Science & Society

Physics is hard. No Duh?

It seems that one Toby Cubitt,  a quantum physicist, has done research which proves mathematically that physics is hard.  Well no duh.  Physics is the subject sane people avoid in college.  Compare the conceptual complexity of Louis DeBroglie's work o ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - May 11 2012 - 4:57pm

Science meets Society interviews Sascha Vongehr

Science meets society (SMS) has interviewed me. Actually, they took my answers to their list of questions so to make it look like an interview may have taken place. I am thankful for the honor and the exposure and all that, however, I am somewhat concerne ...

Blog Post - Sascha Vongehr - May 16 2012 - 12:34am

Scare Journalism- Drinking From A Garden Hose Will Hurt Your Kid

Helicopter parents rejoice- when you are not slathering on chemicals to make sure your cherubs never get any sunshine and scraping off deadly pathogens with antibacterial soap, you can further protect your offspring by insuring they catch no debilitating d ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - May 18 2012 - 11:00am

You Can't Be Anti-Business And Claim To Be Pro-Green

California faces an identity crisis.  The financial mismanagement is so well known that late-night talk show hosts make jokes about getting loans...from Greece.  Three years ago, third world countries like Romania were safer bonds than California but now G ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - May 24 2012 - 4:59pm

A Primer On "Tribal Science": An Easy Read On Why We Believe As We Do

Mike McRae's  Tribal Science: Brains, Beliefs, and Bad Ideas is short, sweet, often humorous and to the point. It's also pithy and full of quote-worthy sentences: "Since most of the face-like patterns Mary sees every day are indeed faces, he ...

Article - Kim Wombles - May 22 2012 - 12:37pm

SETI's Jill Tarter Stepping Down

"Contact", Carl Sagan's 1985 novel about man's contact with extraterrestrial life and where it takes us, was, like all good stories, modeled around real characters. The book was okay but the movie "Contact" had Jodie Foster, w ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - May 22 2012 - 12:14pm

Autism, Autism Speaks, And The True Stakeholders

Autism isn't a four letter word in our house. It's not something we treat with kid gloves, not something we see as a tragedy or, in our kids' case, in need of a cure. We see it as something to be worked with and around, but we don't ta ...

Article - Kim Wombles - May 24 2012 - 10:15am

Sensory Integration Therapy Not Scientifically Validated: Not New News

It seems like there's always something to be mad at or feel threatened over when it comes to autism-related reporting or blogging. Sometimes it's reasonable outrage, like an article on autism that doesn't involve autistic individual perspect ...

Article - Kim Wombles - May 29 2012 - 4:24pm

Why I'm Bored Of Talking To Creationists

I forgot my phone charger for the conference I went to last week. If this was just a year ago then I would barely have noticed. Mostly because my trusty old Nokia that I had then would have lasted long enough (I mean, the conference was only 2 friggin days ...

Article - Oliver Knevitt - Jun 7 2012 - 5:04am

Farm Schism: Can You Be Successful And Still Be Called Fair Trade?

The fair trade movement  is in its seventh decade but has an internal problem.  Fair trade, as a concept, sought originally to make sure small people got a fair deal- a Mennonite visiting Puerto Rico saw the poverty levels of people there and decided to he ...

Article - Hank Campbell - May 31 2012 - 12:22pm