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Daily Archives: June 10, 2016

Paper – Trust, tribalism and tweets: has political polarization made science a “wedge issue”?

Brian Helmuth, Tarik C. Gouhier, Steven Scyphers and Jennifer Mocarski – Climate Change Responses 2016 3:3 DOI: 10.1186/s40665-016-0018-z ©  Helmuth et al. 2016 Received: 5 February 2016 Accepted: 13 May 2016 Published: 30 May 2016

Background – Political polarization remains a major obstacle to national action on global climate change in the United States Congress, and acceptance of anthropogenic drivers strongly differs between Republicans and Democrats. But has overall interest in science also become ingrained into partisan identity, even among national political figures tasked with making ostensibly science-based policy decisions? Social media outlets such as Twitter have become a popular means of exchanging information and of portraying a carefully crafted public image. We analyzed the 78,753 unique Twitter accounts followed by U.S. senators to gauge their interests as well as the public images that their offices project to the public. In particular, we examined correlations between follows of science-related accounts and recent votes on a series of amendments defining the “sense of the Senate” on global climate change (GCC). Drawing from these social networks, we discuss how political polarization is strongly linked with the role that science – and climate science in particular – plays in the political process.

Results  – Our analyses show that Twitter social networks reflect political affiliation and polarization, with Senate Republicans and Democrats belonging to distinct and semi-isolated sub-networks. Notably, while follows of science-related organizations were low overall, these sub-networks were characterized by very different levels of interest in science, with Senate Democrats three times more likely to follow science-related Twitter handles than Republicans. This suggests that overt interest in science may partly define party identity. Hence, instead of being viewed as a neutral source of objective information, science may now be considered a special interest in U.S. politics. Notably, however, Republican senators who crossed party lines to vote “yea” on an amendment associated with the Keystone Pipeline bill stating that humans contribute to GCC are more similar to Democrats in their science follows than they are to their fellow Republicans.

Conclusions – Our results strongly suggest that overt interest in science may now primarily be a “Democrat” value. However, opportunities exist to inject scientific information into political discussion by targeting key individuals and organizations connected to both sides of the aisle…”

Park Ranger’s off hours work results in ability to browse more than 1,000 National Park Maps from one site

Via CityLab – “Map addicts, you’ve been warned: A park ranger has been diligently uploading maps from hundreds of America’s national parks for the enjoyment, education and convenience of all. According to npmaps.com, some 1,053 high-resolution national park maps are available to view, save, and download for free. The site is not officially affiliated with the National Park Service,… Continue Reading

FindLaw – 9th Circuit: No 2nd Am. Right to Concealed Firearms in Public

Via FindLaw – “The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that citizens do not have a Second Amendment right to carry concealed firearms in public. The California federal court that covers states Arizona, Nevada, Oregon Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Hawaii as well found that laws requiring gun owners to show “good cause” for… Continue Reading

Cigarette smoking among U.S. high school students at an all-time low, but e-cigarette use a concern

“Cigarette smoking among high school students dropped to the lowest levels since the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) began in 1991, but the use of electronic vapor products, including e-cigarettes, among students poses new challenges according to the 2015 survey results released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although current cigarette… Continue Reading

Digital Service Programs: Assessing Results and Coordinating with CIOs Can Improve Delivery of Federal Projects

Digital Service Programs: Assessing Results and Coordinating with Chief Information Officers Can Improve Delivery of Federal Projects, GAO-16-733T: Published: Jun 10, 2016. Publicly Released: Jun 10, 2016. “In an effort to improve IT across the federal government, in March 2014 GSA established a team, known as 18F that provides IT services to agencies. In addition,… Continue Reading

Study – Call Center Productivity Over 6 Months Following a Standing Desk Intervention

Gregory Garrett, Mark Benden, Ranjana Mehta, Adam Pickens, Camille Peres, Hongwei Zhao. Call Center Productivity Over 6 Months Following a Standing Desk Intervention. IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, 2016; 00 DOI: 10.1080/21577323.2016.1183534 “Background:Many office employees are spending up to 90% of their workday seated, and employers are considering stand-capable desks as a… Continue Reading