Stories by Jason G. Goldman

This weekend saw a trip to the boardwalk and beach in Santa Monica. There are often sailboats out on weekends, and I was hoping to get some good shots with my new telephoto zoom lens.

I’m on Google+. After a couple days of playing with it, I haven’t quite identified what it is for, or at least how I’m going to use it differently from twitter or facebook, but so far I am generally impressed – it’s easy, intuitive, and fast.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. To start us off this week, Neuroskeptic discusses a new study that attempted to use a computer to translate therapists’ notes into psychiatric diagnoses.

The LA Zoo wasn’t always in as nice a facility as it is now. The “old” LA zoo was built in 1912 and was in use until 1965, when it moved to its current location just a couple miles away in a different area of Griffith Park.

A version of this post was originally published on my WordPress blog on March 15, 2010. Click the archives image to see the original post. Most animals, at some point in their day-to-day lives, face the same problem.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. Social hierarchies are pretty complicated to navigate…so why have them at all?

You’ve probably had a conversation that goes something like this: Person A: “My dog is sooooo amazing!” You: “I mean, dogs are awesome and all, but what’s so amazing about this particular dog?” Person A: “He just understands me.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. “Most neuroscientists would subscribe to the sensorimotor hypothesis, according to which brains mainly evaluate sensory input to compute motor output,” writes Bjorn Brembs.

Looking for a great Father’s Day gift? How about the gift of Open Lab? Get it for 20% off if you buy it by Monday, June 13. Click the graphic below to head straight to the Lulu page for the 2010 edition of The Open Laboratory.

Hopefully this here blog will get back into the regular rhythm of posting in a few days. Until then, enjoy these photos from Oakland, Portland, and Seattle.

Why write again what Bora has already written? The great science blog 3 Quarks Daily has announced the voting for it’s third annual prize for the best science writing on blogs.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. Snacking on fertilized duck eggs features prominently in the first editor’s selection for this week.

I was traveling last week, and I’m traveling again this week, so the posting is fairly sparse around here at least until after the weekend.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. You’re running down a corridor in a castle that’s under attack by terrorists.

Is this a difference in kind or in degree? Image: The earth comes into view just below Endeavour, as it undocks from the International Space Station.

Earlier this month, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California had its annual two-day open house. For a laboratory complex that has the same acreage as Disneyland, it was just as crowded as the House of Mouse on a busy summer day.

The always-fantastic blog 3 Quarks Daily has opened up nominations for its third annual prize in science blogging. This year, the contest will be judged by Lisa Randall, and there will be three winners.

“Nearly 50 percent of Americans have been mentally ill at some point in their lives, and more than a quarter have suffered from mental illness in the past twelve months.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. The first selection this week comes from Chad Orzel at Uncertain Principles.

Human infants have one important job during the first years of life, and that is to learn about the world and their culture from their parents and other caregivers.

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week. Are you an inattentive superhero? Bradley Voytek thinks so, and explains why in this fantastic post at Oscillatory Thoughts.

My latest piece for LAist just went up: Retail therapy: It’s the answer for almost any problem. Girlfriend broke up with you? Didn’t get that promotion?

Being a great science teacher is not so different from being a great science writer. You have to convince your audience to pay attention to you, rather than to the myriad other potential sources of entertainment and engagement out there.