In Grade 10 I read The Chrysalids, a John Wyndham science fiction that starts out describing an agrarian culture where they talk of God-like old people who could move the Earth into walls and hills. There were enough clues in the first chapter that I soon figured out that the
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: Heritage Minister James Moore Wrong on Sexhibit
Heritage Minister James Moore is clearly wrong in his criticism of “Sex: A Tell-All Exhibition” at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. It is not so much his criticism of the content that is wrong, although suggesting that human reproduction is an inappropriate subject for a science museum is somewhat
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Weekly Standard on “Hillbilly” Climate Denial
WStandard.c1.v17-34.May21.Cover_.jpg In its latest cover story, the conservative Weekly Standard has decided to try to refute, outside of the scientific literature, the large body of research on the psychological underpinnings of political ideology (summarized in my book The Republican Brain). The critique, written by Andrew Ferguson, fails badly, in part
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Us and Them: The Psychology Behind the Heartland Institute Billboards
Leo-blog–The-Heartland-I-007.jpg The Heartland Institute’s jaw-droppingly ill-advised, and now withdrawn billboard campaign—pictured here—has drawn a huge volume of denunciations in the last week. There’s not much more to say substantively about the campaign, or the fallout from it, which has included a number of Heartland funders heading for the hills. But it is
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: A View From Nowhere? The Case Against Knee-Jerk Centrism When It Comes to Politics and Science
n_hayes_gopuniteso_120505.jpg Debate over The Republican Brain is mounting, as emotional (and highly extraverted?) conservatives fling meaningless attacks at the book—attacks so off target it’s doubtful in most cases that the critics read the book—but scientists admit that it represents the research on ideology accurately. That’s what just happened Saturday morning
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: On the compatibility of science and religion
Most people accept, at least tacitly, the majority of scientific claims: general relativity, quantum mechanics, pharmaceuticals; people accept that these work more or less the way the scientists say they do. Indeed, in almost all aspects of our lives people accept that a reasoned, evidential basis for knowledge is paramount.
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Seen.
This is not photoshop. What is colon hydrotherapy, you ask? It’s an enormous enema. A Dieticians of Canada publication describes it as follows: Colonic cleansing or irrigation, touted as a treatment for cleansing the colon, involves the insertion of a rubber tube through the rectum into the large intestine. A
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Living Dinosaur – Part 1 Holy Hallucinations
Scientific truths in the Koran? TLD explores the issue. Filed under: Religion, Science Tagged: Holy Hallucinations, Religion and Science, The Living Dinosaur
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Conservatives, Seeking To Show They Are Open-Minded, Ignore Contrary Evidence (And No, This Is Not an Onion Article)
brainsWEB.jpg I was on the road last week, so I couldn’t properly respond to this Daily Caller item, which is really sort of marvelous. Basically, it’s an attempt to use a handful of survey data points to turn the whole Republican Brain line of analysis on its head, and argue
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Living Dinosaur – Beyond Imagination Part 4:The Secret of Life
Our light blogging week continues here at DWR, TLD steps up to educate and illuminate. Filed under: Science Tagged: Beyond Imagination, Science, The Living Dinosaur
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: No Reply from SaskPower
SaskPower’s VP May failed to respond to my followup points, so I’ve included her entire initial reply at my earlier post. I wrote a letter months ago to ask why solar power information on the SaskPower website is out of date and now wrong. The response was underwhelming. The webpages
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Living Dinosaur – Beyond Imagination Part 3: The Matter of Matter
We’re zooming in on from the infinitely huge to a more comprehensible level, the stuff we’re made out of Filed under: Science Tagged: Beyond Imagination, Science, The Living Dinosaur
Continue reading350 or bust: For My Grandchildren
From the March 2012 TED Conference in Long Beach California, NASA climate scientist Dr. James Hansen speaks about why he must speak out climate change. A powerful and moving video – please watch, and share with your family and friends, and on social media. * Do you want to become
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Living Dinosaur – Beyond Imagination Part 2:The Solar System
TLD continues his cosmological journey. Filed under: Science Tagged: Beyond Imagination, The Living Dinosaur
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Let’s Just Say It: When It Comes to Science, The Right is the Problem
polar_House_Means.jpg This weekend in The Washington Post, two deans of the Washington establishment, the Brookings Institution’s Thomas Mann and the American Enterprise Institute’s Norman Ornstein, finally stated what has been increasingly obvious: The problem with U.S. politics is coming from the right, not from “both sides.” In their piece, provocatively
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The Living Dinosaur – Beyond Imagination Part 1: The Universe
Gentle readers, it is going to be a busy couple of weeks, therefore blogging has taken a back burner temporarily. Please enjoy these brilliant videos from the Living Dinosaur about Science and our Universe. If I have time, I will add more posts to fill the gaps in my usual
Continue reading350 or bust: Live Long And Prosper, Already
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the amazingly popular Star Trek series, was a man ahead of his time. Here is one of the things he to say about humanity and our problems (with one editorial comment from me!): “I believe in humanity. We are an incredible species. We’re still just
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Spying on Penguins via Satallite
I’m sure they don’t mind, they just need to bloop around being all penguin-y while our scientists study their habits and habitat. By counting penguins in images taken from space, scientists estimate the population of emperor penguins was around 595,000 in 2009 — roughly double previous estimates of between 270,000
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Aurora in Regina
Early Tuesday morning I noticed others tweeting about northern lights, so I checked 3D Sun app on my phone, and sure enough, there was a moderate solar storm underway. Kp was at 6, which is huge, since 1 or 2 is more typical in an average night where you can’t
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Use the Porche.
This isn’t the hotel you’re looking for. Oda is ^NOT a good Canadian politician. She’s decidedly on the dark side of politics, accused for years of extravagant spending, and contempt for Canadians and our institutions. I feel so badly for her constituents. She’s a royal pain in the you-know-what (pocketbook).
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