Now on ScienceBlogs: The Galaxy's Biggest Valentine
An irregular exploration of the struggle between the power of rational discourse and the scientific method on one hand, and the forces of superstition and dogma on the other. Mostly regarding climate change, though.
James Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist and communications consultant based in western North Carolina, where he tries to put degrees in marine biology and journalism to good use.
The Demon-Haunted World:
Science as a Candle
in the Dark,
by Carl Sagan
(A
review)
The Doubter's Companion:
by John Ralston Saul (Excerpts)
Skeptic Magazine: www.skeptic.com
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal: www.csicop.org
A poem by Yehuda Amichai:
The
Place
Where We Are Right
The Meaning of the
Island of Doubt
By doubting we come to inquiry; and through inquiry we perceive truth.
--- Peter Abelard
Undisguised clarity is easily mistaken for arrogance.
-- Richard Dawkins
As for evolution, it happened. Deal with it.
-- Michael Shermer.
"There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things
which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand.
Resolve, then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving, and
tiny blasts of tinny trumpets, we have met the enemy, and not only may
he be ours, he may be us."
--Walt Kelly
September 29, 2009
Category: technology
The arguments against carbon capture and sequestration are legion and the list of reasons not to invest more resources in the technology just keeps getting longer. Here's a new analysis from Canadian journalist Graham Thomson. Some of his figures-- on...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:39 AM • 16 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 28, 2009
Category: climate
From the Environmental Law Institute, via Grist....
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 1:28 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: climate
Like anyone else who cares about climate change and the future of their electricity bill, I hope Chu is right.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:32 AM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 25, 2009
The CBC effectively said to its audience: this guy may have a point even though any honest effort to evaluate his arguments would conclude that he doesn't.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:32 AM • 29 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 24, 2009
Category: climate
"A new approach to defining biophysical preconditions for human development."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 9:12 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 22, 2009
Category: Sci-culture
It seems Olson has at last freed himself from the straitjacket of "framing" that seemed to lurk behind the scenes in Sizzle in favor of just being human. It's a welcome and refreshing approach that anyone interested in taking science to a wider audience should embrace.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:36 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 18, 2009
Category: climate
It's a surprisingly complicated question. There are few reliable sources of data on just how much energy and resources are involved in extracting petroleum from the bitumen-laden sands of northern Alberta. But the inertia that comes with the tens of...
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 7:22 AM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 16, 2009
Category: pseudo-science
"I view it with dread, fear and panic," he said. "I don't want to grow food under those conditions."
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 12:13 PM • 23 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Sci-culture
First, we have the argument that speaking out as an advocate undermines the reputation of the individual or an entire field of science. That's an easy one to demolish.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 11:25 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
September 15, 2009
Category: Sci-culture
It could be the last gasp of hard-core sci-fi on network television.
Posted by James Hrynyshyn at 10:11 AM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
casaubon's book 02.13.2012
denialism blog 02.13.2012
respectful insolence 02.13.2012
evolutionblog 02.12.2012
starts with a bang! 02.11.2012
