Over at Shifting Baselines, Randy Olson posts a comment suggesting how to combat anti-science movies like Expelled: You want to know how to start — why doesn’t somebody run a film festival for pro-evolution films? THAT is how you reach out to tap into new voices, new blood, new perspectives. THAT is what is desperately… Continue reading A Pro-Science Film Festival: Why Not?
Author: Chad Orzel
Science-and-Religion Links Dump
The big science-and-religion issue of the week has been Expelled, which The AV Club gave an F, writing: Perhaps what Bruce Chapman of ID advocacy group The Discovery Institute says about Darwinists applies best to Expelled: “People who don’t have an argument are reduced to throwing sand in your eyes.” If only this movie could… Continue reading Science-and-Religion Links Dump
links for 2008-04-27
Seed: “So” A look at the most common verbal tic of scientists. (tags: science language academia education)
Beer is Not Uncultured
Every Friday (more or less) there’s a “Faculty Social Hour” on campus. They have cheese and crackers, a fairly random assortment of beer, and a couple of bottles of wine, and various faculty come by to wind down a bit at the end of the week. It’s a chance to socialize a little with people… Continue reading Beer is Not Uncultured
What a Drag
I went for a bike ride this morning, the first real bike ride of the year (I’ve biked to and from work a couple of times, but this was the first real ride just for the sake of riding). There was some pissy drizzle at the start, but by the time I got on the… Continue reading What a Drag
links for 2008-04-26
Easily Distracted » Blog Archive » What’s Wrong With “Social Justice”? “If you really mean it, however, you have to seriously leave room for, even encourage, someone to answer the question, “Should we pursue social justice or be socially responsible” by saying, “No”.” (tags: academia education society culture ethics politics) Dynamics of Cats : string… Continue reading links for 2008-04-26
Notes Toward “Science in the 21st Century”
The organizers of the Science in the 21st Century conference at the Perimeter Institute have started to collect talk abstracts for the meeting. Actually, they started a couple of weeks ago, but I’m a Bad Person and haven’t gotten around to writing anything for them yet. It doesn’t help that this sort of thing is… Continue reading Notes Toward “Science in the 21st Century”
Abstraction, Compartmentalization, and Education
Given the amount of time I’ve spent writing about academic issues this week, it’s only fitting that the science story getting the most play is about math education. Ed Yong provides a detailed explanation, and Kenneth Chang summarizes the work in the New York Times. Here’s Ed’s introduction: Except they don’t really work. A new… Continue reading Abstraction, Compartmentalization, and Education
Shinto Love God
I’m kicking myself for not using this as a filler post a couple of weeks back when it was Easter: This is from one of the shrines at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto– the temple with the gigantic wooden platform looking out over the city. The sign at the lower right identifies it:
links for 2008-04-25
Princeton scientists discover exotic quantum state of matter “Writing in the April 24 issue of Nature, the scientists report that they have recorded [the quantum Hall effect] in a bulk crystal of bismuth-antimony without any external magnetic field being present.” (tags: physics experiment materials news science) ‘Buckypaper’ stretches in a strange way – physicsworld.com “[R]esearchers… Continue reading links for 2008-04-25