Feb
23
2010
NPR ran a timely story tonight about how people with different value systems will interpret the same information differently [1]. Social scientists are applying these observations to understand reactions to vaccination and climate change data.
The story offered explanations but few ideas. For instance, there was this cautionary tale:
So, should climate scientists hire, say, Newt Gingrich [...]
Feb
22
2010
Updated on 2/25/2010: some of the language needed editing for clarity.
Updated on 2/23/2010: added discussion of the current state of the medieval warming period, and whether it was actually a global phenomenon.
George Will’s opinion piece in today’s Washington Post serves as a textbook example of the current argument against acting on climate science. If [...]
Feb
22
2010
Of late, I’ve written some things in my blog that, upon reflection, make me a science jerk. For instance, in my recent discussion of media coverage of the climate science mistakes uncovered in the last four months, I pretty much made it sound like anybody who doubts climate science is an idiot and should suck [...]
Feb
22
2010
Athletics at SMU can raised quite heated responses from members of the SMU academic community. This response is rooted in many things, but primarily a perception that student athletes are expected, or themselves expect, to achieve less in the academic realm than their non-athlete peers. Setting aside the reality for a moment, which is always [...]
Feb
22
2010
While attending my nephews’ birthday party this weekend, I was told a horrific anecdote by one of my family members. Their employer recently bought a larger retail space not far from their original building. The employer relocated to the larger building and merged departments and personnel. In the process, they’ve changed health care plans, forcing [...]
Feb
18
2010
This was buried in the third paragraph of a Fox News story on climate change and the questions about some of the results reported by the British MET office and used in IPCC reports [1]:
Although the errors did not alter the bigger picture on climate change, they were seized upon as a further sign [...]
Feb
15
2010
What do autism and climate change have in common? They are two sides of the same coin. On one side, you have autism, vaccines, and a single study from 1998 that was long touted as evidence of a link between the two. On the other side, you have climate-change deniers arguing that climate science is [...]
Feb
11
2010
I couldn’t have said it better:
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Feb
11
2010
Check it out:
http://www.smudailymustang.com/?p=21706
I promise you, they are excellent students, every one. They work hard, and they play hard.
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Feb
11
2010
I’m told this doesn’t happen very often, and when it does it isn’t usually this bad. Today, it snowed several inches in Dallas and the surrounding areas. This caused the expected knot of traffic, accidents, people doing generally stupid things that work great on dry pavement and terribly under low-friction conditions. The snow was heavy, [...]