Alec Toufexis

agt9@geneseo.edu

INTD105-19 Scientific Writing

3D Printed Bones

Cassie Martin demonstrates her ability to write an effective public-facing science article in her piece, “Superflexible, 3D Printed Bones Trigger New Growth”.  Her article expresses a very relevant topic that may intrigue both experts in the medical field and those who are less knowledgable with the subject. The concise nature of the article gets straight to the point that this new material can pose a number of advantages over the traditional natural bone grafting material. The fact that the article delves into the main points keeps the reader from getting confused or distracted by unnecessary verbiage. The author also references to the inventor of the material and the constituents that make it up. She seems well read on this material and this acts as a way to fortify her credibility with the audience. Also, to make the article more noteworthy, she adds effective videos that demonstrate the flexibility and strength of the material.  Actually seeing the material in action is a good way to draw the audiences attention. The author also gives a relevant finding in an actual experiment with a monkey and how the material integrated new bone into its skull within a few months. The experiment acts as proof that the material is effective. Overall the article gives the audience the impression that this new material is an important innovation that can make the bone healing process less grueling and less expensive than traditional methods.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/superflexible-3-d-printed-%E2%80%9Cbones%E2%80%9D-trigger-new-growth?tgt=nr

Mike Emanuele    10/16/16

INTD 105-19: Scientific Writing 220 words

The Importance of a public facing science writing piece is to convey an event in the science community to the members outside it. Science writing authors can interpret lab reports of data and discoveries inside the scientific world, into translation for the general public. “Unusual bird-human partnership runs even deeper than scientists thought” by  Elizabeth Pennisi is an exceptional example of public facing science writing. The article discusses the mutual relationship between African honey hunters and the breed of bird “the greater honey guide.” According to the article, the honey hunters make special bird calls, resembling a trill grunt, that in response to the call these birds will guide the hunters to nests. The article continues by providing the results of experimentation and anecdotes from several researchers to support its claim. This helps readers understand the substance of the results.

What the article fails at is connecting the “why is this important to us” idea. It only briefly wrapped it up in a sentence. However, some readers could use their imagination as to what could come of the findings. But, I believe the author could include at least a few ideas within reason considering her resources and time invested into the subject. Otherwise, the piece successfully explains to the reader a science experiment simple enough for large portion of readers to understand it.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/07/unusual-bird-human-partnership-runs-even-deeper-scientists-thought

Patrick Jones                                                               Approximately 250 words

pwj2@geneseo.edu

INTD 105-19

Two Factors of Public-Facing Science Writing

There are two factors that make a piece of public-facing science writing good, and “Why a goat may stare at you with puppy dog eyes” by Nsikan Akpan is a great example of these two factors. Firstly, a good piece of public-facing science writing has to build integrity and data without losing the readers. Science writing can often get confusing and complicated due to the need to introduce multiple sources and figures, but most of the public doesn’t have the background knowledge or patience to read through paragraphs of numbers and results. Akpan does a great job of integrating important facts and figures without getting too confusing. For example, Akpan wrote, “The farm animals typically made eye contact within 20 seconds when the researchers faced forward, but then waited six times as long when the researchers had their backs turned.” Within this one line Akpan was able to share the results of the experiment without losing the attention of the reader. The second factor is the information must affect or interest a large group the public. For example, Akpan uses a quote by Narworth that says, “We are interested in the exact purpose of this human-directed behavior, for instance, if they use it as a direct request for help from humans,” which connects the experiment to a large group of animal loving readers by allowing the reader to think about how this information could change the relationship between humans and domesticated animals. By incorporating these two factors, Akpan’s piece qualifies as a good example of public-facing science writing.

Justin D’Souza                                                                                         250 Words       INTD 105 Science Writing

A good public facing piece of science writing must convey many facets of a topic, such as its significance to the reader, data, and summarize rigorous studies into layman’s terms. The article “Malaria drug causes brain damage that mimics PTSD: case study” by Patricia Kime does a good job of fulfilling these requirements. The article gives insight into a serious issue, that a drug “mefloquine,” used by the US Army to help Malaria victims, may in fact lead to symptoms normally characteristic to PTSD, such as rage, anxiety, and other cognitive issues. The article effectively establishes the significance of this by giving an anecdote about a soldier who was unable to take care of his family due to the side effects, allowing readers to grasp that this drug issue is a problem.

The article also does a good job of summarizing studies looking at this drug. The author recognizes that the case study that produced the example of the solider and his family was one “snapshot” and not everyone might experience the same results. But they analyze more in depth studies and reveal that such problems with the drug have been noted before. This allows the reader to understand that this issue is not a fluke but something more serious and real.

The article did not use much technical language and instead relied on easy to understand numbers and timelines of events to convey information, allowing it to educate a broader audience on the issue.

http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/08/11/malaria-drug-causes-permanent-brain-damage-case-study/88528568/

Rachael Natoli                                                                                                  10/15/16

INTD 105-19: Scientific Writing                                         About 230 Words

“Why a Goat May Stare at You With Puppy Dog Eyes” by Nsikan Akpan is a very good example of public facing science writing. It explains the topic clearly and simply to a an audience who possibly would not understand and or is not interested in hearing every piece of evidence about the subject that was studied. Including a lot of data can bog down an article making it an arduous task to read and difficult comprehend to the general public, even if the topic in general interests them. A good piece of public facing writing must teach the reader about the research generally and compellingly while also explaining why the experiment or finding is important to the reader and how it may affect them in the future. In this article specifically, enough but not too much complex information is included about an experiment in which goats are trained to do a task and then when the same task is made more difficult the goat would look into the eyes of the human in the room. The researchers seem to believe this eye contact is a form of animal to human communication. The article then goes on to explain why this response of eye contact is unique and important because it is rarely seen in undomesticated animals; they wonder if the animal is requesting help from the humans. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/why-a-goat-may-stare-at-you-with-puppy-dog-eyes/

Matt Klein                                                            approximately 150 words

mgk6@geneseo.edu

INTD 105-19: Science Writing

Potential Skepticism About the Role of the Arboretum

By Matt Klein

In my essay, I argue that Geneseo Arboretum can be considered both sublime and a frontier, but with definitions slightly different from Cronon’s. In the context of my essay, how much of a frontier a wilderness is defined by its separation and distance from human society, and the sublime describes how well the wilderness invokes feelings of wonder and awe. Skeptics could disagree with both of my classifications of the Arboretum. I argue that the Arboretum is a remote part of campus, but since it is a part of the campus one could assert that it is much closer to home than what we usually perceive as wilderness. As for the sublime, the Arboretum is not much different from the woods around us; one could claim that it lacks the sublimity of more impressive landscapes such as large mountains and valleys.

The significance of my essay is in proving the importance of the Arboretum. Cronon believes that the importance we give nature is false because it is actually all around us. I argue that the Arboretum, despite being part of a wild that surrounds us, can still provide an escape from society that Cronon overlooks.

Racheal Devine                                   about 150 words

INTD: Science Writing

rmd20@geneseo.edu

Skeptics Say

From the “Skeptics May Object” and “So What? Who Cares?” text, what I would say the skeptics would say about my essay about the vines is that to take my argument and tell what others would “say against me”. Possibly by starting with a summary of a naysayer could make my argument more credible, also this could give me more to say in the end. By explaining why you should care about an issue and answering the so what can make a contrast to what you are arguing for. Answering all the questions can make it so people will more likely not dismiss your idea. Things skeptics would say abou the vines are, why do the vines on the building have any significance at all, what makes them important to the “wilderness”.

Patrick Jones                                                                Approximately 150 words

pwj2@geneseo.edu

INTD 105-19: Science Writing

When looking at the parking curb behind Milne library, I saw a paradox between the curbs purpose as a barrier and the green that surrounds it that shows the divide between humanity and nature is a fallacy. The ability of students to move around the barrier and enjoy the college greens it protects demolishes this divide by allowing individuals to enjoy the less sublime aspects of nature. Here, many environmentalists would argue that even though this barrier protects an area of nature, the pollution of the rainforest and the ocean is much more important and have more of an effect on us as a society then this area of grass. I agree that the pollution in the oceans is important, but allowing students to enjoy these areas of grass and trees teaches them to better appreciate the world around them and when they leave SUNY Geneseo, they will have more respect for nature that will allow nature and humanity to coexist.

Aubrie Cross

INTD: Science Writing

In Cronons essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” he argues that we need to realize the true meaning behind the term wilderness and that we need to open our eyes to realize that everything in nature is important to keep protected. In my essay I argued the point that we need to take in consideration all different kinds of scenery and nature that is right in front of us. Some may argue and say that we see the nature in front of us everyday and therefore, it has less of a meaning to us. Some would say that theres something more spectacular when looking over the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls. I agree, however, if we don’t try to protect the nature around us then in the end while we’re trying to save these national sites we will have damaged the beauty of the nature in our own backyards.

Juniper Tremper
Scientific Writing 105-19
Geneseo, NY
~140 words

Critiquing the Details of Trees and Gender Labels
by Juniper Tremper

While these points support the comparison between the boundary between genders against the boundary between humans and nature, it’s true that a crucial element is overlooked. When the trees were planted, they reintroduced nature to humans. This should have been enough to breach the gap created by paving over the grass that once grew. In this respect, the approach to negating the effects of gender labels is entirely dissimilar from the humans vs. nature label, because the concept of gender itself is counterproductive, whereas the planting of trees is only unproductive once they are chopped down.

However, because the overall comparison relates to the process resulting in the tree stumps as opposed to only the initial process of planting the trees, the use of Haraway’s gender discussion to shed insight on the tree stumps is still valid.