Science & Society

Racked Up A Million: Should I Retire?

No, not a million of those... I am talking about page hits. And no, there is no reason for retiring: the next million is awaiting! I didn't give much thought to page hits when I started blogging. And I probably still don't give it enough attenti ...

Article - Johannes Koelman - Jan 16 2012 - 10:28pm

Alcohol In China And Enzyme Evolution

In China, drinking alcohol is often still a vital part of doing business. Science is important in China, which has become the scientific leader in several ways, but science is business of course. At times, alcohol belongs to science here. ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - Sep 6 2014 - 3:54am

University Wields Holocaust Denial Lawsuit To Silence Critical Economics Professor, Skeptics Smell Blood

Franz Hörmann, professor at the Vienna University for Economics (Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien), distinguishes between Expert-Knowledge (Fachwissen) and Experience-Knowledge (Erlebniswissen). The latter rests on memories formed by personal involvement. He h ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - Jan 17 2016 - 9:12pm

Tibet And Buddhism To Stay Liberated

The news of the world are filled again with anti-Chinese propaganda. I am appalled at how simplistic anti-Chinese bickering is allowed to be, because it hides the real problems and dangers of China, and there are also positive aspects, like that China has ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - Sep 6 2014 - 4:45am

Worried About Terrorism Hot Spots? Here Are 5 U.S. Places To Avoid

Over 30 percent of all terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2008 occurred in just five metropolitan U.S. counties, according to a report published today by researchers in the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a De ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 31 2012 - 1:47pm

An Excellent Study On Denialism

The Wall Street Journal published an excellent case study in denialism on Friday, in the form of a letter from sixteen scientists seeking to perpetuate gridlock in climate policy.  While nothing they have to say raises any scientific issues about climate c ...

Article - Robert Cooper - Feb 13 2012 - 10:52am

Forbes Takes Down Anti-Science Beliefs At NPR

Who has more credibility to the NPR audience, a scientist or someone who runs an organic yogurt company?  It depends on the issue, of course.  When it comes to global warming, science is awesome but when it comes to food security for poor people, science i ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Feb 24 2012 - 1:04am

From Aaronson to Žerovnik: Scientists are lining up to boycott Elsevier

Many publishers attract a significant amount of bile from scientists. However, most bile is reserved for that titan of publishers, Elsevier. Now, many academics are signing on online pledge called The Cost of Knowledge, where you can pledge to boycott Else ...

Blog Post - Oliver Knevitt - Feb 3 2012 - 1:22pm

Robopocalypse Now

Robopocalypse, see also here on Boing Boing, is a novel by roboticist Daniel Wilson, who foretells a global apocalypse brought on by artificial Intelligence (AI) that hijacks automation systems globally and uses them to wipe out humanity. Computers and no ...

Article - Sascha Vongehr - Feb 6 2012 - 12:42am

Use by date?

In the USA, it is, I understand, a great insult to call a member of the fair sex a “Tub of Lard”.  So folks from across the Pond may do a slight double-take when they read          Tub of lard found fit to eat after 64 years   ...

Blog Post - Robert H Olley - Feb 4 2012 - 2:46pm