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Halloween Horror Science: Are Chickens That Learn A Bigger Threat To Us Than AI?

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) vegetarian advocacy group ...

Ignore Critics, Gen Z, We Weren't Smarter In 1984

It's commonplace for older generations to criticize the young. In my early career, an older fellow...

Taking The Book Of The Dead To Heart

In ancient Egypt, the heart was the key to a happy afterlife. It lived on after death, they believed...

American CO2 Is Below War War II Levels But We Keep Emissions High In Poor Countries

In politics, one way to make your belief in alternative energy seem feasible is to make its competitors...

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Hank CampbellRSS Feed of this column.

I founded Science 2.0® in 2006 and since then it has become the world's largest independent science communications site, with over 300,000,000 direct readers and reach approaching one billion. Read More »

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I, For One, Welcome Our New Republican Overlords

I, For One, Welcome Our New Republican Overlords

Jan 06 2009 | comment(s)

What?  Republicans getting a mention on the eve of a scientific Golden Age due to the presence of Democrats in both Congress and the Oval Office, a time when the heavens themselves shall burst forth with funding to drive out the stench of stem cell restrictions and global warming doubts and heralding in a spirit of tolerance and equality for everyone except oil company employees and vaccination deniers?    Have I lost my senses?  

Patience, my friends, as always there is a reason.   And, as always, it will take me 1,000 words to get to it.
Two New Scientific Blogging Features; Friend Notification and Article Track

Two New Scientific Blogging Features; Friend Notification and Article Track

Jan 05 2009 | comment(s)

Two posts in one weekend?  I am such a science blogger.
Personality Characteristics of Wikipedia Members - Not So Social, Says Psychologist

Personality Characteristics of Wikipedia Members - Not So Social, Says Psychologist

Jan 04 2009 | comment(s)

A group of researchers did an analysis of the personalities of Wikipedia members and apparently don't think they are all that great.   By not great, I mean they fared less well on scales of agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness than people who weren't Wikipedia members.

Not surprisingly, introverted women were more likely to be Wikipedia members than non-introverted women.   Basically, women who can get boyfriends instead of slamming other contributors on Wikipedia tend to do that.   Not so shocking.
2008 Science Retrospective: Science Journalists Need Some New Clichés In 2009

2008 Science Retrospective: Science Journalists Need Some New Clichés In 2009

Dec 31 2008 | comment(s)

There was a big development in science this year, yet most people missed it.   It wasn't induced pluripotent stem cells or global warming or Barack Obama securing 99% of the scientist vote despite his belief that vaccines cause autism, which caused even heterosexual scientists to disregard Jenny McCarthy.  No, it was an alarming decrease in available clichés to describe what scientists think about new discoveries.
Third Hand Cigarette Smoking - Legitimate Worry Or Shark Jumping By Zealots?

Third Hand Cigarette Smoking - Legitimate Worry Or Shark Jumping By Zealots?

Dec 28 2008 | comment(s)

For the dwindling minority that still smokes and don't feel oppressed enough, here's something new to worry about;  even if you choose to smoke outside of your house, thinking that you're keeping your kids away from second-hand smoke, you're still exposing them to toxins and potentially cognitive deficits, say researchers in the January issue of Pediatrics.  Did they do a clinical study?   No, they did a survey and found people who agree.  That is why I use the term jumping the shark.  Anti-smoking fundamentalists may have done it.
What Do Barack Obama, John McCain And Tom Cruise Have In Common? Scientific Illiteracy

What Do Barack Obama, John McCain And Tom Cruise Have In Common? Scientific Illiteracy

Dec 27 2008 | comment(s)

Go ahead and admit it, you would have been stumped if the answer wasn't in the title, right?   There isn't much a Democrat President-elect, an old white Republican war veteran and an insane actor could all have in common, but they do, according to the group Sense About Science which seeks to promote scientific accuracy.

It's scientific illiteracy.

Their Celebrities and Science Review 2008 pulls out the choicest bits of non-supported science data and holds them up for all to ridicule.  So let's go to it:

Barack Obama: