Why is it important for people (scientists, journalists, science communicators, every woman & her dog) to talk about science? Does it really matter if NZ primary school students think science isn’t fun, if secondary students seem to be showing less interest in the sciences, or if fewer & fewer students major in physics at university? As […]
Continue readingCategory: critical thinking
if it sounds too good to be true…
… it probably is. The latest example of this comes from a newspaper story, wherein a visiting professor (I can’t remember what he was a professor of) was expounding on what the world would be like in 2070. Among other predictions, he felt we’d have dishwashers that cleaned the dishes without detergent, water – or energy. […]
Continue readinghard to explain? more creationist straw men
It seems the silly season is beginning early – I’m expecting a rash of ‘letters to the editor’ as the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth gets closer (what are you doing for Darwin Day?), but this seems a little premature. The writer begins: We’ve weathered a fair few scientific broadcasts lately authenticating Charles Darwin’s findings. Effectively they […]
Continue readingwhy rumours can last for ages
A headline in SciTechDaily caught my eye: If I’m not gullible and you’re not gullible, how come some improbable stories take a long time to die? This reminded me of a comment by Ben Goldacre, along the lines that people aren’t as good at assessing their own abilities (whether related to driving a car or passing […]
Continue readingoutrunning age
This post’s based on another news item to do with postponing ageing (it sort of follows on quite well from that recent one about telomerase). There seems to be a bit of a run on this in the media – or maybe it’s just because I’m getting older & more sensitive to this stuff? It’s […]
Continue readingbadscience – the book
I’m back. Yes, it was a great holiday – & no – it wasn’t long enough 🙂 And yes, I did spend a lot of time lying around under an umbrella by the water, reading books & generally applying myself to relaxing. Anyway, one of those books was Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science, which follows on from his blog of […]
Continue readingenzyme benefits?
(Another little something I prepared earlier…) Our daughter’s just drawn my attention to a brief item in the Listener‘s Health page. It reports on claims by Spanish researchers that increasing the amount of telomerase in the body could result in less cell death – &, by extension, longer lives. (Telomerase is the enzyme that repairs the […]
Continue readingan interesting post on the dmanisi fossils
A while ago now I wrote something on the Dmanisi fossils – the remains of a few individuals that suggest that Homo erectus spread relatively quickly through Eurasia after leaving Africa. I’ve just come across an interesting post on the Panda’s Thumb that I thought makes a good follow-up. Read it & see what you think.
Continue readingphew! I’m glad that’s over!
I’ve just finished chairing the examiners’ meeting that finalises grades for students in our School. (For those who might think that uni lecturers have nothing to do once the students have left – forgeddit! This is the time when we: finish exam-related admin, work with grad students, prepare for next year’s teaching, write papers, do […]
Continue readinganother good thing about questions
Or, one reason why teaching is good for teachers. I’ve just got to the point in Richard Feynman’s autobiography where he’s talking about why he loves teaching. It really resonates with me & I thought I’d share this bit with you: If you’re teaching a class, you can think about the elementary thgns that you […]
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