"Fool Me Twice" is the title of a new book on science and politics by Shawn Lawrence Otto. Subtitled "Fighting the Assault on Science in America", it addresses a topic which is often presented as a kind of problem to be solved to gain scientific credibility but is rarely considered as closely as it needs to be.  Otto begins by discussing some common incidences in politics and initially appears that perhaps an element of political bias is present in these arguments.

However, after a brief discussion of politics he introduces a different view of the political landscape that extends beyond simply progressive and conservative labels, by connecting them to the more fundamental philosophical views of authoritarian and antiauthoritarian perspectives.

Biodiversity is declining, and is likely to continue along the same path unless something is done about it. And to effectively do something about it, it appears that large investments are required. These substantial investments will probably result in a critical assessment of the science underlying the current and near-future efforts. After all, people and governments like to know where their money goes. This led to a survey among conservation scientists, of which the results have recently been published in the journal Conservation Biology. In the words of the author:

Is the author of 'open notebook astronomy' an idiot?  Over at 365DOA, there is a full article on open notebook astronomy.  What is open notebook?  Making your data and your work visible, rather than only presenting the subset you find personally relevant.

How does this help science?  Well, I could re-imagine the above article, but without openness.  Instead, I just present the parts that I think are relevant to my argument that the author of open notebook astronomy is, indeed, an idiot.

Red blood cells regenerate every four months but the lining of the intestine regenerates itself every few days. The cells that help humans absorb food are constantly being produced and the various cell types that do this come from stem cells that reside deep in the inner recesses of the accordion-like folds of the intestines, called villi and crypts. 

Like ancient burial crypts, these adult stem cells are something of a mystery. Two types of intestinal stem cells have been proposed to exist but the relationship between them has been unclear. One type of stem cell divides slowly and resides at the sides of intestinal crypts. The other divides much more quickly and resides at the bottom of the crypts.

The last few years have seen a real spike in end-of-the-world conspiracy theories.  Why?  More asteroids, more flares, more earthquakes?  No, just more Internet to talk about them, which gives bored news media something to talk about and bored science sites more news media to debunk.

At least one end-of-the-world scenario for 2012 has been eliminated already - like the Christmas shopping season, people are pushing debunking the apocalypse farther and farther back and science is already eliminating 2012 apocalypses before 2011 is even over.  Sheesh.  When will we learn to just enjoy the anticipation?

In 2011, science has been confronted with several high profile awkward situations of having to explain why standard methods like classical significance analysis are acceptable in for example medical studies on the safety of a new vaccine but not when results put orthodoxy into doubt. The most infamous among them is the 6 sigma significance of the OPERA confirmation of previously by MINOS indicated faster than light neutrinos. Second place: evidence for precognition in a work [1] that abides by all the usual scientific methods and passed peer review in a top tier journal.

If you've ever thought you were being abducted by an alien or, if you are 400 years old, seduced by a succubus, and couldn't move, you are not alone.   A new article in Sleep Medicine Reviews says 7.6% of the population has had the same experience and it's called sleep paralysis.
The psychologists define sleep paralysis as "a discrete period of time during which voluntary muscle movement is inhibited, yet ocular and respiratory movements are intact" and it often involves hallucinations.

The moon has no global magnetic field yet  Apollo astronauts found magnetized rocks on the lunar surface.

A new hypothesis proposes a mechanism that could have generated a magnetic field on the moon early in its history. The 'geodynamo' that generates Earth's magnetic field is powered by heat from the inner core, which drives complex fluid motions in the molten iron of the outer core.  The moon is too small to support that type of dynamo but the researchers write in Nature that an ancient lunar dynamo could have arisen from stirring of the moon's liquid core driven by the motion of the solid mantle above it.

Anecdotes are not data, the saying goes, but people sure believe them.  An article in JAMA says doctors should consider the use of narrative, patient stories and testimonials, to boost public acceptance of health issues such as cancer screenings and vaccination mandates.

They advocate "counternarratives" to neutralize personal stories, think celebrities in the news media sharing their health knowledge, that seek to support quackery like homeopathy and anti-vaccine beliefs, along with narratives about the process of scientific study and discovery, to unmask the often hidden work of researchers and guidelines committees.

It’s going to be a big day tomorrow when the Oregon football team comes to town.  This year, we meet the team that handed us our only loss last season – but on our own turf.  And although Stanford has played (mostly) with convincing dominance this season (and Oregon’s already picked up one loss), we’ll take all the home-field advantage we can get.

Sports fans everywhere understand the merits of playing at home: you know the quirks of the stadium, are acclimated to the local weather, and have a fan base that screams at your opponent and shuts up when you’re on offense.  It’s the classic recipe for success.

But if you’re the rare team that plays best on the road, you might just shake up the league.