For Gareth Cook’s talk:

Desperate parents chase a stem-cell miracle

Absence of data on clinic’s thearapies provokes skepticism

In his talk on Thursday, “Getting Edited,” Adam Rogers will walk us through the tortuous process through which a proposal becomes a published story in Wired. We’ve sent everyone an email with a link to a private website where supplementary reading can be downloaded. (You should have also received an earlier email with an address for draft chapters from George Johnson’s book on the science of cancer.) Please let us know if you have trouble accessing the material.

Jon Wilkins, the other speaker at Tuesday’s session at the Santa Fe Institute, has provided some background reading:

Nat Rev Genet 2003 Wilkins

Geoffrey West, who will be speaking at the workshop on Tuesday, is featured this week
on Edge.org.

Please note the new title and subject matter for Gareth Cook’s talk:

“Reporting Science: A case study.” What to ask, who to ask, and how? Gareth Cook will take us through the process of reporting a story about a Ukrainian stem cell clinic — part of a series that earned him a Pulitzer prize — and offer practical lessons you can use in your own work.

Geoffrey West has provided some background reading for his talk at the Santa Fe Institute.

Physics Today article

Urban Scaling and Its Deviations

Chapter 2

Nature article

After much discussion, the company that owns both the Plaza Real and St. Francis hotels has agreed to let us consolidate the workshop at the St. Francis.  Everyone will be staying and meeting there. To recap, we had originally contracted with the Plaza Real but were informed in March, to our great surprise, that a renovation project would force us to hold the sessions at the St. Francis, a few blocks away from where most people would be lodging. That was o.k., but the new arrangement is far better. Here is what that means:

1. If you are one of the few participants who was already booked at the St. Francis, check in there as expected. Your room should be ready.

2. If you booked a room at the Plaza Real, simply show up instead at the St. Francis. We have been promised that all the reservations will be automatically transferred there. There should be nothing special you need to do. The rate will be the same.

We apologize for all this running in place. Changing venues after 15 years at a nonprofit conference center has been stressful, but we think everyone will love being in a nice old hotel less than two blocks from the Plaza.