I don’t dream very much, Susan once said to me. We were having a talk about some crazy dream I was recalling. They’re always crazy, of course. But the conversation was about whether we dream – all of us – … Continue reading →
Continue readingTag: science
Dead Wild Roses: Fluffing a Duck – Homeopathy: Still Absolute Rubbish
Ah homeopathy, how we’ve missed you here at DWR. It has been at least a year since we excoriated your incredulous claims with the biting scourge of rationality, but let’s refresh our memories and let Cool Hard Logic, with his most apropos music selection, remind us how bugfraking nutz Homeopathy
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Speaking with the dead
Can the dead speak to us from beyond the grave? No, of course not. But that doesn’t stop literally millions of superstitious people from believing they do. And some think they can use technology to facilitate the conversation. Of course, … Continue reading →
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ruy Teixeira discusses Branko Milanovic’s finding that on a global scale, income inequality is almost entirely locked in based on an individual’s place of birth and parents’ income: Milanovic asks “How much of your income is determined at birth?” The answer: 80
Continue readingcartoon life: God hands out brains
“I really hope they get that ‘Science’ thing figured out. It should be easy after that.”God Filed under: art Tagged: brains, distribution, God, science
Continue readingThings Are Good: Canadians Want Science to be Free
Scientists in Canada have come under attack and censorship under the federal Conservative government and Canadians want that to change. Science Uncensored is a new organization focused on ensuring that research funded by the government is freely available to Canadians and that the government stop censoring research results. In the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Clarification for our Anti-Choice Friends: Life at Conception? Err..No.
One of the cheap rhetorical tricks that forced birth advocates often use is the idea that somehow “Science” (ya know science, that vast shadowy monolithic structure) supports their crappy arguments and thus lends weight to their assault on women and their rights. One of the easiest tells illustrating the rhetorical,
Continue reading350 or bust: Limiting Scientists’ Free Speech: A New Canadian Tradition
Ah, Rick, I love you, and your honesty and willingness to use your celebrity to remind Canadians what our nation has come to under Stephen Harper. Thanks! * Wondering what all the fuss is about? Listen to Dr. Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist from the University of Victoria, discuss the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Open-Access Science Growing in Reach
Many academic journals charge a subscription fee that is out of reach for the common person, which means that independent researchers and students are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing information. Elementa aims to make research about the anthropocene era we’re in freely accessible for everyone. Elementa follows
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: In Their Shell
The Duck and Cover propaganda has worked maybe. There’s an entire generation prone to thinking they can protect themselves from massive danger by covering their head with their arms until they feel safe again. Here’s Percy, a climate change denier, responding to Purple Library Guy’s comment in 2011 about ocean
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: CBC Science News: Humans Only a Few Thousand Years Old
Maybe it’s just a typo, but it’s a little depressing to see the state broadcaster’s science reporters — people whose salaries I pay — utter statements like the following: if you went back thousands of years and “replayed the tape of life,” would you end up with humans and the
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Killer Robots From Earth
I grew up thinking that Killer Robots From Venus was a pretty amusing song. Now that we’re living in 2013, the ‘future’, we have to seriously contemplate the implications of building robots that can kill as their intended purpose. Our next-future expectations depend upon what we choose now. I’m not
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Jim Stanford points out that any “bitumen bubble” will only get worse if the Cons and their provincial cousins get their way in shifting the Canadian economy even further toward immediate tar sands extraction: (I)f the problem exists because we’re pumping out
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Cool Hard Logic – The Mayan Apocalypse
I’m not sure what it is with a British accent that makes a smack-down so much more viscerally satisfying, but whatever it is; it works. This video dismantles the tomfoolery surrounding the end of the world ballyhoo that was making the rounds in late 2012. Filed under: Media, Science Tagged:
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: ID’s deep roots in creationism
Proponents of creationism often try to deny that “intelligent” design (ID) is merely creationism wrapped in a fake lab coat to make it look like it’s pals with science. It isn’t. They’re not buddies, didn’t go to school together, and … Continue reading →
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Russian Meteorite Injures People – UPDATED
Shocking, exciting news from Russia early this morning as coincidentally [maybe] on the same day a major 50m asteroid is set to fly by Earth, a meteorite has struck Russia. Reports are that there are injuries, which have been very rare for meteorite impacts until now. The camera person nearly
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Maybe some people are just dense…
Story in today’s Science Daily: Why Some People Don’t Learn Well: EEG Shows Insufficient Processing of Information to Be Learned. While you might initially want to say “because they’re stupid,” (or Republicans), the authors reach a different conclusion. It may … Continue reading →
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Holy Sit
Kids were getting chemical burns from a toilet seat (and probably desk, for a boy with burned elbows) at an Ottawa area school. Most likely the disinfectant was sprayed on but never properly wiped off and rinsed. One of my concerns with using publish washrooms that have just been cleaned,
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Or maybe doomsday just postponed…
A story in Science Daily today talks about the effect that antibiotics used in animals has had on humans. Or rather, on antibiotic-resistant bacteria which are dangerous to humans. The increasing production and use of antibiotics, about half of which … Continue reading →
Continue readingChadwick's Blog & Commentary: Doomsday averted (again)
Seventeen thousand miles. Seems like a long way, but it’s less than one tenth the distance from here to the moon, and it’s within the satellite belt. In cosmic terms, it’s frighteningly close. Consider that the Sun is 93 million … Continue reading →
Continue reading