Science & Society
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As a relaxing Friday treat, here are two science-related webtoons from occasionally NSFW Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. Fortunately, these two are appropriate for all ages. We are given the true shape of the universe, and learn deep truths about melding cybernetics with flesh.
Have a nice weekend and join us next week for our hard-hitting science feature articles!
Alex, The Daytime Astronomer
Tues&Fri here, via RSS feed, and twitter @skyday
I've been trying to figure out why "transhumanists" and their predictions irritate me so much. Perhaps it's seeing humanity reduced to a simplistic engineering problem to be solved. Or maybe it's the love affair that appears to be happening between them and technology. Or maybe it's the fact that they all sound like psychics, except that their subject is the human race instead of an individual. Back in July, Massimo Pigliucci addressed some of the problems with transhumanism, however it seems that this is a rather persistent idea. The following quotes all come from a paper…
What's the quickest way to get scientists and serious science writers to quit coming on your show? Invite the creationists. Discover bloggers Sean Carroll and Carl Zimmer explain what happened:
Sean says:
A few weeks ago we were a bit startled to find a “Science Saturday” episode of BH.tv featuring Paul Nelson, an honest-to-God young-Earth creationist. Not really what most of us like to think of as “science.” So there were emails back and forth trying to figure out what went on. David Killoren, who is the person in charge of the Science Saturday dialogues, is an extremely reasonable guy; we…
More reality programs, less hard science coverage, and when they do cover hard science it's watered down. This is all true as the production values of the programs have increased while the science value has decreased. When the science channel started many years ago here are some of the shows they had.
Skeptical Inquirer - Cold hands off debunking of things like acupuncture.
Understanding - in depth hard core exposition of physics, chemistry, or biology.
A number of documentary series.
One and a half to two years ago they had shows such as...
Myth…
Today marks the start of the (first) Scientific Blogging University Writing Competition. We decided to do this because, since our inception, the scientific community has been incredibly gracious about embracing Science 2.0.
The top question we have been asked in emails is 'What should I write about?' and the answer is, we don't know. Since the contest covers 11 schools and all science disciplines we have no idea what will resonate with the audience. Whatever you write should have some popular interest - no one wins "American Idol" doing Gregorian chants, for example - but it's your own voice…
Hank |
If you've read this site for any length of time, you know we are fans of open access. The notion that research funded by taxpayers should be in the hands of billion-dollar media companies who charge scientists to publish and then hold the copyrights is ridiculous.
President Bush signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2007 (H.R. 2764) and it immediately came under attack by media lobbyists and the politicians they support.
It must be Republicans, you may think, but this time Republicans are friends of science and one John Conyers of Michigan, uber-…
Finally an article that blasts the preposterous mythology suggesting that human longevity is a relatively recent phenomenon and primarily due to advances in medical technology.
http://www.livescience.com/health/090821-human-lifespans.html
In reviewing some of the comments made to the article it is clear that there is still a great deal of confusion surrounding the difference between "expectancy" and "lifespan". The basic point in the article is that human life span is fundamentally unchanged over 2,000 years and quite possibly for a much longer period before that.
Life expectancy is a…
Scientific Blogging's University Writing Competition kicks off next Tuesday, September 1st. There's been a lot of buzz and excitement about our first-ever writing competition that will give one lucky grad student a $2,500 cash prize, and a paid 3-month writing internship at Scientific Blogging.
This is the first time we've done something like this, so this initial time out we've limited the number of universities - simply to ensure we have the necessary infrastructure and support staff in place to support a writing competition. But how to pick the participating universities?…
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[caption id="attachment_30" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Copenhagen conference must agree to cut pollution."][/caption]
In 100 days, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen begins, with leaders in Britain and China already playing up the stakes involved. Representatives from 192 nations will conspire to agree to a policy that will replace the Kyoto Protocol over the two week conference.
At the recent G8 summit in Italy, rich nations agreed to try to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees, above which most scientists are convinced catastrophic climate…
This summer I discovered a new (to me) literary genre: post-war British Sci-Fi. The decades after WWII were (not surprisingly) rather rough on the Brits, and the zeitgeist found an interesting outlet in science fiction. What makes these books so awesome?
Primarily it's the tone of stoic despair, a la Orwell. These books are less about the implications of technology, and more about capturing the mood of the times. There's one science/technology schtick to get things rolling, and from there on out it's all about how dysfunctional society can get. Imagine a sci-fi Flannery O'Connor or Cormac…