Science Education & Policy

In 2013, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) introduced a bill to put federal labels on foods that contain any component that has been genetically modified. It was a perfunctory effort then and died in committee, but she is trying again, and this time she has been joined by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), citing “health, economic, environmental, religious and ethical” reasons. They wisely left out "science" but did make sure to include a quote from "Top Chef" Judge Tom Colicchio. Obviously the big question is, why? When she attempted this two years ago…

Contrary to common belief, politicians are not in the pocket of highly-paid environmental, corporate or union lobbyists. They certainly do what lobbyists want, as long as it isn't getting too much attention, but government gets a lot more responsive when publicity is attached. Ebola is a case in point. The National Institutes of Health got over $350 billion in government money this century and didn't bother to fund Ebola treatments, but once it became a high-profile media event, they went to Congress and claimed they just needed more money and Congress gave them another $90 million. Without…

Is it possible to teach intelligence? If so, debates about success being related to economic redistribution go out the window and all kids can can be taught the problem-solving skills that have been the metric for 'intelligence' over the last century. The basis of general problem solving is the ability to use strategies acquired in one area to understand a wide range of other tasks. It's more than facts, though unfortunately facts are what international standardized tests - the kinds American kids are the middle of the pack in - focus us. American kids are instead taught how to think and that…

Government elites want parents to rush to turn their progeny into units of human capital as quickly as possible. It risks 'damaged goods'. Shutterstock By Pam Jarvis, Leeds Trinity University In order to make young children “school ready”, the English government is now encouraging parents to place their children in school nurseries shortly after their second birthday. But there is evidence to suggest that this policy might be poorly aligned to the developmental needs of such young children and that it contravenes their underlying human nature. In the broader history of humanity, state-funded…

A cautionary tale on fad diets seems obvious enough; no one should listen to anyone whose sole credentials are putting 'babe' in the name of their website or uses 'holistic' as part of their job description. But even the U.S. and U.K. governments have at times been overrun by epidemiological anecdotes that they nonetheless turn into formal policy. National dietary advice on fat consumption issued to millions of citizens in 1977 and 1983 lacked any solid trial evidence to back it up, and "should not have been introduced," concludes a paper in Open Heart. Both sets of dietary guidelines…

A truly deep thinker must draw on both science and the humanities. Todd Martin, CC BY-NC By Gregory Crawford, University of Notre Dame The evolution of science and engineering in the 21st century has transformed the role of these professions in profound ways that affect research, scholarship and the practice of teaching in the university setting. The traditional division between the liberal arts and the STEM disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics is, I believe, artificial and obsolete. As a physicist, a former dean of engineering at Brown University, and dean of the…

Reaching consensus on climate change requires overcoming the social barriers between opposing groups. 350 .org, CC BY-NC-SA By Ana-Maria Bliuc, Monash University and Craig McGarty, University of Western Sydney It can be tempting to think that people who disagree with you are mad, bad or simply stupid. However, not only are such judgments usually wrong, but telling people that they are stupid is unlikely to convince them of the merit of your own view. Yet this is often what happens when it comes to debates about climate change and what we ought to do about it. Despite there being a near…

News that will disappoint loads of children: Museum’s ‘Dippy’ dinosaur makes way for blue whale London’s Natural History Museum is re-modelling its entrance, moving out the dinosaur and moving in a blue whale. Also spricht der BBC-Website.  “Dippy” is the affectionate name for the model Diplodocus that has greeted visitors to the Natural History Museum ever since 1970.  One had the impression that it had stood there ever since the Victorian era, if not since the Jurassic. Sir Michael Dixon, the NHM’s director, comments: “Everyone loves ‘Dippy’, but it’s just a copy, and what…

Throughout the 20th century, medical research and public health science was primarily done by corporations - the United States, with 5 percent of the population, generated more than 50 percent of the money and a whole lot more of the science. No more. Medical research has declined in the United States. It's a win for multiculturalism and a win for globalization but a loss for the U.S.  Yet we have no one else to blame. We are not being out-competed by China when it comes to science, we are losing medical research because we have been taught to hate drug companies and that new drugs…

Climate scientists will be either ineffectual or counter-productive if they testify before Congress. EPA By Mathis Hampel, University of East Anglia Western liberal democracies believe that in difficult political decisions science serves as a referee and arbiter of truth. Scientific knowledge can indeed inform and narrow the scope of policy choices, for example in the teaching of evolution in public schools. But a staunch belief in a fully rational society, together with a political culture of adversarialism and the skepticism of vested interest groups can also create a fertile soil for…