Saturday, March 31st, 2012
SCOTT JASCHIK, - Inside Higher Ed
Stephan: Here one can see the footprints of the rising trend of Willful Ignorance. What I think this article misses is the rise of fear, and fundamentalist Christianity. In the late 70s I was living in Egypt, doing a project there, and was introduced to an Imam who asked me how we analysed the remote viewing data that was leading our archaeological fieldwork. As we spoke I realized he didn't really understand long division. When I asked him a question to test this idea without embarrassing him he, I think, surmised my real purpose and said he had no need to know such things since everything that was of any importance was in the Qur'an. A decade late I had a similar experience in Islamabad. Shortly after I came back from Pakistan I was asked to debate a Creationist and an Atheist -- as sort of a mid-position, I guess -- the spiritual but not religious view. On this occasion once again, after the event I was talking with the Creationist preacher, who told me that I was a slave of science, everything important was in the Bible. Different religions same attitude. This is exactly the process by which humanity lost most of its classical knowledge and went into the Dark Ages.
Just over 34 percent of conservatives had confidence in science as an institution in 2010, representing a long-term decline from 48 percent in 1974, according to a paper being published today in American Sociological Review.
That represents a dramatic shift for conservatives, who in 1974 were more likely than liberals or moderates (all categories based on self-identification) to express confidence in science. While the confidence levels of other groups in science have been relatively stable, the conservative drop now means that group is the least likely to have confidence in science.
Gordon Gauchat, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of the paper, said that the findings are significant for scientists and universities, which seek public support for research and for the research universities where so much science takes place. This year’s presidential election — and in particular the skepticism of Republican candidates about climate change, despite a wide scientific consensus that climate change is real – point to the impact of this shift, he said.
And notably, he suggests that it may be issues like climate change — science that has the potential to lead to government regulation — that may have more of […]
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Saturday, March 31st, 2012
Stephan: Here is what looks like some good news about wound healing.
Primary Source: http://abstracts.acs.org/chem/243nm/program/view.php?pub_num=134&par=POLY
Gizmag regulars will be well-used to the idea of self-healing materials, and even materials that repair themselves when exposed to light; but a new plastic demonstrated to the American Chemical Society on Monday purports to be the first self-healing material to incorporate a damage-reporting mechanism, almost akin to the bleeding of human skin.
‘Our new plastic tries to mimic nature, issuing a red signal when damaged and then renewing itself when exposed to visible light, temperature or pH changes,’ said Professor Marek W. Urban, Ph.D of the University of Southern Mississippi.
Urban’s plastic contains molecular bridges that span the polymer chains that comprise the plastic. Should the plastic become damaged, these bridges break down; but when exposed to light (or a temperature or acidic vapor) these linkages are able to repair themselves. But additionally, Urban has rigged the bridges to change color – to red – when such damage occurs, with the color change fading away when the material repairs – essentially heals – itself.
Such a material has obvious benefits when applied to consumer goods, such as laptops and mobile phones. Dropping the device would result in hairline cracks turning red, highlighting a need for repair (whereupon you need only expose the […]
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Saturday, March 31st, 2012
TOM JACOBS, - Miller-McCune
Stephan: I have become increasingly interested in why people are conservatives, inasmuch as a large and growing mass of research shows that conservative theocratic social values produce notably inferior social outcomes. So why would anyone hold such positions? If it were just a philosophical debate it wouldn't matter, but it has political consequences, because conservatives are voting to harm themselves and their families, and everyone else as well who lives in a state where Red values predominate. Here is the latest research trying to answer this question. It does not bode well for the U.S. future.
New research provides evidence that, when under time pressure or otherwise cognitively impaired, people are more likely to express conservative views.
According to a recent Gallup poll, 40 percent of Americans describe themselves as conservative, while only 21 percent call themselves liberal. (Another 35 percent are self-identified moderates.)
This gap has long puzzled scholars. If left and right ideologies comprise a mutually dependent yin-yang system, reflecting different approaches to meeting our most basic needs, shouldn’t they be held by roughly the same proportion of people?
One possible explanation is that some ‘conservatives
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Saturday, March 31st, 2012
BETTINA BOXALL and ERYN BROWN, - Los Angeles Times
Stephan: You are going to have to continue to be vigilant about BPA in your food containers. The FDA has chosen to keep studying this issue and, in this decision, to err on the side of corporate interests.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that it would not ban the use of bisphenol A, also known as BPA, in food packaging but said it would continue research on the health effects of the widely used chemical.
Although it rejected a petition by an environmental group to outlaw the compound in food and beverage containers, the agency did not close the door on future regulation. ‘This is not a final safety determination on BPA,’ FDA spokesman Douglas Karas said. ‘There is a commitment to doing a thorough evaluation of the risk of BPA.’
Scientists are still working to determine what effects BPA, which mimics estrogen in the body, has on human health once ingested.
They know that it is metabolized quickly and that it has been shown to have negative effects in mice, including developmental and reproductive abnormalities, precancerous changes in the prostate and breasts, and other health problems. In epidemiological studies, researchers have reported correlations between BPA levels in people and higher risk of ailments including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and liver problems.
The FDA said the scientific evidence presented in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s 2008 petition ‘was not sufficient to persuade’ the agency to prohibit BPA in food packaging. […]
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Saturday, March 31st, 2012
KIM BARKER and AL SHAW, - ProPublica
Stephan: Here is the damage to democracy our Tea Party Supreme Court has wrought with Citizen's United.
For an example of the fluidity of campaign finance rules, as well as the tangled web of connections between candidates and super PACs, look no further than the digital consulting firm Targeted Victory.
So far, the firm’s hauled in $4.1 million working for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and American Crossroads, the super PAC launched by GOP strategist Karl Rove. Just down the hall, its neighbors in Arlington, Va., include an office housing four other companies working for Romney, American Crossroads or the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future.
With the rise of super PACs, the jet-fueled political action committees that can take unlimited contributions, many campaign finance watchdogs have focused on the hundreds of millions of dollars being raised this presidential election cycle. But after the most recent campaign filings came in last week, ProPublica decided to track the other side of the equation: Where the money goes.
Our analysis found that more than $306 million has been spent so far by major super PACs and the five leading presidential candidates. In some cases, payees serve both candidates and the super PACs aligned with them, raising the specter that groups may be working together in ways that violate the rules, campaign finance experts […]
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