Science Education & Policy

Who Has Benefited From Science The Most? Europeans. Who Distrusts Science The Most? Europeans

This is a video from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 200th anniversary celebration. You'll need to start at minute 17 unless you are strong in northern European languages and want a musical interlude (which is actually quite civilized). ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Feb 9 2013 - 11:00am

“Yucca Mountain Will Be There Long After Senator Reid Is Gone”

What happens when thousands of scientists do decades of research and taxpayers spend spend $15 billion on a scientifically validated site for nuclear waste storage but those science conclusions conflict with the anti-science beliefs of a president and his ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 7 2013 - 6:31pm

Climate Change: Americans Are Okay With Regulations, Not Taxes

President Obama, who was going to heal the Earth in his first term, didn't do much of that but he put climate change back on the table in his second inaugural address and a new national poll says public support for regulating greenhouse gas emissions ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 7 2013 - 3:28pm

Will The Affordable Care Act Be Beneficial?

At the start of this year, a controversial feature of President Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into effect. Under the ACA, medical devices companies will have to pay new tax of 2.3% on gross sales. While medical devices companies have opposed ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 1 2013 - 9:24pm

Dear Asia: Please Send More Young People

Here's a good way to standardize education across the states without enraging powerful education unions and the US Department of Education: get rid of real standards. In a bit of pedagogical brilliance, California has decided to forgo algebra I, even ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Feb 13 2013 - 12:32pm

Trolls Win: It Might Be Better To Shut Off Comments

Why are physicists thick-skinned but biologists run for the hills when the comment trolls invariably appear?  It may help to be arcane and complex- it's harder to troll hard sciences. Everyone feels like they know some biology but good luck to casual ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 14 2013 - 8:01pm

Paul Ehrlich's New Doomsday Problem- Equal Rights For Women

The world produces a lot of food, but it is not produced equally. Agriculturally rich areas like American and Europe can fret about whether natural or synthetic toxins are on their food, and how much water a toilet flush should be, while a billion people ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 15 2013 - 3:24pm

US Science Policy Leaves Out Ways To Improve Science Itself

Given the enormous increase in government funding and control of science and technology in the U.S. during the last few decades, it is surprising that more attention isn't paid to the policy decisions that drive the enterprise, said Daniel Sarewitz,  ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 17 2013 - 11:30am

Genetically Modified Crops Are Overregulated

Despite being in use for almost 20 years with no health or safety issues, controversy continues to surround genetically modified crops and their regulation. Bruce Chassy, a professor emeritus of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illino ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 17 2013 - 9:36pm

The Social Dynamics Of Scientific Collaboration

Science has always had a social component. Much of science is a neutral endeavor for the public good but in modern times the political component has meant navigating treacherous social and environmental policy waters.  Not an easy task when science requir ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 18 2013 - 11:27am