Science & Society

My attention has been drawn to this, by Anthony Watts: Video analysis and scene replication suggests that Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project fabricated their Climate 101 video “Simple Experiment” I would like to scrutinize it myself, but Nad oes ynof nerth na bywydFel yn gorwedd yn y beddI have no strength or lifeLike one lying in a grave so I would be pleased if any readers could give their verdict.

On the way to work this morning, I noticed people pointing out the train window and smiling. From middle-aged suits to angst-ridden hipsters, faces changed from jaded to serene - there was a rainbow just west of downtown. One of the wool-hatted, checked-flannel hipsters told his companion, and I quote, "Man, now that I've seen a rainbow, if I have a sh***y day I'm gonna be really mad." What is it about rainbows that gives people hope, makes them smile? Rainbows abound in mythology. In Greek mythology, the messenger Iris travels on the rainbow between gods and mortals. In Judeo-Christian…

If health care is free, more people will go to the doctor and that means longer waiting for people who truly need it. An overburdened health care system would then have to hire less-qualified people to meet the needs, and that is bad.  If the president suddenly says every family will get a three star-chef, for example, they won't actually get a three-star chef, they'll get a McDonald's fry cook dressed like a chef. Yet we spend a lot for great care.  Some contend Americans get too much health care under the current system, meaning rationing under a nationalized system would not…

Writing in USA Today, microbiologist Dr. Alex Berezow makes a statement sure to leave the militant left wing who believe all Republicans are mentally Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann sputtering.  Namely, that anti-science Republicans get media coverage but not anti-science Democrats. After five years of Science 2.0, if I am making an educated demographic guess, I am inclined to agree there are more anti-science Republicans than Democrats today but I resist sweeping generalizations because, when I was a young guy, it was the other way around.   All the kookiest anti-science positions…

To religious fundamentalists, atheists in science are engaged in an insidious campaign to undercut morality and replace it with God-less relativism and moral equivalence.  To militant atheists, religious people are intellectually immature, anti-science busybodies telling people how to live. However, in the real world, outside the kooky fringes, science and religion co-exist just fine.  There are obviously numerous stories of religion persecuting science (cited by opponents while deftly ignoring that religion is the reason a lot of science advanced and a lot of literature still…

$65 billion is is the increase in net farm income, the farm level benefit after paying for the seed and its biotech traits, that the biotech industry has provided across the globe during the period 1996 to 2009, according to an analysis published in the International Journal of Biotechnology. The study's authors estimate that almost half of that money was derived by farmers in the developing world. Graham Brookes and Peter Barfoot of PG Economics Ltd. investigated the economic impact at the farm level of agricultural biotechnology, looking at yields, key costs of production, direct farm…

Massachusetts implemented health care reform to increase employer-based insurance and to provide no-cost or low-cost insurance to those unable to afford it but it hasn't worked - the uninsured in Massachusetts remain predominantly the working poor, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School. The 2006 comprehensive health care reform was designed to achieve 'universal' health coverage and did so using new laws requiring that employers with more than 10 employees offer insurance but also mandating that all state residents obtain insurance or pay a fine. Free or low-cost,…

While America debates moving to a health care system more like the UK, the majority of Brits want to try an American approach. According to Simplyhealth's latest survey, 59% of people would consider paying to be seen privately due to concerns about access to diagnosis and treatment.   Simplyhealth's report 'Are we an instant health generation?' carried out by YouGov suggests that concerns about cost, waiting times and access to healthcare are driving people to seek private alternatives to the NHS. Just over half believe that they will need to wait longer for treatment than ever…

Politicians throw out a lot of anecdotes, especially if it is one told by a constituent or potential voter, so Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann throwing forth a story told to her that the HPV vaccine caused a child's retardation would be just that, a story. Even it if is a just-so story. Except she's a Republican. And so academics have offered $10,000 for the source of that story. A few days ago, New Scientist issued forth a story about anti-science efforts in U.S. politics.  The only three they were able to find were, of course, global warming, evolution and hESC research, though even…

Sometimes, when things are bad enough, we'll cave in and buy into concepts and products that we otherwise wouldn't have. As one example, hurt bad enough and you'll try just about anything to ease that pain. And unfortunately, common sense isn't nearly as common as it should be and we are none of us as skeptical as we could be. Except for those Missourians, of course, who live by the motto, "Show me." I'm honestly not too sure of that, though, as "showing" people works all too well or those power bracelets and other pseudoscience-based products wouldn't be so popular. Brian Dunning, following…