Seriously, this is what is wrong with science education. There is just so much wrong with it I don't even know where to begin. It's supposed to teach students the order of the steps and the major inputs and outputs in the fundamental processes that power all plants and animals. But sliding those tiles around is unnecessarily frustrating and time ( Read more... )

OOOOOOOMG ARSENIC-BASED LIFE!!!!111

Eh, not quite. To quote PZ: “…researchers have found that some earthly bacteria that live in literally poisonous environments are adapted to find the presence of arsenic dramatically less lethal, and that they can even incorporate arsenic into their routine, familiar chemistry.” He points out in an addendum that ( Read more... )

What is the meaning of life? I certainly would not claim to know, but I do believe that our lives have "meaning" in some sense of the word. At the very least, they are meaningful to us individually. My life and well being are important to me, and I extend that to my friends and family, and even to complete strangers non-human organisms. I just read ( Read more... )

Some of the most interesting discussions in science concern the limits of scientific knowledge. There is the issue of whether or not science can answer questions about God, or definitively rule out supernatural causes. In addition to these big questions, I am also quite interested in the limitations of specific theories or studies. I believe it is ( Read more... )

I just read a reprint of a 2007 Slate article on why there's no dispelling the myth that vaccines cause autism. Ultimately, what the science says does not matter to the bulk of the anti-vaxers. So what are we, as scientists and people who look to science for answers to do? The article offers no suggestions, but I think at some point we just have ( Read more... )

lol @ carbon-free sugar

Listening to this reminded me why I think it's so important to understand the basic science behind controversial topics like municipal water fluoridation. It's actually not their main arguments that kept nagging at me when I first heard this, but rather the unsupported claim that Chuck and Josh repeat several times, that fluoride is found in ( Read more... )

     Health officials cite an increase in the incidence of pertussis, particularly among infants and teenagers. In 1976 there were just over 1,000 reported cases of pertussis in the United States; by 2004, it climbed to nearly 26,000 cases. Between 2000 and 2005 there were 140 deaths resulting from pertussis in the United States ( Read more... )

Blaine woman trying to get anti-evolution initiative on state ballot

I'm utterly speechless. Right here in my own back yard! Initiative 1040 is being proposed by 25 year old Kim Struiksma and

…would prohibit "state use of public money or lands for anything that denies or attempts to refute the existence of a supreme ruler of the universe, ( Read more... )

Anyone ever listen to This American Life on NPR? It's a truly amazing program. In the December 19 episode, Ruining it for the Rest of Us, one of the stories is about a recent outbreak of the completely preventable and almost obsolete measles virus in San Diego. Patient zero was an unvaccinated young boy who picked up the infection in Switzerland ( Read more... )