Wow. Just Wow! Stunning pics of The Large Hadron Collider.
Archive | Science
Journey to the Ants – Hölldobler and Wilson
Just ordered a copy of Journey to the Ants by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson. It’s a book about how ants evolved and how they live in various habitats and colonies. This book seems to be a more accessible study of the subject of ants than their academic focused The Ants. The latter is £116 on Amazon UK! I’m really interested in the topic of social insects and eusocial societies. As witnessed by my posts here on Hellstrom’s Hive and Stephen Baxter’s Destiny’s Children books.
Click picture for larger view
Phoenix Mars lander movies on iTunesU
The University of Arizona are putting movies related to the Mars Phoenix lander up on their iTunesU page.
“Science is a way of life”
Brian Green has an opinion piece in the New York Times outlining why science is important. It’s well worth reading. The following quote is a good summary:
Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that’s precise, predictive and reliable — a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional. To be able to think through and grasp explanations — for everything from why the sky is blue to how life formed on earth — not because they are declared dogma but rather because they reveal patterns confirmed by experiment and observation, is one of the most precious of human experiences.
Phoenix safely on Mars
Happy days! The Phoenix lander successfully set down on Mars in the early morning (UK time). The first pictures have been sent back. Hopefully there will be some really good science done over the next year or so as it probes its surroundings. The following sites have more info:
Plus, John Welch has some pertinent observations on the fact that it was science that made it possible for humanity to send this probe to the Mars.
Click picture for larger view of picture taken by Phoenix lander (© Nasa)
Blogging is good for you
As reported by Scientific American. Writing about your experiences can have beneficial effects. From the article:
Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.
I think my scribbling here certainly helped me.
Good news
MP’s in the UK House of Commons have rejected moves to block scientific advancement by throwing out amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would have banned hybrid embryos and tissues typing to select IVF embryos to make it suitable for use as a tissue donor.
The voice of reason has triumphed. A good day for the UK. There are more votes to come tomorrow but they are not as important as today’s votes. Only about 2% of abortions occur after 20 weeks so if the time limit is reduced it’ll not matter (beyond emboldening the anti-crowd). I think that abortion on demand up to 20 weeks should be available. After that it should be available if there is a risk to the mother (either physical or mental) or if the foetus is found to have defects that would lead to severe complications after birth.
The other contentious amendment to the bill about not having to consider the father in deciding who should have IVF treatment hasn’t really registered on my radar. I’m nit really fussed about it one way or the other although if pressed I would support the right of single women and lesbian couples to get IVF on the NHS if they are in a position to provide a good secure home for children.
Russell Blackford on “framing”
The has been a bit of a kerfuffle in the science blog and science communication communities recently about how to deal with creationists, and their apologists. Basically there is a camp that thinks that those of us who are outspoken in our anti-religion rhetoric, should shut up and let those with a gentler message more amenable to those who are religious, frame the arguments in a way that doesn’t offend or frighten off the moderate religious types.
I’m in the camp that says that we need to have people of all views, expressing said views in any way they feel like. If this offends some people then that might be unfortunate but its not a reason to silence those with strong views. I advocated this position when I was a member of the DebunkCreation mailing list.
Russell Blackford has written a very interesting blog post on this topic. It’s well worth a read.
The speed of truth
There is a really interesting letter in this weeks New Scientist:
From Caroline Herzenberg
I must disagree with the sentiment expressed in the headline “Nothing but the truth” on Robert Matthews’s article. After a lifetime in science and of wholehearted commitment to protecting intellectual integrity, I have come to the conclusion that in the world outside science, cold facts alone are not enough.
Truth travels slowly, and falsehood moves fast. Additional techniques must be used by scientists in struggling against propaganda, and I recommend ridicule. Here in the US we are contending with huge amounts of propaganda from very powerful institutions, including corporations and our own government, as Dan Hind has already set out (19 January, p 46).
This propaganda generates and publicises falsehoods at a greater rate than any well-intentioned individual or limited group of individuals could possibly research and examine on the timescale of an effective counter-argument. Of course we must present the evidence and the facts, but this response will be too little and too late when the propaganda is being churned out by well-funded political or corporate noise machines working around the clock.
I suggest an immediate response of publicly ridiculing the most obvious lies and propaganda, followed promptly by a detailed response that is as thorough, thoughtful and accurate as possible.
Chicago, Illinois, US
This is very germane to the misinformation and misunderstanding about the The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. As Herzenberg outlines falsehoods travel fast whilst the truth is slow to catch up. Thankfully in the current debate the truth is getting out there. There was an excellent interview with UK Health Secretary Alan Johnson on BBC News 24 where he rejected the scaremongering that is being put about. Bishops and others, who are either lying or who don’t know what the actual Bill will allow, are talking about animal-human hybrids as if we are going to have actual cross species animals produced. It’s not anything like that. What is being proposed is taking an animal egg cell, removing the nucleus with its DNA and other nuclear contents, and putting a nucleus from a human cell (such as a skin cell) in its place.[1] Chemical treatment will then be used to encourage the hybrid cells to divide. They will be allowed to develop until a morula or Blastocyst is formed. These will have about 100 cells. Some of these will be stem cells that can be harvested and used for research into how they differentiate into different types during foetal development. For example, research such as how they are programmed during development to form nerve or neural cells. This is directly relevant to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and nerve damage injuries.
The most the hybrid cells will be allowed to develop is the stage where they comprise a few hundred cells. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. The technique likely wouldn’t be needed if there was a better supply of stem cells from the human embryos that are discarded after IVF treatments. But I expect you’ll find that the Bishops are opposed to that as well. Indeed, they’ll likely be opposed to any work and progress in this area.
Muddying the debate, the way the opponents are, is a low, despicable act of wilful lying or ignorance. The latter is curable by application of knowledge. The former is power for the course for the catholic church. Why expect them to change after hundreds of years of opposing scientific progress in many areas.
One of the main threats to this Bill, and scientific progress in general, is the lack of knowledge about science in the general populace. A lack of knowledge that the the opponents of reason feed on and exploit. It is up to those of us who are for reason and the betterment of humanity and the other animals on this planet, (for humans are just another animal after all), to work to ensure that the truth is held up in opposition to the falsehoods. Indeed, given that the speed of truth is slower than falsehood, we need to look for ways to speed it up. As Herzenberg suggests, ridicule followed by a detailed reasoned argument would seem to be a viable tactic. Other tactics will be needed, as part of the overall strategy of raising public understanding of science. We need more professional, amateur and ad-hoc science communicators who are equipped to counter the lies and misinformation wherever it arises. For my part I’m planning to do this MSc in Science and Society to formalise my knowledge of science communication.
[1] Not all the DNA will be removed from the animal egg cell. Its mitochondria will still have their own DNA. Human cells have mitochondria with separate DNA also. Indeed mitochondria where formally independent bacterial organisms that entered into a symbiotic relationship with a common ancestor of what evolved into the first multi-cellular life on Earth. So, in a certain respect, we are already hybrids!
Update: Lord Winston has said that the Catholic Bishops are lying about this issue:
But Lord Winston told The Daily Telegraph: “His statements are lying. They are misleading and I’m afraid that when the Church, for good motives, tells untruths, it brings discredit upon itself.”
“I have huge respect for the Catholic Church, which does great good, but it will be destroying its probity with overblown statements of this kind.”
What a twat
Good grief. I wonder what it feels like to be a liar for the lord? He’s either lying or he is ignorant of what the research being proposed will allow. Either way why does he get a platform to promulgate his crap. We so need religion to go away. It’s a parasite on the arse hole of humanity.