Posts tagged science
“ Why do I even need to have this discussion? Why, if I had proposed educating people about gravity or plate tectonics, would there have been no debate? Why would any other drive to educate be seen as positive, rather than dogmatic? Why are we expected to roll over and simply accept that some people are going to ignore the fact of evolution? Because religion is protected in our culture. Telling someone they’re wrong is “dogmatic” if it’s contradicting their religious beliefs even if, you know, they’re wrong. Mincing words and avoiding hurt feelings is more important than education and reality. Religion does not deserve this special status. We don’t have to tiptoe around, pretending the universe bends to their wishes when all of the evidence says otherwise.”
Accepting evidence is not dogmatic | Blag Hag
My favorite thing I’ve read all week. I’m so glad it’s back up, because this is something that should be openly discussed, not just in academia but in popular culture.
“ But here’s the point: communication isn’t simply casting out information from atop a tower. There are two parts to it: presenting an idea to someone, and them understanding it. Sometimes we have to change the way we word things to make that second half happen. Otherwise we’re shouting all the facts in the Universe to an empty room.”
Scientists are from Mars, the public is from Earth | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine
Brilliant article on the meeting of science and journalism, and why they’re so important.
“ It’s all about the truth, people. And all the evidence is crystal clear right now: the earth is far older than 6,000 years. Evolution is a real, and it is a process built on raw chance driven by the brutal engines of selection, and there is no sign of a loving, personal god, but only billions of years of pitiless winnowing without any direction other than short-term survival and reproduction. It’s not pretty, it’s not consoling, it doesn’t sanctify virginity, or tell you that god really loves your foreskin, but it’s got one soaring virtue that trumps all the others: it’s true.”
Confrontation all the way : Pharyngula
Brilliant. Read this, all of it, now.
Tonight’s the night, America. Tonight the Science Channel begins airing the fantastic and groundbreaking BBC series Wonders of the Solar System in the U.S. for the first time. The show is hosted by
reanimated Carl SaganProfessor Brian Cox, who clearly and eloquently explains some of the most magnificent wonders in our universe. He’s also British.Click here to see all upcoming air times (times in ET; check your local listings). Click here to get the lowdown on tonight’s episode and go here to download all the episodes.
Cheers, and don’t miss this brilliant fantastic awesome show if you’ve yet to see it!
Anyone that’s interested and able should check this out.
Americans: watch this! It is awesome. That is all.
“ There is no debate here — just scientists vs. non-scientists, and since the topic is science, the non-scientists don’t get a vote. We shouldn’t decide everything by polling the masses. Just because most people believe something doesn’t make it true. This is the fallacy called argumentum ad numeram: the idea that something is true because great numbers believe it. As in: Eat shit, 20 trillion flies can’t be wrong.”
Bill Maher, via HuffPost: New Rule: Al Gore Must Come Out With a Sequel to His Film and Call It An Inconvenient Truth 2: What the F*ck Is Wrong With You People? (via savagemike) (via cijimcb) (via ihatethismess) (via cocknbull) (via abcsoupdot)
This sentiment needs to be applied to the “controversy” surrounding evolution, the existence of a god, and so on.
“ …I felt that scientists really represent humanity. Nothing to do with race, nation, or ideology. They just carry on research irrespective of these other things. We need this spirit among politicians, among world leaders. Sometimes they focus too much on their own ideologies, their own nations. Then unnecessary problems come. That’s unfortunate.”
Six men to be locked up in isolation together all in the name of science.
The ambitious project, the first full-duration simulated flight to Mars, aims to test one of the biggest unknowns of an eventual manned mission to Mars: the psychological and physical toll on humans.
The idea is to exactly reproduce the timescale of a Mars mission — 250 days for the trip to Mars, 30 days on the surface and 240 days for the return journey, totalling 520 days, cut off from the world in a mock spaceship.It will be interesting to see how this will pan out. Will a computer kill them all? Will a demon from another dimension find its way onboard and kill them all? Will they create robots that look like humans and who then go on to enslave the race that made them? Will they make it back before they run out of air?? Will Sam Rockwell make it back to Earth alive??!?! The suspense is already killing me. (via reddit)
Honestly, I would be so happy to volunteer for this. A year and a half of reading books, writing daily and whenever I feel like it, learning about any subject I like; in general, living without having to worry about being stuck at an office eight hours per day, while still having the possibility to connect with friends and family online? Sign me up, please. And if it’s an actual trip to Mars, all the better.
President Obama Pledges Total Commitment to NASA
President Obama says his new budget request to increase NASA’s funding by $6 billion over the next five years is an investment in America’s future, and a challenge to the agency to build on its legacy of innovation and discovery.
“What we’re looking for is not just to continue on the same path”, said the President. “We want to leap into the future. We want major breakthroughs, transformative for NASA.”
Making his remarks to an audience of several hundred at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida prior to the start of a one-day “Conference on the American Space Program” for the 21st Century”, President Obama reassured those in attendance about his support for NASA.
“The bottom line is, nobody is more committed to manned spaceflight, the human exploration of space, than I am. But we cant do it the same old way, but in the smart way to get where we want to go.”
The space conference of senior officials, space and industry leaders, academic experts and others focuses the different aspects of the President’s new direction for the agency. President Obama was introduced by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. (Details at: www.nasa.gov)(via NASAtelevision)
I’m exited to see where this plan actually works out.
Yes!
“ At the top level of math abilities, where boys are overrepresented, the report found that the gender gap is rapidly shrinking. Among mathematically precocious youth — sixth and seventh graders who score more than 700 on the math SAT — 30 years ago boys outnumbered girls 13 to 1, but only about 3 to 1 now.”
“That’s not biology at play, it doesn’t change so fast,” Ms. Hill said. “Even if there are biological factors in boys outnumbering girls, they’re clearly not the whole story. There’s a real danger in assuming that innate differences are important in determining who will succeed, so we looked at the cultural factors, to see what evidence there is on the nurture side of nature or nurture.
BBC - Wonders of the Solar System S01E02 Order out of Chaos (2010) 720p HDTV SFM Download Rapidshare Megaupload Hotfile - DownTR
Ok, I normally do not share links to possibly illegit download content, but I have to share this. I really, really wanted to watch the Wonders of the Solar System program on the BBC’s free iplayer, but unfortunately it’s not available in my country, and chances are it’s not available in your country either.
However, since I highly recommend this documentary series for all lovers of science, I offer the above link to download it. Of course, if you can, watch it on the BBC site instead.
Oh, and part one can be found here.
