Sometimes, University of Maryland physicist Bob Park has an uncanny knack for hitting every week’s science and society issues right on their collective head. This week is an excellent example. “Just go and read all his comments”:http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn090205.html. From women’s health and the growingly arbitrary definition of “life”, to the irrefutable […]
Let me just quote verbatim from Mr. Park: (“full article”:http://bobpark.physics.umd.edu/WN05/wn090205.html) 2. THE POLL: INTELLIGENT DESIGN IS IN THE RIGHT PEW FAR RIGHT. The respected Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 64% of Americans favor teaching creationism along with evolution in public schools. A scary 38% want to […]
“The Associated Press is reporting that Katrina is reigniting the interest in the connection between the reality of human-induced global climate change and the strength/frequency of hurricanes”:http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/01/katrina.warming.ap/index.html?section=cnn_space. I guess I wasn’t too far off the mark [Sekula29] [Sekula30]. This looks like a very active area of research – that is, […]
When Pat Robertson blatantly disobeyed the commandment “Thou Shalt Not Kill” by calling for the assassination of Venezualen President Hugo Chavez, the reaction from some camps (ones with power) was subdued while the outcry from others was fierce. A man like Robertson, with the ear of the President, who professes […]
“New Orleans is in utter chaos”:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/hurricane_katrina;_ylt=AnJD_2nAkz_gYy_5_IA_tO2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ–. I’m all for optimism, but it’s not clear to me that Federal officials are willing to back up all that talk. When even those in charge of New Orleans lose hope and cry for help, there can be no deeper desperation. What does it […]
According to the New York Times, “in a poll released yesterday 42% of Americans believe that all life has existed unchanged since the beginning of time, while 60% believe that either a creationist or intelligent design doctrine is the way to go”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/national/31religion.html?ex=1283140800&en=39489e715718912f&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss. Dr. Eugenie Scott, and outspoken supporter of teaching […]
What amazes me about humanity is our ability to come together as a species to understand our species. We are our greatest mystery. We perceive our surroundings, we adapt to many climates, we are capable of perpetuating a record of our species from generation to generation. It’s never been clear […]
NPR commentator “Daniel Schorr had a thought-provoking piece tonight on the cultural and religious implications of the debate about injecting non-scientific intelligent design into U.S. education”:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4826756. Framing the “will of a designer” in the context of huge natural disasters, Mr. Schorr hits on an important philosphical question that you must […]
Hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a renowned astronomer, NOVA is exploring the origins of the universe and life in a series called “Origins”. I watched tonight’s episode on the origin of life and the debt we owe to the early and long rule of cyanobacteria. Fascinating. What I really enjoyed […]
This month’s issue of Physics Today contains an article entitled “Evolution Wars Show No Sign of Abating”:http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-58/iss-8/p24.html. It’s free on the web, for all you non-subscribers (and I know there are just a few of you!). It’s a nice, but (as usual) scary, overview of this confusing mess into which […]
A lot of scientists all over the world observed the physics of the hurricane that struck th Southeast this past week. Katrina’s largest damage resulted from the rain it deposited as it struck land and slowed. “The BBC has a nice article reviewing the imaging and understanding of Katrina”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4197096.stm. In […]
Whew. From the AP: “According to preliminary assessments by AIR Worldwide Corp., a risk assessment company, the insurance industry faces as much as $26 billion in claims from Katrina. That would make Katrina more expensive than the previous record-setting storm, Hurricane Andrew, which caused some $21 billion in insured losses […]