corals and ocean acidification.

From 2:00 to 4:00, National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation: Science Friday will be broadcasting live in the Grand Ballroom on the second floor of the Sheraton Boston.

For more information, read the full story.

“I guess you usually see spiders on Halloween, but, happy Valentine's Day!” said Greta Binford, as she showed a picture of a spider surrounded by a big, pink heart.

Binford, also known as the ‘real-life spiderwoman’ for her work on spider venom, mesmerized more than 300 local students and teachers during AAAS Public Science Day. The 14 February event was sponsored by local colleges to bring students face to face with scientists here at the AAAS Annual Meeting.

For more information, read the full story.

James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has been named to receive the AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award during the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass., for speaking forcefully about human influence on global climate despite pressure to alter his message.

A familiar and determined voice in the ongoing national conversation about climate change, Hansen’s award citation credits him for “his outspoken advocacy on behalf of scientists’ responsibilities to communicate openly and honestly with the public on matters of importance to their health and welfare.

Read more about Hansen’s award.

A new atlas of the world's oceans reveals that human activities have strongly impacted approximately 40 percent of the area and have left only about four percent relatively pristine. The most highly affected regions include the eastern Caribbean, the North Sea, and Japanese waters, and the least affected ones are around the poles, according to the new results.

The high-resolution, global map, which is the first of its kind, was released today at the AAAS Annual Meeting, and it will appear in the 15 February 2008 issue of the journal Science.

For more detail, read the full story.

Findings, the Science magazine news blog, has launched its coverage of the AAAS annual meeting. You'll find breaking news, news from the meeting and fun facts, the editors say, starting with insights from AAAS President David Baltimore from this morning's press breakfast and five things you didn't know about James Hansen, winner of the AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. And Science Update, the AAAS science radio program, also is podcasting from the meeting.  We bring you both of their initial reports from Boston, and will be highlighting their coverage throughout the five-day meeting.

For more information, read the full story.

The 2007 AAAS International Scientific Cooperation Award goes to climate scientist Robert Watson, chair of environmental science and science director of the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, U.K. Watson was cited for his outstanding contributions toward promoting international scientific cooperation in scientific research, communication, and training, and his work on environmental and sustainable development. Watson also holds the position of chief scientific adviser to the United Kingdom's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"Dr. Robert Watson has been for a decade the world's foremost promoter of international scientific cooperation," wrote John A. Daly, a consultant on issues of technology and science for developing countries, who nominated Watson for the AAAS award. "His efforts chairing panels of thousands of scientists who described and documented our current environmental crisis have been unparalleled and have contributed greatly to the consensus on the nature of that crisis."

For more information, read the full story.

For his outstanding contributions to science and its use in the shaping of public policy, Burton Richter, a Nobel laureate in physics and former director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, has been awarded the 2007 Philip Hauge Abelson Prize.The prize selection committee praised Richter for "his world-class contributions to research, successful management of a leading scientific laboratory, and his unrelenting work (much of it behind the scenes) on behalf of science and its responsible use in shaping public policy."

For more information, read the full story.

Fourteen colleges and universities have been recognized for outstanding undergraduate research programs by the Merck/AAAS Undergraduate Research Program. The awards support research stipends for undergraduate students and ancillary programs that encourage research collaborations between biology and chemistry departments.

The program is open to institutions in the United States and Puerto Rico that offer an American Chemical Society-approved program in chemistry and confer 10 or fewer graduate degrees annually in biology and chemistry combined.

For more information, read the full story.

Four authors and an illustrator of children’s science books have won the 2008 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, a prize intended to promote science literacy by drawing attention to the importance of good science writing and illustration. AAAS and Subaru co-sponsor these prizes for recently published works that are scientifically sound and foster an understanding and appreciation of science in readers of all ages.

For more information, read the full story.

Six science teachers have won the 2008 AAAS/Subaru Essay Writing Competition for their essays on designing science lesson plans and integrating technology in the classroom.

The competition, announced at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass., recognized four first-prize and two honorable-mention teachers for their wealth of knowledge about bringing innovative science into the classroom.

For more information, read the full story.

Pop quiz! Where in Boston can you find a real-life spiderwoman, the President of Rwanda, an exhibit on how to make snowstorms, and a behind-the-scenes look at how science will help the winner of Sunday’s Daytona 500 capture the checkered flag, all under one roof?

Answer: The 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston’s Hynes Convention Center!

For five days, science will be on full display at the 174th annual meeting of AAAS – the American Association for the Advancement of Science – attracting throngs of researchers, reporters, teachers, students, and parents with cutting-edge symposia, breaking news briefings, and free, hands-on exhibits.

Today at 12:30 p.m., participants in the AAAS Public Science Day will meet Greta Binford, an assistant professor of biology who earned the nickname of ‘real-life spiderwoman’ for her research on spider venom and silk.

While children will be busy with the crawling, eight-legged critters, journalists will be attending briefings with breaking news on the safety of cloned foods, new ocean mapping, and deep-sea corals at risk.

Tonight, David Baltimore will officially jump-start the meeting, titled “Science and Technology from a Global Perspective,” with his president’s address and reception. Joining him will be His Excellency Paul Kagame, president of Republic of Rwanda, who will talk about promoting science in the developing world.

The meeting opened today and runs through Monday, 18 February.

For more information, read the full story.

Carlos Castillo Chavez, a professor of mathematics, statistics and life sciences at Arizona State University, is being honored by AAAS for his efforts to help underrepresented students earn doctoral degrees in the sciences.
 
Chavez will receive the 2007 AAAS Mentor Award during a 16 February 2008 ceremony at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.
 

For more information, read the full text

AAAS has named astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, as winner of the 2007 AAAS Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award.

Tyson was cited for his passionate commitment, sustained excellence, and dynamic leadership in engaging the public in the frontiers of science. He will receive the award during a 16 February ceremony at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

For more information, read the full story.

From lectures by science luminaries, to Family Science Days, plus appearances by His Excellency Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda as well as real-life "Spiderwoman" Greta Binford of Lewis & Clark College, the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting promises something for everyone with a curious mind.

The 2008 AAAS Meeting features an array of free events intended to engage the public with science, technology, and engineering, including a town hall style event on "Understanding Obesity and Childhood Nutrition." Set for 14-18 February in Boston, Mass., this year's conference offers an all-star lineup of plenary and topical speakers, two free Family Science Days, a Public Science Day event, and more.

Get general information on this year's AAAS Meeting.

Read the full article for details on free events.

By late January, advance press registration for the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass., was the largest yet, suggesting that last year's record-high for press coverage of America's largest general science conference could potentially be surpassed this year. The 2008 Meeting thus promises to again help convey an array of breaking research news to the public—a core goal given the Association's non-profit mission to advance science, technology, and engineering worldwide for the benefit of all people.

The AAAS Annual Meeting—set for 14-18 February, 2008—is expected to draw some 9,000 or more attendees from 60 countries to explore "Science and Technology from a Global Perspective." This theme, set by AAAS President and Nobel laureate David Baltimore, is especially timely as some 33 million people now live with HIV/AIDS, many children worldwide suffer from malnutrition, and another 22 million under the age of five are overweight. Baltimore serves as the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology and President Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology.

Find free public events at the AAAS Meeting here.

Read more about the 2008 Meeting here.