Science & Society

There is an easy litmus test to know if you are talking to an atheist; mention science in the ancient world. Or the modern world. They really want to tell you how religious people are wrong. Critics make it their business to know all about what they debunk - so they spend a lot of time reading other criticisms and quote-mining and copying and pasting stuff they have bookmarked.   Now, if we amend the title the point becomes more clear:  The average atheist knows the bible better than most Christians, just like global warming skeptics know climate science better than most people who…

Overweight political candidates have gotten fewer votes than thinner opponents, finds a new study co-authored by a Michigan State University weight bias expert. Of course, discrimination is everywhere, it is the favored position of the humanities in trying to quantify culture. In 2008, Democrats discriminated against Senator Hillary Clinton because she was a woman while Republicans were against Senator Obama in the general election because he was black. No one ever just acknowledged he was the best candidate, even in winning we were told it was despite his race. So political parties should be…

Every day, I make my wife two or three cups of coffee. I am serving her a phenol-laced liquid, containing 826 volatile chemical substances, 16 of which are known by the state of California to cause cancer. One cup of this hot and astoundingly delicious pick-me-up contains at least 10 milligrams of known carcinogens including: caffeic acid, catechol, furfural, hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide.[1] Should I be arrested for spousal abuse? In one cup of coffee, my wife, and I, take in more toxins and carcinogens than we would from one year’s worth of pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables.[2…

Two decades ago, the inclusion of women in biomedical research was mandated by law but sex-specific research is still not the norm. As a result, many women receive recommendations from their doctors for prevention strategies, diagnostic tests and medical treatments that may not have included women adequately. There is no evidence treatment has been worse due to that - and no one can force women to participate in studies - but diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and depression disproportionately affect women, which raises questions about the impact of research on women’s…

This morning I was on the nationwide agriculture radio program, AgriTalk, hosted by Mike Adams. This is the rational Mike Adams, not the "Health Ranger" conspiracy theorist. Mike brings up all of the key points - that people simultaneously say they want to embrace science but then pick and choose the science that matches their other cultural beliefs, that over-regulating food in ways that don't impact safety are a slippery slope to damaging the engine that drives the country, and that we're in danger of being spoiled a little by cheap food, to such an extent we might start to think it is okay…

In 2009, a report on the state of forensic science by the National Academy of Sciences noted the lack of sound science in the analysis of evidence in criminal cases across the country. You wouldn't know it from television shows, but even the most common and long-standing forensic techniques such as fingerprinting are considered questionable - and defense attorneys have a field day promoting fear and doubt about science in the best of circumstances.  Most efforts to institute change based on that report fizzled out so last year the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Institute of…

The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its male circumcision guidance to say that the benefits justify access to the procedure for families who choose it. There has been debate about whether male circumcision  should be considered a public health action because of its potential protective effect against acquisition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as suggested in three randomized controlled trials. A part of the debate surrounds the rate of adverse events.  Charbel El Bcheraoui, Ph.D., of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of…

Though numbers are difficult to estimate, advocates believe one in three women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner. It's difficult to be sure so a few countries, notably the United States, have introduced screening program in healthcare settings to try and see what works. The results in BMJ found no evidence to support domestic violence screening. The scholars reviewed all trials globally that assessed the effectiveness of intimate partner violence screening in primary care, antenatal care and emergency medicine departments, consisting of 11…

What percentage of plants in the world are woody? Good luck finding out. Though scientists have been distinguishing between woody and herbaceous plants for over 2,000 years, ever since Plato's student Theophrastus - the "father of botany"  made the distinction in 300 B.C. Researchers already know when the first woody plants came to be, how wood develops and decomposes, and that woody plants like trees and shrubs evolve slower than herbs. DURHAM, N.C. – Growing numbers of researchers are making the data and software underlying their publications freely available online, largely in…

States can pass all of the laws they want but a US Army soldier, active duty or otherwise, is going to be in serious trouble if there is evidence they have used marijuana. It does not matter if you claim to have pain or get a note from your doctor, the Army has its own standards above and beyond what Washington, D.C. mandates and states have no more jurisdiction than foreign countries do. Yet some soldiers are reckless and risk their careers and among that group, many think Spice - synthetic marijuana - will be harder to detect. Social workers from the University of Washington have found that…