Science & Society

December 25, as we all know, is Jesus Christ’s birthday, a Christian celebration in which the myth of three kings who travelled far and wide to give gifts to the “new born king” inspires the modern Christian tradition of gift giving. Early gifts used to be fruits or nuts, but as this act took on more importance, gifts became larger and less modest, and were placed under a tree. Midwinter has been a period of festivities for millenia, but Christmas as we know it today has its origins in Victorian Britain. It was in Victorian times that the idea of Christmas as a family holiday, with gift…

After months of delay the construction of TMT will not be able to start in 2019.  With the start of construction on hold for an indefinite period.  Some take this as a win for the protest, striking a blow against inequality, homelessness, underemployment and overincarceration of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) by stopping a telescope.  Others who know that at the altitude of that telescope, where it is snowing and inclement, that building a modern building is ten times more difficult.  It seems to me that at telescope altitude the climate approximates that of Chicago.…

While definitions vary, to “cancel” in today’s lingo means to remove people and cultural products from consumption and popular conversation. This is done in light of actions that make them unworthy of praise or critique. Notable cancellations include R. Kelly over allegations of sexual abuse, Gwen Stefani for apparent cultural appropriation in the 1990s and early 2000s, Roseanne Barr for a racist tweet, and Kanye West for being a Trump supporter. There are a myriad of things that can lead to an individual, and by proxy their work, being canceled. At present, there exists a lack of critical…

Physics, and STEM are fundamentally neutral but the human beings who do them are not, including the ones that write about how biased everyone else is.  Who gets funding, who gets a job, and who gets a better student review, are all things which race, gender, class, and other sociological variables play a role in.  Just as they play a role in everything human beings do.  Science itself, however, is in the end all about the data and which theories fit it best.   The journey from human activities to looking back at data and theories with neutrality is fraught with…

Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese (1).  That is the new unhealthy normal and as always being outside of the normal range leads to backlash.  The fact so many comments on the ad were “she’s already thin she does not need to work out,” speak to so many problems with health and body image in this country.  The acting really didn’t help.  The actress plays the role a bit less excited and more terrified that her husband will slice off her head.  Strangely this has led to narratives of the ad being sexist and body shaming.  It has led to …

First whatever happens - Kim might do something dramatic maybe but his aim would be to get the talks back on track. It would not lead to war no matter what. Neither side has any benefit from a war. They are trading threats again, but they are empty bluffs. The US can't invade North Korea because it would lead to impossible levels of casualties in South Korea. Meanwhile, North Korea only wants to defend itself against invasion and doesn't want to attack anyone. There is absolutely no point in them shooting bombs at the US or South Korea or Japan or anyone. That would be a disaster for North…

I got an email from a young person at a university stating they were working on a research paper, and while many in the science and scicomm community are jaded about such requests - we are doing someone's homework for them, it is said - I always answer. It's a nonprofit, answering is the job. The questions were rather specific to GMOs so I stuck to that, but of course I write about a lot more than agriculture while the rest of Science 2.0 writes about virtually every area of science. The 5 questions I answered below and I added some more thoughts for this article: 1. Why did you create…

We are living in the future of our past.  Tesla has had the guts to unveil a truck that looks futuristic and paid the price.  If in 2040 we still drive cars that look like they do now, and work like they do now we’ll know why.  It will be because we have chosen not to embrace change.  From building or not building a telescope in a non-sacred area of a very large mountain, to a likely failure to advance mans presence in space we will know the reason why.  We are living in the past of our future.  What we choose to buy or not buy, build or not build, do or not do…

The 1950s were the first sign that with a booming economy, progressive busy-bodies were going to once again turn their sights on controlling behavior. Though Prohibition had ended the Puritan Piety attack on alcohol, and Hitler had put a halt to progressive dreams of eugenics, the war on inferiors continued by well-meaning elites unabated after the soldiers came home. They just attacked on a new front. Comic books, for example, were ruining children, according to psychiatrist Fred Wertham, who wrote a book making his case called "Seduction of the Innocent." Though Captain America had punched…

You know you are in a wealthy country when there are articles about how people are depressed if they can't get a $2,000 Macbook, young people can talk about how bored they are, and poor families live in more square footage than the middle class in France. Oh, and a majority are fat, even among poor people. It was never before possible for poor people to be obese, abundance of food used to be a sign of wealth. But just like we don't blame smokers for getting lung cancer, we don't criticize parents for their kids being fat. Urban food activists instead blame farmers. If farmers use modern…