July 2, 2014
[A note: I'm participating in a challenge to blog every day in July. With a full time job and various freelance projects (not to mention starting marathon training!) it's been a bit hard to give this space the attention I'd like. I'm hoping this new challenge will help me get in more of a routine!]Today I want to do a little self-promotion and talk about a feature I wrote yesterday for Law360 about the issues surrounding the use of drones for commercial purposes, specifically marketing real estate.
Drones have been in the news recently for a lot of reasons, but this week the NY Post reported that a few New York City real estate brokerages had received subpoenas from the FAA about their unmanned aircraft use.
Turns out, there's no actual regulation on small drones, but the FAA's official position is that they can't be used for commercial purposes. This poses a problem for tech-savvy real estate brokers who have been enjoying the ability to show potential renters and buyers what the view from their penthouse could look like, via camera-strapped drone.
But changes are coming, and the attorneys I talked to seemed at least somewhat optimistic about the future of commercial unmanned flying cameras in the real estate and other businesses.
You can check out the details here!
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
July 2, 2014
Today was another big day for "that medical procedure you've been having? It's useless!" stories. This time it was women's pelvic exams, although much of the reporting seemed to lump all of those things that happen at the gynecologist's office into one big "in the stirrups" event, and claim that it was all a waste of time.The Annals of Internal Medicine released a study recommending against "performing screening pelvic examination" in patients without symptoms that would suggest they need the... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
June 25, 2014
I just got back from a wonderful vacation in Colorado, and discovered that a lot of interesting health science happened (or was published, at least) while I was away! I was particularly interested to see the headlines about a study out of the University of California, Davis, showing that babies born to mothers who live close to crops treated with pesticides may be more likely to develop autism.Any time I read a claim about autism spectrum disorders I get a little skeptical, because autism -- ... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
June 19, 2014
A few months ago I was at a real estate conference here in New York, and near the end of the day there was a presentation by a non-profit that plants trees in low-income neighborhoods. A big part of the pitch was the idea that the additional trees would not only be an aesthetic improvement and give local kids an opportunity to garden, but they would improve the air quality and potentially cut down on asthma rates.
New York has very, very high rates of asthma. It's a leading cause of emergency ... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
June 14, 2014
Happy weekend! Here are some of the things that caught my eye this week:The FDA, a truly bad NY Times pun, and the fate of my favorite food
On Wednesday, the New York Times published a story with a pretty tame headline, but the Tweet they wrote for it caused some major eye-rolls: "An F.D.A. ruling on cheese has produced a stink that rivals Limburger." But, being a huge cheese lover (and living in artisanal product heaven - Brooklyn), I was intrigued. Turns out the FDA is concerned about the us... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
May 22, 2014
As a person with a series bee allergy, the news earlier this week that an 18-wheeler carrying approximately 20 million bees overturned on I-95 in Delaware, spilling the little stingers everywhere, was pretty terrifying.
"Whew, thank goodness it's so far away!" I thought, as I googled "how far can bees fly?" (Turns out to be only about 80 miles, FYI.)
But then, later in the day yesterday, I came across this story about a swarm in Williamsburg. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Only a few miles from where ... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
April 21, 2014
The legal trade publication I work for, Law360, is in the midst of a series about women in law based on some data we gathered over the last few months. The data, as you might expect, is not super encouraging if you are hoping for gender parity in one of the nation's most lucrative and powerful industries.
I can't give too much away here (that's what people buy subscriptions for!) but I wanted to quickly make note of something I discovered about the uphill battle to achieving equity partnership... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
April 15, 2014
That's the title of a press release from Sociologists for Women in Society, which announced on Monday that a new study in the journal Gender & Society supports the theory that many young girls avoid reporting rape and other types of assault because they view this as "normal" behavior and/or feel they will be shamed for making a "big deal" about it.The study, conducted by sociologist Heather Hlavka of Marquette University based on interviews with 100 girls aged three to 17, aims to go deeper t... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
April 4, 2014
There's some interesting research being reported today about the health impact of a meatless diet. Specifically, an Austrian study found that people who ate a vegetarian diet had 50 percent more heart attacks and 50 percent more cancer diagnoses than those who ate meat.
A little shocking, right?
The debate over whether or not being a vegetarian is healthier than being a carnivore is ancient, but for those on both sides, the scientific evidence thus far has been largely frustrating. I think th... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
March 15, 2014
This week, two of the subjects I follow most closely - sexual assault activism and critiques of the media - converged to create a tense (and intense) conversation about how the latter should approach the former, when Christine Fox (@steenfox) asked sexual assault victims to tweet what they were wearing when they were assaulted. A writer at BuzzFeed who has covered sexual assault extensively for the site put together a post using some of the tweets, and what ensued was what I hope will be the ... Continue reading...
Posted by Kaitlin Ugolik.
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Journalist, feminist, runner, cat mom. Living in Brooklyn, where else? |
