Do you know that Philadelphia’s water department was the first (1801) in America to supply an entire city with drinking water?

Water facts, water history, water resources: all the controversy about the environmental impacts of natural-gas drilling, as mentioned in previous entries, has me thinking about the local management history of one of our most precious, in-demand, and easily contaminated resources. While we may not be living directly on top of active natural-gas sites here in Philadelphia, the question posed above reflects the fact that the city has been juggling water-related issues for centuries. 

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F=1 in 1987

F=2. This odd-looking equation was the subject of FemaleScienceProfessor’s blog earlier this month, where F represents women sitting on a committee picked by a dean or chairperson. When F=2, that committee has not merely one but two women sitting on it. According to this blog post F=2 makes all the difference compared with F=1, which often denotes the 1 woman as the token woman. In science F=1 or even F=2 is still common—not just on committees. My own experiences as a chemistry major at a small liberal arts college were filled with F=1 classes. The concept of needing more women on a committee, in a department, in a classroom—the concept of critical mass—is one often discussed in the Women in Chemistry Oral History project.

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As program assistant for electronics and emerging technology, my main project is processing and digitizing Gordon Moore materials from his office at Intel Corporation. By reading his correspondence reports, presentations, and other materials that span 30 years, I have discovered that Dr. Moore cares not just for the success of his company. He is also concerned for the future of his field in electronics and technology and science in general. In the late 1980s and 1990s Dr. Moore lectured at educational conferences to promote science and math and urged teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. At one point he requested Intel employees to encourage their own children to take an interest in science.

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Food safety is again making headlines, with a flurry of recent articles focusing on E. coli and food safety. The FDA announced it would begin a joint effort with the USDA to develop new food-safety rules, as well as begin outreach efforts to the U.S. produce industry. And recently the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a list of the ten most “dangerous” foods (in terms of contamination), with leafy greens at the top of the list, and berries, tuna, and tomatoes implicated as well. (Interestingly, peanuts—which brought to light more food-safety issues earlier this year—didn’t make the list.) At home, handling, washing, and cooking—done properly—can rid produce and meat of most dangerous bacteria. But how can consumers be sure that bag of spinach they’re using doesn’t already carry E. coli inside?  And what about pre-made frozen dinners, and ground beef that may leave traces of bacteria in the kitchen even if handled safely?   Continue Reading »

On 28 September 2009 Norfolk Southern introduced their new all-electric switcher engine, dubbed the NS 999, and it’s getting a lot of press. This engine, which is a joint venture between the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Railroad Administration, and Penn State University, could be the future of rail freight. However, in most of the articles available there is nothing mentioned of how this new engine differs from prior ones. We need to take a look at what this engine does and what it means before we can get excited about seeing it cruising down the track.

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Giving a typhoid inoculation at a rural school, 1943

As the vaccine for H1N1 flu, more popularly known as swine flu, makes its way into the everyday lives of more people, the discussion about tensions between “science” and “society” have escalated, especially in the state of New York, where its Department of Health mandated that all health employees receive this vaccination along with the seasonal flu vaccination. Not surprisingly, there has been opposition by many of these employees. In the United States, where we all learn from the earliest age to declare our individual rights and to value our autonomy above all else, many workers have stated that this mandate clearly violates their First Amendment rights. At the same time, other stakeholders in this debate have also tried to shape the debate in various ways . . . and these ways matter.  Continue Reading »