Author: jlolds

Native Angeleno, professor of Neuroscience and Public Policy at George Mason University

Demographics shift to affect college admissions

Tomorrow’s NY Times suggests that higher education may be in for a big shift: less applicants.

Here’s the money quote:

Projections show that by next year or the year after, the annual number of high school graduates in the United States will peak at about 2.9 million after a 15-year climb. The number is then expected to decline until about 2015. Most universities expect this to translate into fewer applications and less selectivity, with most students likely finding it easier to get into college.

Mountain weather

Arrived in the mountains this morning. DC was rainy when we left, the mountain was actually warmer and sunny. But less than an hour later, it was white out conditions as a front blew through, now it’s clear again. Can’t really be bored by the weather on the Blue Ridge.

Yesterday at the Institute for Advanced Study we had a very interesting workshop considering biomimetics as a principle for thinking about designing applications and more importantly social behavior (think ant colonies). It was wonderful to see old friends and new friends sharing their latest ideas. Biology is a tremendous treasure trove of clues to the nature of the Universe. My friend and colleague Harold Morowitz believes that it may provide the most important clues.
So much for physics, except for the fact that all of biology is in fact physics operating at an incredibly complex level.
Jim

The Institute Advisory Board

Tomorrow the Institute’s Advisory Board will gather for its regular Spring meeting. These individuals play a crucial role in providing me with strategic advice. Even more importantly the board members have, through their gifts, made much of the scientific discovery at Krasnow possible.

And scientific discovery is ultimately the purpose of the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study. The other day I was tasked with creating a new Institute mission statement for the upcoming re- accreditation process whereby George Mason is reaffirmed as a university. That’s worth thinking very carefully about–because behind the words, there has to be something measurable. To my mind, this measurable thing has to be scientific discovery. That is the creation of new knowledge about the natural world within the context of “mind” research.
Tomorrow I’ll ask the Advisory Board to join me in the work of creating this new mission statement: one that places discovery at the central point of our work.
Jim

Big Tobacco Grant Money Drying Up?

A confusing story from the Chronicle suggests that Philip Morris is getting out of the extramural grant business. But towards the end of the piece it gets nuanced….

How the decision will affect many academic research projects was unclear, but one antitobacco crusader, Stanton Glantz, a bioengineer at the University of California at San Francisco, pointed out that tobacco money was not going away.

He cited the $6-million Philip Morris grant won by Edythe D. London, the researcher at the university’s Los Angeles campus whose home was flooded by animal-rights extremists in October and who was the target of a firebomb attack this month. Her grant was not awarded through the external-research program, Mr. Glantz told the magazine.

The question about these grant dollars is of course the same as taking money from the big drug companies: are they paying for a specific result?

Jim

Flu strikes blogger

Yes, the wonders of viral biology. I’ve been struck down for the past
few days, but also filled with respect. Max Delbruck worked on a really
wonderful organism.
If…problematical for us humans.

Jim

The Ice Storm Cometh


Another ice storm here in the Washington DC area. The last one, about a week ago produced complete chaos in the largest freeway interchange–so the rumor is this time they are ready with those trucks they use at airports to deice jets. Hmmm. I think I’ll stick with the surface streets.

More interestingly, NIH is out with a new plan to peer review grants. You can see the Chronicle’s take on it here. One questions how a new peer review plan can put a dent in what amounts to a slow collapse of research funding at the agency.

Jim

National Geographic on Animal Minds

In the spirit of the “Decade of the Mind” initiative that we are so invested in, here’s a very cool article in this month’s National Geographic on animal minds by Virginia Morell. Irene Pepperberg’s work is prominently mentioned.

I’ll remind readers that the third Decade of the Mind event will focus on how mind emerges in animals in May of this year at the Great Ape Trust.

Jim

Wikipedia versus its competitors

I’m very interested in the phenomenon of Wikipedia. Many times when Wikipedia comes up as a topic, I find that people are mystified by its democratic approach to editorial control. And of course competitors such as Scholarpedia view this characteristic as the antithesis of true peer review.

However, for many topics where I am able to spot check Wikipedia (in my own areas of expertise) more often than not, Wikipedia is close to spot on. That is articles are detailed, well referenced and cogent. And of course Wikipedia is huge. It’s got a head start (understatement) on its competition.

The question of course is: can I trust Wikipedia to give me close to accurate information in areas outside my expertise?

Jim