Sci-culture
hrynyshyn | June 11, 2007PZ Myers offers up a worthy review of a recent poll on Americans belief in science, one that not too surprisingly finds that fundamentalist Protestants are the least likely to believe in evolution. More interesting was the discovery that while higher levels of education tend to increase one's belief in evolution among most religious groups, it made no difference for the fundamentalists. In PZ's words, "they are completely refractory to education." That brought to mind a similar poll on belief in anthropogenic global warming (AWG) I heard mentioned on NPR this past weekend...
The climate poll…
hrynyshyn | January 9, 2007On the wall behind Fox Mulder's desk in the basement of the X-File's version of the FBI headquarters in DC was a poster of a UFO photograph atop the phrase "I Want To Believe." Which pretty much sums up how a lot a people, scientists included, feel about the possibility of life on Mars. So it was no surprise that among the first pieces of news to slip out of the recent American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle was a theory that we have already, in fact, discovered evidence of just that.
Now, I'm no organic chemist. I even struggled a little bit in the second half of organic chem back…
hrynyshyn | January 6, 2007This past week I spent the better part of three days in the company of Al Gore Jr. and his associates as part of The Climate Project, an effort to create a small army of climate change slide-show presenters across North America and beyond. If you've seen Laurie David's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, you've already seen a good portion of the show. But Al wants as many people as possible to see as much of possible of his entire presentation, and after almost 20 years of writing about climate change, I decided to help him do just that. Is this really a good idea?
It's a bit of a risk for…
hrynyshyn | October 6, 2006 It's Friday. Time for some idle musing.
A former director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator, one Burton Richter, has written an intriguing little essay on the allegedly sorry state of affairs in particle physics.
Richter's main thesis is that there's too much "theological speculation" going on in the high-energy and cosmology labs these days. He defines such thinking as "the development of models with no testable consequences" as opposed to proper, Popperian, falsifiable theorizing. That seems to a common theme among many observers, what with all the dissing of string theory. (See the…
hrynyshyn | September 27, 2006My first post after moving the Island to ScienceBlogs was a list of science-themed popular songs. Not too surprisingly, there really wasn't much from which to choose. But it now gives me great pleasure to introduce to you a new tune that belongs at the top of any such list. I give you Chris Smither's "Origin of the Species," a track from the folk singer-songwriter's new CD "Leave the Light On." I can't think of another song that takes on intelligent design and pays tribute to Charles Darwin. Plus, it's a great piece of music in its own right, quite worthy of heavy rotation on the airwaves.
"…
hrynyshyn | July 4, 2006On the eve of America's 230th, the New York Times steps to the plate with a short, sweet editorial calling for more and better science education:
Some universities have already realized the need for better ways of teaching. But this means revising an incentive system that has historically rewarded scientists for making discoveries and publishing academic papers, not for nurturing the next generation of great minds.
hrynyshyn | June 30, 2006Having worked as a communications officer for more than one scientific outfit, I can sympathize with the outreach guys at the University of Leicester. But methinks they took their attention-grabbing-headline lessons a bit too seriously. A story making the rounds of the science PR wires today asks:
What do Racquel Welch and quantum physics have in common?
The answer is not a whole heckuva lot.
The research they're trying to interest journalists in writing about involves zero-point energy, that mysterious quality of even a vaccuum to hold a measurable level of activity at the subatomic level.…
hrynyshyn | June 12, 2006The Pi meme: If for no other reason than it's good to re-examine one's motives.Thanks to Janet for cooking up this particular indulgent recipe.
3 reasons you blog about science:
1. Nothing better to do with my free time
2. Can't resist a good argument
3. Need somewhere to spew; otherwise my opinions might find their way into something I actually get paid good money to write.
Point at which you would stop blogging:
1. When science is no longer a political football
1 thing you frequently blog besides science:
The evils of dogma.
4 words that describe your blogging style:
Opinionated,…