Scientific Writing Tips from a Science Journalist

Our office view

We are enjoying Day 1 of my research group’s semi-annual writing retreat, this year at the visually inspiring Wildflower house at the Sundance Resort.  Besides finally getting all the papers done we have been meaning to do all year, the retreat also gives us an opportunity to do some group professional development with an outside expert.

This evening, that expert was my spouse and science journalist Genevive Bjorn, who led us through a discussion of the Nature article “Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome” (Lander et al., 2001, Nature, 409, 860-921).  This is the famous “first human genome” paper produced as part of the Human Genome Project.  As a group of astronomers dissecting the 62-page foundational article of the field of genomics, we experienced the frequent perspective of scientists outside our field trying to understand our work.

Mele Inoa for Anuhea: Daughter of Maui

Last month we celebrated the first birthday of the daughter of one our dear friends on Maui, Anuhea.  The first birthday is a cause for celebration in traditional Hawai‘ian culture, accompanied by an ‘aha‘aina palala which has evolved into the modern day “baby lu‘au“.  Part of the palala includes gifts (pule), chants (mele) and dances (hula) by friends and family to express their aloha for the child (see The Polynesian Family System in Ka ‘u, Hawai‘i by ES Craighill Handy & Mary Kawena Pukui).

As our pule to Anuhea, my wife and I composed the following “name chant”, or mele inoa.  It was modeled from the mele inoa written for Barack Obama, “Hiki Maila Ke Ali‘i Ho‘oulu” by (Kumu Hula) Manu Ikaika.  The child’s first name, Anuhea, means cool, gentle rain, so part of our mele refers to her as the gentle rain that nourishes our hearts and outlasts even the strongest storms.  Her second name, Po‘maika‘i, means wisdom, good fortune and prosperity, which we of course wish for her in her life ahead.

If anyone could help translate this completely (and properly!) into Hawai‘ian, we’d be very grateful!

Kaikamahine o Maui (Daughter of Maui)

Look at our daughter, gentle and soothing
A child who brings joy to all around her

A gentle rain that nourishes the land
And helps the seed of love spread in our hearts

Her voice is a sweet melody that lifts the spirit
Her strength is her gentle way

Oh child of the land
Allow the goodness in your heart to flourish

Take courage even as the tempests come
Knowing they too return to the gentle rain

May you grow to be a wise, joyful and creative woman
Infused with the love of your ‘ohana

E ola mai
Ka pono o ke ao
E aloha e
He inoa no Anuhea Po‘maika‘i Fortune

FIRE on the Sky: Report from FIRE’s Commissioning Run

Early this month, we had our first commissioning run of the Folded Port Infrared Echellette, or FIRE, a near-infrared spectrograph designed for the Magellan Telescopes.  After a two-week installation period in late February/early March led by the instrument PI Rob Simcoe, FIRE team members John Bochanski and Matt Smith from MIT and Craig McMurtry from U. Rochester, and Magellan engineers (I missed all the action, teaching 250 students Physics 1), FIRE was ready to view the sky for a week-long commissioning run starting March 28th.

Early results have been spectacular.  A few of the image frames from the first week are shown below.  The high quantum efficiency and low readnoise of the Teledyne Hawaii 2RG detectors, and the excellent image quality of the Baade Telescope, has resulted in higher sensitivity than originally planned.   In the echelle mode, Rob has estimated roughly 20-25% efficiency, including telescope and slit losses, and a nearly-flat zero point of 16-17 AB magnitudes (1 count/sec/pixel) across the 0.85-2.4 micron range.  In plain language, this means we can observe very faint sources – such as a the coldest brown dwarfs and highest redshift quasars – with the echelle mode’s moderate resolution (λ/Δλ ≈ 6000).  The prism-dispersed mode has also proven very sensitive, and we’ve been able to follow-up several J ≈ 19-20 cold brown dwarf candidates from WISE with relative ease.  Look for first science results in the literature soon!

Sounds of the Planet: High Tide at Solana Beach

The roughly twice-daily ocean tides ebb and flow on different timescales and to different heights depending on the relative orientations of the Sun and Moon.  It is the gravitational pull of these the two bodies that are responsible for our tides, a fact first explained by Isaac Newton.  When the Moon is full (and again when it is new), it, the Earth and the Sun are nearly aligned – a situation know as syzygy (one of my favorite words). In this orientation, the tidals forces combine to amplify the tidal surge; we have a spring tide.  Throw in some big surf and an unusually close Moon, and you’ve got quite a shorebreak.

Educating by Podcast: A Lesson from Mark Pentleton

Mark's presentation on creating educational podcasts

I’ve just finished watching a video presentation by Mark Pentleton of Coffee Break French and Radiolingua fame (see my prior post on Online French Language Resources), describing how he creates enhanced audio podcasts for language learning. This is an excellent roadmap for all kinds of educational podcasts (with a Mac), such as the Mechanics Minilessons I’m trying (slowly) to produce for my Physics 1A class.