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Articles by Sanhita Reddy | Email the Author

 

1. The Observatory

   In Deep Water

   January 26, 2011 12:33 PM

   RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — No one is singing in the rain. The mudslides here and the floods in Australia this month—both catastrophes of the first order—garnered a lot of press in the United States, and rightly... Continue reading

2. The Observatory

   Writing Wrongs

   August 11, 2009 11:49 AM

   For journalists, some scientific flops are just too good to pass up. Think of the Large Hadron Collider’s failure to launch last year. Efforts to get the inglorious atom smasher up and running are still drawing <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/science/space/04collide.html?hp... Continue reading

3. The Observatory

   Fuel for Thought

   July 31, 2009 12:24 PM

   Fuel from corn. Fuel from coffee grounds. Fuel from chicken feathers. Whatever the recipe, the search for a replacement for gasoline is one of the hottest topics in energy reporting—so it’s no surprise that,... Continue reading

4. The Observatory

   (E)mission Impossible?

   July 29, 2009 11:15 AM

   After the recent Group 8 meeting in Italy, news outlets released a flood of reports about certain developing countries—led by China and India—that refuse to accept specific, binding targets for reducing their greenhouse gas... Continue reading

5. The Observatory

   Media on the Moon

   July 23, 2009 03:35 PM

   The media loves to commemorate space-age milestones. In 2007, it was Sputnik’s fiftieth birthday. In 2008, it was NASA’s. This year--Monday, to be precise--marked four decades since the first moon landing. Nearly every media outlet had comprehensive coverage of the... Continue reading

6. The Observatory

   Science Clichés: Steer Clear

   July 21, 2009 01:02 PM

   Cheers to the Knight Science Journalism Tracker for picking up a snarky post at Wired titled, “5 Atrocious Science Clichés to Throw Down a Black Hole.” Here’s what the author, Betsy Mason, says about using the... Continue reading

7. The Observatory

   The New Pioneers of the West

   July 17, 2009 03:50 PM

   When Robert McClure picked up the phone to talk to about the new journalism startup he’s working for, Investigate West, he was at an airport in Dallas, getting ready to fly back to Seattle after doing some reporting... Continue reading

8. The Observatory

   BPA, Health, and Nuance

   July 16, 2009 02:53 PM

   The FDA is supposed to reach a final decision on the safety of Bisphenol A (BPA)—a plastics additive found in many food and drink containers—by the end of this summer. Last month, STATS, a “statistical assessment... Continue reading

9. The Observatory

   Health Wealth

   June 30, 2009 01:16 PM

   Earlier this month, the Lancet published two studies clarifying some long-standing questions about global health financing and the effectiveness of health programs. One of the studies, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provided a... Continue reading

10. The Observatory

    Talking Shop: Karen Ravn

    June 15, 2009 01:00 PM

    In “Body of Lies,” a recent article published in the Los Angeles Times, Karen Ravn reported on the widespread problem of dishonesty among patients when talking to their doctors. Here, Ravn answers a few questions via e-mail about... Continue reading

11. The Observatory

    Pregnancy Pounds

    June 10, 2009 05:29 PM

    Eating for two might not be such good advice for expectant mothers, according to new guidelines for how much weight women should gain during pregnancy, issued The National Institute of Medicine last week. Most reporters were adept... Continue reading

12. The Observatory

    Foolish Fusion

    June 4, 2009 03:19 PM

    Coverage of the dedication ceremony for the National Ignition Facility, the world’s largest laser system, may have made it hard to discern how NIF’s work differs from Dr. Octopus’s fusion experiment in Spiderman II. Media outlets skirted around... Continue reading

13. The Observatory

    Sotomayor’s “Sweet” Side

    June 2, 2009 05:06 PM

    Over the past week, members of the news media have talked a lot about SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s race and ethnic background. But they have also devoted a surprising amount of attention to her status as a Type 1 diabetic.... Continue reading