cmooney | April 23, 2008It has just gone up over at Science Progress. Since there are certain things you cannot really say on ScienceBlogs any longer, I will only quote here the parts of the review that are ideologically palatable:
Okay, let's get this out of the way first: Ben Stein's new movie, Expelled, is a deeply dishonest piece of propaganda. Pretty much everything in it is a sham, from the quality of its intellectual and scientific arguments to the nonsense premise that Stein is going on a learning odyssey to find out what's really happening in the world of "Big Science" (hint: repression of dissent). In…
sheril | April 23, 2008On May 9, 2008, I'm going to be speaking at the 33rd Annual AAAS Forum On Science And Technology Policy in Washington, DC. I am part of the last plenary session alongside Seed's Editor-in-Chief Adam Bly and Dr. Anthony Crider, co-founder of the SciLands, a science continent in the Second Life world. Our discussion will be about Science and the New Media, so I've decided to bring our readers with me.
That's right, the conversation begins here at The Intersection... Readers, I Want You!
I invite readers to comment with thoughts on the topic and I will be showing this post at the Forum. For…
sheril | April 22, 2008I can't think of a better way to kick off Earth Day 2008 than brunch with Wallace J. Nichols - third culture oceanographer and Ocean Conservancy senior scientist. Later today, he's giving a keynote address here at Duke, so it's a good opportunity for us to catch up. Readers may remember J.'s research featured here on loggerhead sea turtles last October, and tonight he'll announce the winner of the first annual EcoDaredevil Award during his talk titled: 'Jump the Chasm: Are you an EcoDaredevil?'
EcoDareDevil is a cool concept... Check this out:
Everywhere I go, I meet EcoDaredevils. They…
cmooney | April 21, 2008This is not to knock the very important Expelled Exposed website. But in my opinion, in this day and age you really have to answer film with more film--and entertaining film with more entertaining film.
Ben Stein is very intellectually dishonest in Expelled, but he's also funny. Luckily, Randy Olson's 2006 documentary Flock of Dodos is also funny--and charming, and humane. So for people who might want to learn about evolution and actually be entertained at the same time, it seems to me the best answer that we currently have to Expelled. My advice would be to go buy a lot of DVD copies, and…
sheril | April 21, 2008Last week, I expressed concern over science illiteracy in the United States. While it's obvious we have a long way to go (evidenced by survey information provided by NSF), I have renewed optimism for tomorrow's leaders.
The reason over at Correlations...
cmooney | April 21, 2008...by Greg Laden. Or as one of my own commenters put it, "Either you really are just fucking stupid, or you're a closet creationist in this blog group. Pick one." I won't be deleting that comment despite the profanity, because I want to have it all on the record--the record of what now happens at ScienceBlogs if you say certain thing that people don't want to hear.
All this happened, I suppose, because I dared to point out the obvious: Expelled is a success. I mean, it's the eighth highest grossing political documentary of all time...after its first week. Randy Olson of course knows this,…
cmooney | April 20, 2008I merely report the facts: Expelled, opening at over 1,000 theaters this weekend, has raked in $ 3.15 million, placing it ninth at the box office. In terms of political documentaries, it is already the eighth highest grossing of all time.
UPDATE: Randy Olson, with whom I just went to see Expelled here in LA, has more on why this film counts as a major success for the anti-evolution forces.
cmooney | April 18, 2008Tonight Larry King will be hosting two celebrity documentarians--Morgan Spurlock (cheers) and Ben Stein (boos). Alas, if the former wanted to be well equipped to debunk the latter's expected tripe about evolution, there probably would have been no better training than making The Republican War on Science as a documentary. But Spurlock opted not to--a decision he recently discussed here in a Q & A. To wit:
Your name has been connected to an adaptation of the book The Republican War on Science? Any news on that project
We bought that book a couple years ago. We optioned the rights to that…
cmooney | April 18, 2008Okay, so...The Daily Show was pretty easy. Lewis Black's "Root of All Evil"? A bit tougher.
I went on the show with Sean Carroll, Jennifer Ouellette, Clifford Johnson, Michael Shermer, and a number of other "scientists" for a schtick called "Last Scientist Standing"--a parody of American Idol. And, well, if you want to see what didn't end up on the cutting room floor, click here and then scroll down to "American Idol vs. High School -- Kindler." Or just watch--the Kindler routine comes up soon enough.
And then tell me I'm not a great actor, even faced with considerable adversity...and that I…
sheril | April 18, 2008The Wall Street Journal has an article by David Baltimore and Ahmen Zewail about the Science Debate that didn't happen today at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia:
All three candidates declined. Apparently the top contenders for our nation's highest elective office have better things to do than explain to the public their views on securing America's future.
The piece lays out what we--America--must do to re-energize our commitment to being the world's leader in science and technology:
We need a president who moves science back into the White House. Today we do not have a presidential…
cmooney | April 17, 2008Following our hint last week of an announcement--which we have now officially made--there was some gossip about Sheril and myself. I know it's not meant that way, but it can be hurtful to people in our personal lives.
So although until now I have kept that part of my life pretty much off the blog, I thought it time to do a post about my beautiful fiance, Molly McGrath, who is both the sole and the best reason that I moved to Los Angeles. Over the past six months, Molly has been kicking butt out here working for the Writer's Guild of America--she moved for the job and immediately got to work…
sheril | April 17, 2008Biologists in northern Vietnam have identified a soft-shell giant turtle believed to be extinct in the wild! Swinhoe's turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) was found and photographed in a lake west of the capital, Hanoi. It's one of the most critically endangered species of turtle in the world. And get this: These legendary animals grow up to 1m long and can live to be 100 years old!
According to Reuters:
The reptile in the Hanoi city lake has a special place in Vietnamese folklore and whose appearance some believe to be a portent of an extraordinary event.
The legend tells how the 15th century…
cmooney | April 17, 2008There has been some buzz of late over the idea that with a recent paper, MIT hurricane guru Kerry Emanuel is backing down from the stance that global warming has intensified recent hurricanes. But after reading the paper, I just don't see it. Sure, Emanuel admits he might be wrong but that's no more and no less than any other scientist might do.
I explain in a lot more detail over at The Daily Green.
cmooney | April 16, 2008You've already read our policy forum in Science--but in my latest column for Science Progress, I go farther in drawing lessons from the ScienceDebate2008 experience thus far. They are:
1. Ignore the Naysayers
2. Whatever Happens in 2008, We Can Build on the Experience in 2012
3. There is No Excuse for Science To Run and Hide Again From Politics
4. Think Outside the Box, and Never Give Up
Read here for details....
P.S.: The massive and influential World Wildlife Federation has just endorsed ScienceDebate2008...
cmooney | April 16, 2008Last week, we certainly had you folks guessing--sometimes in a pretty off-the-wall way--about the news we planned to announce.
So here's what's really happening: We have just inked a deal to do a book together. Yes, that's right--my third, Sheril's first.
And yes, the book is about science--and about "the Intersection." We don't want to reveal too much yet, but suffice it to say, it rolls together many of the preoccupations of this blog over the past year or more--ScienceDebate2008, science communication, how to fight back against political interference--into a package that we think could…
sheril | April 16, 2008 ..says Natalie Portman.
My third post of the week examining science illiteracy and women is now up over at Correlations. This time, find out where fellas surpassed the ladies by 30 percentage points... (gulp!)
sheril | April 15, 2008Back to taking on the science literacy gender disparity...
Correct answers to scientific literacy questions, by sex: 2006
(by percent)
The continents have been moving their location for millions of years and will continue to move. (True)
Male 85
Female 75
All radioactivity is man-made. (False)
Male 77
Female 64
The universe began with a huge explosion. (True)
Male40
Female27*
* that right folks, almost 3/4 of female respondents answered incorrectly
sheril | April 15, 2008Over at Denialism blog, PalMD asks us to:
..imagine you are sitting in the doctors' lounge, and a senior physician says that sending women to medical school is a bit of a waste.
[cringe]
He goes on to explain:
In the early 1960's, about 5% of medical American medical students were women. Now about half are. Women are first authors on more medical papers than ever, yet fill only about 11% of department chairs, and fill about 15% of full professorship positions.
Hmmmm... sounds familiar...
Well, this is the real world, and in the real world, half of us are women, and women are the ones who…
sheril | April 14, 2008According to the BBC News, China has already overtaken the US as the world's 'biggest polluter.'
Dr. Max Auffhammer, lead researcher on an upcoming report in next month's Journal of Environment Economics and Management, explained his projections assume that the Chinese government's recent aggressive energy efficiency program would fail and called figures for emissions growth 'truly shocking.'
"But there is no sense pointing a finger at the Chinese. They are trying to pull people out of poverty and they clearly need help.
"The only solution is for a massive transfer of technology and wealth…
sheril | April 14, 2008
I spent much of Sunday examining the education system in this country and came across NSF's Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 report. Most alarming is the scientific literacy section based on data from the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. Moreover, if the examination methods were reasonable, I'm extremely troubled by the ladies' overall performance. Therefore, I plan to spend this week exploring the disparity that leaves me speechless. So kicking off Monday, let's it started...
Correct answers to scientific literacy questions, by sex: 2006
(by percent)
The…