Science & Society

Life Isn't Aways Wonderful- Humanity's Third Biggest Problem

The three problems of humanity were outlined in a talk by Nick Bostrom (of Oxford University, UK) at TED in April 2009. In this piece I will continue to examine the "big" problems identified in the TEDTalk.  It is this third point that begins to ...

Article - Gerhard Adam - Dec 13 2010 - 5:55pm

Killing Babies With Bill Maher: Science Enemy Against Vaccines

The pharmaceutics industry, too many science bloggers, “skeptics”- they all tell us that we should trust science and that all those who speak out for “natural” solutions are none other but religious idiots, or even monsters, criminals who do not refrain f ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - Dec 14 2010 - 10:01am

A Dangerous Knowledge Gap: The Autism Wars

Lisa Rudy posted " Misinterpretation of Autism News Can Cause Serious Confusion"  over at About.com's autism site, and the comments have gotten interesting and clearly demonstrate the growing gap between what consumers know and believe and w ...

Article - Kim Wombles - Dec 14 2010 - 2:52pm

Hey, Barbie—Show Me The Science!

While Christmas shopping today with my sister and little 3 year old niece, I noticed something that rather disturbed me. And as difficult as it is for me to say this—it was Barbie. OMG. So many Barbies! ...

Article - Andrea Kuszewski - Sep 12 2011 - 10:50pm

Political Science

For too long, scientists have ducked away from public service, not because their peers have been unwilling to elect them, but because there is a sense among scientifically educated people that politics is something to be avoided-- something that is inheren ...

Article - Ed Chen - Dec 28 2010 - 12:06pm

Science by 8-year-olds

I thought I was going into Christmas recess, but then I saw this: Graduate students the world over have got to be feeling like slackers right now: A group of 8- to 10-year-old British schoolchildren have published a scientific paper in the peer-reviewed (R ...

Blog Post - Robert H Olley - Dec 23 2010 - 12:34pm

WCSJ 2011

Some shameful self-propaganda is in order today... Such posts have usually borne good fruits in the past, so why not! ...

Blog Post - Tommaso Dorigo - Dec 27 2010 - 10:19am

Clusters, Technopolis, And A New Industrial Policy

Sorry I've been absent for a while. (I hope you missed me!) Here's one thing that's been keeping me busy: ...

Article - Fred Phillips - Dec 29 2010 - 11:43am

Scientific Method In Decline?

Jonah Lehrer in The New Yorker about the slipperiness of the scientific method: "The Truth Wears Off: Is There Something Wrong With The Scientific Method?" The test of replicability, as it’s known, is the foundation of modern research. Replicabil ...

Article - Michael White - Dec 30 2010 - 3:46pm

ADHD Yoghurt For Winning The Drug War

What is the most popular form of Citizen Science? Some want to make us believe it is SETI@home, 8 year olds being pressured by overenthusiastic teachers, or people in their backyards looking for comets. ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - Feb 24 2012 - 1:09am