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Skeptical Debunker

Top home-school texts dismiss Darwin, evolution - Yahoo! News - 1 views

  • Christian-based materials dominate a growing home-school education market that encompasses more than 1.5 million students in the U.S. And for most home-school parents, a Bible-based version of the Earth's creation is exactly what they want. Federal statistics from 2007 show 83 percent of home-schooling parents want to give their children "religious or moral instruction." "The majority of home-schoolers self-identify as evangelical Christians," said Ian Slatter, a spokesman for the Home School Legal Defense Association. "Most home-schoolers will definitely have a sort of creationist component to their home-school program." Those who don't, however, often feel isolated and frustrated from trying to find a textbook that fits their beliefs. Two of the best-selling biology textbooks stack the deck against evolution, said some science educators who reviewed sections of the books at the request of The Associated Press. "I feel fairly strongly about this. These books are promulgating lies to kids," said Jerry Coyne, an ecology and evolution professor at the University of Chicago. The textbook publishers defend their books as well-rounded lessons on evolution and its shortcomings. One of the books doesn't attempt to mask disdain for Darwin and evolutionary science. "Those who do not believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God will find many points in this book puzzling," says the introduction to "Biology: Third Edition" from Bob Jones University Press. "This book was not written for them." The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its "History of Life" chapter that a "Christian worldview ... is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is."
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    Home-school mom Susan Mule wishes she hadn't taken a friend's advice and tried a textbook from a popular Christian publisher for her 10-year-old's biology lessons. Mule's precocious daughter Elizabeth excels at science and has been studying tarantulas since she was 5. But she watched Elizabeth's excitement turn to confusion when they reached the evolution section of the book from Apologia Educational Ministries, which disputed Charles Darwin's theory. "I thought she was going to have a coronary," Mule said of her daughter, who is now 16 and taking college courses in Houston. "She's like, 'This is not true!'"
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    Home Fooling.
Skeptical Debunker

'Hella' Proposed as Official Big Number - Yahoo! News - 0 views

  • To become official, "hella" would have to jump through quite a few bureaucratic hoops. It would have to pass through the Consultative Committee for Units (CCU), one of 10 advisory committees of the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM). If the CCU recommends it the CIPM, that board must then decide whether to advance the cause to the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM), the official authority that can make changes to the SI system. That international organization, based in France, includes members from 81 countries. "I think that for a number of reasons it's a long shot," said Ben Stein, a spokesperson for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. organization that handles measurements. "The types of things they would consider are is it needed, does it add or reduce confusion, are the names consistent with other names associated with the prefixes?" Sendek argues that the name would honor the scientific contributions of Northern Californians, who have famously popularized the phrase "hella" to mean "a whole lot."
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    Soon the word "hella" may not be associated with California surfers as much as with scientists in lab coats. A physics student is petitioning to add "hella" to the International System of Units (SI) as the official designation of 10 to the 27th power, or a trillion trillions.
Janos Haits

Narrative Science | We Transform Data Into Stories and Insight - 0 views

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    Artificial Intelligence. Human Insight. Real Results There is no shortage of data, in fact just about every company we talk to is drowning in data. As the volume of data continues to rise exponentially, companies need a better way to use, monetize and understand the data they already have. Narrative Science helps companies leverage their data by creating easy to use, consistent narrative reporting - automatically through our proprietary artificial intelligence technology platform.
Janos Haits

Main Page - partsregistry.org - 0 views

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    The Registry is a continuously growing collection of genetic parts that can be mixed and matched to build synthetic biology devices and systems. Founded in 2003 at MIT, the Registry is part of the Synthetic Biology community's efforts to make biology easier to engineer. It provides a resource of available genetic parts to iGEM teams and academic labs. You can register a new lab here.
Erich Feldmeier

Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome : Nature : Nature Publishing Group - 0 views

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    "Our knowledge of species and functional composition of the human gut microbiome is rapidly increasing, but it is still based on very few cohorts and little is known about variation across the world. By combining 22 newly sequenced faecal metagenomes of individuals from four countries with previously published data sets, here we identify three robust clusters (referred to as enterotypes hereafter) that are not nation or continent specific. We also confirmed the enterotypes in two published, larger cohorts, indicating that intestinal microbiota variation is generally stratified, not continuous. This indicates further the existence of a limited number of well-balanced host-microbial symbiotic states that might respond differently to diet and drug intake."
Janos Haits

Open Archives Initiative - 0 views

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    Standards for Web Content Interoperability The Open Archives Initiative develops and promotes interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content. OAI has its roots in the open access and institutional repository movements. Continued support of this work remains a cornerstone of the Open Archives program. Over time, however, the work of OAI has expanded to promote broad access to digital resources for eScholarship, eLearning, and eScience.
thinkahol *

High-dose opiates could crack chronic pain : Nature News & Comment - 0 views

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    Has a cheap and effective treatment for chronic pain been lying under clinicians' noses for decades? Researchers have found that a very high dose of an opiate drug that uses the same painkilling pathways as morphine can reset the nerve signals associated with continuous pain - at least in rats. If confirmed in humans, the procedure could reduce or eliminate the months or years that millions of patients spend on pain-managing prescription drugs. The results of the study are described today in Science1.
Janos Haits

code.nasa.gov - 0 views

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    Through this website, we will continue, unify, and expand NASA's open source activities. The site will serve to surface existing projects, provide a forum for discussing projects and processes, and guide internal and external groups in open development, release, and contribution.
Janos Haits

data.nasa.gov - 0 views

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    The Open Data project is part of the NASA Open Government Initiative, and is intended to improve access to NASA data. This data catalog is a continually-growing listing of publicly available NASA datasets.
Erich Feldmeier

Joel Pearson: Taking a break is secret to success, #infooverload, cognitive load - 0 views

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    "At least it doesn't when you practise over and over again without a break. Sydney scientists have found learning improves when students take a rest from continuous study or training. ''It seems intuitive that every minute of study should make you better, but, actually, if you do too much it might backfire and you end up wasting time,'' said the study's lead researcher, Joel Pearson."
Erich Feldmeier

Andrew Ede: Skeptic » eSkeptic » Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 - 0 views

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    " Of course, skeptics hope that their efforts aid in advancing science education.1 In spite of these efforts, survey data from several sources suggests that paranormal belief and pseudoscientific thinking continue to be commonplace.2 Skeptics often use these findings to reinforce arguments for more science education. Their argument is based upon the largely untested assumption that increased science knowledge reduces the number of paranormal beliefs an individual holds. However, this assumption may not be valid. Andrew Ede recently argued that science education may do little to raise the level of rational thinking and may, in fact, actually deter it!"
Janos Haits

Natural Language Processing - 0 views

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    We are offering this course on Natural Language Processing free and online to students worldwide, January - March 2012, continuing Stanford's exciting forays into large scale online instruction. Students have access to screencast lecture videos, are given quiz questions, assignments and exams, receive regular feedback on progress, and can participate in a discussion forum. Those who successfully complete the
Janos Haits

Read the Web :: Carnegie Mellon University - 0 views

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    "Can computers learn to read? We think so. "Read the Web" is a research project that attempts to create a computer system that learns over time to read the web. Since January 2010, our computer system called NELL (Never-Ending Language Learner) has been running continuously, attempting to perform two tasks each day:"
Erich Feldmeier

@biogarage @marueber Igor Efimov, Sarah Gutbrod: 3-D printer creates transformative dev... - 0 views

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    "Igor Efimov, Sarah Gutbrod Using an inexpensive 3-D printer, biomedical engineers have developed a custom-fitted, implantable device with embedded sensors that could transform treatment and prediction of cardiac disorders. The 3-D elastic membrane is made of a soft, flexible, silicon material that is precisely shaped to match the heart's outer layer of the wall. Current technology is two-dimensional and cannot cover the full surface of the epicardium or maintain reliable contact for continual use without sutures or adhesives. The team can then print tiny sensors onto the membrane that can precisely measure temperature, mechanical strain and pH, among other markers, or deliver a pulse of electricity in cases of arrhythmi"
Janos Haits

PlanetData - 0 views

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    "PlanetData aims to establish a sustainable European community of researchers that supports organizations in exposing their data in new and useful ways. The ability to effectively and efficiently make sense out of the enormous amounts of data continuously published online, including data streams, (micro)blog posts, digital archives, eScience resources, public sector data sets, and the Linked Open Data Cloud, is a crucial ingredient for Europe's transition to a knowledge society. It allows businesses, governm"
Erich Feldmeier

SocialNetworkingForScientists - Wiki @NerdyChristie - 0 views

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    "If you're here, you either are interested in how to use Web 2.0 tools for science, or attended one of the Social Networking for Scientists workshops from Christie Wilcox. This wiki is a gathering place for anyone with a passion and interest in science communication and workshop attendees from across the country so that everyone can continue to learn about the topic as well as network with one another. "
Erich Feldmeier

@biogarage #diversity Kim Hughes: The hottest guy guppies stand out in a crowd | Scienc... - 0 views

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    "Evolution likes to keep what works best. The rest falls by the wayside. In theory, this means that the most "fit" variations, say, a color that looks poisonous or one particularly attractive to the ladies, would become the most common. By this logic, the many colors of the guppy should have conformed to a single common pattern long ago. But they haven't. Instead, the male guppies continue to show not only bright colors but also a high diversity of colors. What keeps the variety going? The rare-male effect. Female guppies prefer the males that are rare, no matter what their color pattern actually is. This effect has been documented in the laboratory in guppies and in other species like fruit flies."
Charles Daney

Space Panel Finds No Good Options | AVIATION WEEK - 0 views

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    Early results of cost analysis by the Augustine human spaceflight panel have found no good options for continuing human exploration of space within the constraints set by the Obama administration's fiscal 2010 budget plan for NASA.
Skeptical Debunker

Piezo-rubber creates potential for wearable energy system - 0 views

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    As we continue to carry around items that insist on requiring electricity to work, portable-even wearable-energy-generating systems are looking very attractive. A group of researchers has recently looked into the use of piezoelectric materials, which generate an electric field or potential when placed under mechanical stress. By placing these materials on a rubbery or flexible surface, they created a material that can generate the highest rate of energy conversion reported for similar systems. While these are still far from the market, the metrics of the flexible piezoelectrics so far are very promising.
thinkahol *

Short Sharp Science: Smallpox finding prompts HIV 'whodunnit' - 0 views

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    People keep blaming the emergence of HIV on science, or at least medicine. For the longest time this came in the form of the claim that it was all due to contaminated polio vaccine. That turned out to be factually groundless. Now a group of scientists in the US thinks it may all be down to the greatest medical intervention of all: the eradication of smallpox.
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    "A more potentially useful observation about HIV and viruses comes from Jennifer Smith of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and colleagues in the 1 June issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, in which they report that men with HPV infection on their penis are nearly twice as likely to catch HIV than men without. They suspect the virus - which causes cervical cancer in women, and genital warts in men and women - attracts lymphocytes to the skin of the penis for HIV to infect, or creates micro-lesions where it can enter. That's good news, because we have a vaccine for HPV that appears to be completely safe. The team calculates that vaccinating men against HPV could prevent as many cases of HIV as more widely hailed circumcision efforts. It just goes to show that vaccination - already one of the biggest success stories of medicine - can continue to throw up unexpected benefits."
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