Debunking Celebrity Science

Also in today’s links: aging turtles, pinpointing pollen, and more.

• Go ahead, love your movie stars and politicians. But don’t turn to them for scientific guidance, says the group Sense About Science. The Celebrities and Science Review 2008 has compiled the unsubstantiated claims that famous folks let loose on the public this year.
• Speaking of frauds, could a grandfatherly tortoise perpetrate one? We don’t think Jonathan the giant Seychelles tortoise meant to pull one over on anyone, but it turns out he might not be who people was thought to be.
• A team of inspectors is using geo-mapping to track and control New York City’s “diabolically clever” rat population — and it seems to be working.
• There’s hope for a daily pollen report that breaks down how much of certain kind of pollen is in the air — since different kinds of pollen grains bring on allergy symptoms more than others.
• I think a lot of science writers are still on holiday, which is how we end up with news stories like this polar bear playing ring-around-the-rosie with a fellow the bear (allegedly) wants to eat.