Science & Society

In the movies, aliens and evil empires want to kill us. Despite their advanced technology, they end up landing ground troops to do so. Worse, the forces of evil-- alien or human-- tend to be lousy shots. How unrealistic is this? 1) Aliens who come to ea ...

Article - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - May 20 2011 - 5:08pm

Newest Motherhood Fashion- Home Births On The Rise

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists doesn't like births outside expensive hospitals and recently issued a statement disapproving of the practice. Regardless, mothers, Caucasian at least, are not listening and a new analysis show ...

Article - News Staff - May 21 2011 - 5:30pm

Constitutional Football

Constitutional Football I'm not particularly interested in football- aka soccer. Nor am I at all interested in what footballers get up to on or off the pitch. However, I am greatly interested in the scientific study of that most peculiar human syst ...

Blog Post - Patrick Lockerby - May 24 2011 - 4:08pm

Shrimp On A Treadmill- The NSF Under Fire

In a report sure to send left-wing science blogging into a tizzy, an analysis by Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D., Republican from Oklahoma (naturally, because Republicans hate science if they object to obscure studies that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars) say ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Sep 5 2012 - 9:11am

National Science Foundation Funding- A Predictable Response

The National Science Foundation is under some mainstream criticism due to budget and waste concerns highlighted by Senate watchdog Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma (see Shrimp On A Treadmill- The NSF Under Fire). It's easy for the public and members of Con ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - May 27 2011 - 10:25am

Are Press Conferences Still Relevant?

Press conferneces-- are they relevant anymore? Long a staple of science news, the idea of a massive real-world press conference, with news embargoed until the big event, is a heavily criticized and yet equally heavily used tool of science-generating organ ...

Article - Alex "Sandy" Antunes - May 27 2011 - 10:29pm

More Spending Doesn't Lead To Better Health- Unless It Does

In defiance of recent efforts to institute mandatory health insurance in the U.S., even for otherwise healthy people, studies using similar current government programs like Medicare show that while Medicare spending varies greatly by geographic area, there ...

Article - News Staff - May 29 2011 - 7:55pm

Henry Ford- Quote: "History Is Bunk"

Henry Ford- Quote: "History Is Bunk" It isn't an urban myth: Henry Ford really did say: "History is bunk." It is somewhat ironic that Henry Ford's words- "history is bunk"- are now a part of the historic record. Wh ...

Article - Patrick Lockerby - May 30 2011 - 6:18pm

The Reinforcements That Community Brings: Anti-Vaccine Narratives Provide More Drama

Most of us seek out like-minded individuals who will reinforce our worldview. As I remind my students, we hold no beliefs we think are incorrect. After all, if we thought we were wrong, we wouldn't believe it. There's a reason that it can be hard ...

Article - Kim Wombles - Oct 29 2011 - 10:32am

Germany abandoning nuclear power by 2022. Economy to collapse by 2023.

A prediction based on common sense and recent history. In light of Japan's struggle with the Fukushima "nuclear disaster" (Which was triggered by a enormous earthquake and tsunami) Germany has decided to close all nuclear plants by 2022. Ge ...

Blog Post - Hontas Farmer - Jun 1 2011 - 10:39am