There is too much interesting science that happens in a single year. No one person can capture it in a single article. I choose to focus on the things that align with my own personal interests, and provide information about them so you can learn more. They are in no […]
Politics
277 posts
“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” [The title of the 1973 essay by the evolutionary biologist and Russian Orthodox Christian Theodosius Dobzhansky, who criticized the anti-evolution creationist movement.] Almost 30% of humans carry the Human Papillomavirus. In women, HPV has been linked to 90% of […]
The Republican Presidential Candidate debates (and all the media that encircles them) are a great place to look for examples of poorly applied thinking. Specifically, it’s a buffet of examples of pseudo-scientific argument. In this post, we’ll use one example that stemmed from the most recent CNN/Tea Party Express debate […]
In the most recent Republican Presidential Candidate debate [1], moderator John Harris from Politico put candidate John Huntsman on the spot about his criticism of many fellow Republicans as “a bunch of cranks.” Harris then said, HARRIS: . . . You yourself have said the party is in danger of […]
In part 1 of this series, I discussed the four laws of thermodynamics. These laws tells us that the total change in energy in a system, dU, is composed of two parts: dU = dQ – dW where dQ is the heat energy added to the system and dW is […]
In a recent post, I noted that Republican candidate Jon Huntsman is one of only a few in the field of candidates who seems to have a clear grasp of basic knowledge about the world. Well, this week his campaign has come out swinging and reaffirmed his own excellent grasp […]
Let me just give a big shout out to our Texas-sized Governor, who just set back public impressions of the Texas science curriculum about 75 years. Oh, and also thanks to our highest-ranking public official for saying that Texas public schools are in violation of several supreme court rulings that […]
Science is sometimes very helpful when trying to sort informed political candidates from uninformed ones; uninformed or misinformed candidates are likely to make bad decisions when it comes to crafting policy. America deserves the most qualified policy makers. Today, Gov. Rick Perry got some press for his statement on Climate […]
An interesting article from the British newspaper, The Guardian, explores how obtaining support from the Republican base is incompatible with accepting evidence and scientific consensus on anthropogenic global climate change [1]. In fact, the article claims, climate denial is the litmus test for any “serious” Republican candidate. I found this […]
Data is the disinfectant for myth. The Mythbusters routinely use this on their popular TV show, and scientists use it every day. I’ve tried to use a data-based approach in this blog when discussing policy matters, since I believe that data and data analysis has a central role in understanding […]
I enjoyed this quote from Matt Winkler, CEO of Asuragen and chairman of Mirna Therapeutics, regarding the recruitment of leading scientific talent to Texas. Over the last 20 years I have had the opportunity to recruit a large number of scientists to Texas . . . Not infrequently, I get […]
I was so busy this summer I forgot to shamelessly mention here that I was interviewed for a WFAA (DFW ABC affiliate) story on the importance of Helium to the nation, and the dangers of a shortage of Helium due to a lack of a national helium policy. Helium is […]