Genomic studies confirm the tomato is a fruit. Duh!

Really?  Genomics confirms that the tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable?  No, probably just Gisela's lame attempt at humor.  There are a lot of good reasons for genomic research, comparing one genome to another, but it doesn't seem that this science writer touched on any of them. Genomic research wasn't needed to identify the domestic tomato's closest wild ancestor; yes, it confirmed it, but it was already known, well known.  And yes, tomato is pretty close to potato too, but that was already so well known that tomato has been transferred back into the genus Solanum, discarding its colorful genus Lycopersicon ("edible wolf peach", maybe distinguishing it from other toxic red-fruited nightshades), a triumph for Linnaeus who put it there in the first place.  So what did we learn from this fluffy bit of science news?  Not much.  

HuffPo Science Page

Huffington Post has not been known for its rigorous reporting on science, particularly when it came to medicine. But HuffPo's new science news page looks pretty good. Who would have thunk it? And there's a really, really good statement about scientific theory too! Looks like HuffPo is turning over a new leaf. Wonder if their regular drubbing at the hands, or keyboards, of science bloggers had any influence? Let us hope so.

How to write a science news article

Oh, this is so absolutely spot on it's hard to stand. The template provided is widely used. And of course because real news is "even-handed" you always have to find a science crank to offer a dataless alternate opinion so that politicians can then say the matter has yet to be decided. HT to Angelo.