Archive for the ‘Science’ Category
Scientific Alliance: Popper versus Kuhn on Climate Science
Posted at 10:03 pm | Filed Under Science, Skepticism, Viewpoint, climate science
This just came in from the Scientific Alliance, and I thought it was so good it should be reproduced for posterity:
Time for a new paradigm on climate change?
There are two alternative ways to look at how science progresses. In one corner is the concept of the falsifiable hypothesis, credited to Karl Popper. Popper argued that [...]
Ocean Acidification: A significant change or just noise?
Posted at 10:29 am | Filed Under Science, Skepticism, climate science
Are the oceans acidifying? Compare and contrast the claim with people who actually know the limitations of measurement.
First, the claim from Chemical & Engineering News [with my emphasis] published by the American Chemical Society:
Clarion Call For Marine Life
Global CO2 emissions must be cut enough to halt ocean acidification, science panel warns
Cheryl Hogue
The new climate-change treaty [...]
The debate within science, heretics and scientific consensus
Posted at 1:06 pm | Filed Under Science, Skepticism
There will be quite a few posts in the near future on the subject of the scientific process, but the recent article from the Scientific Alliance on how scientific consensuses form and how they can impede scientific progress for years is a good primer:
The scientific method is a valuable way to advance objective knowledge. By [...]
Zombie Science
Posted at 10:43 pm | Filed Under Science, Webcomics
Image via Wikipedia
No, this isn’t the “science of zombies”.
The following is taken from a wonderful essay [PDF] by Bruce Charlton on the real problems of publically funded science, and how scientific consensuses can kill real progress in any number of scientific disciplines.
The summary kicks off with this:
Although the classical ideal is that scientific theories are [...]
Richard Branson and BBC Science Cluelessness
Posted at 1:31 am | Filed Under BBC, Science, climate science, environmentalism
This comes from the BBC’s description of the flights of SpaceShipTwo to take people to the edge of space, and then come back to a nice safe landing (hopefully). And all for a mere $200,000 – the world’s most expensive rollercoaster.
Of course, Richard Branson is a man who is extremely adept at being on both [...]
The Drake Equation
Posted at 1:12 am | Filed Under Science, Skepticism, Webcomics
The Drake Equation, according to the world’s worst encyclopedia is
… a famous result in the speculative fields of exobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
This equation was devised by Dr. Frank Drake (now Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz) in 1960, in an attempt to estimate the [...]
The faceless consensus of idiot experts
Posted at 12:18 pm | Filed Under Science, Viewpoint, climate science
Another episode where you conclude that climate modellers have been elevated to a new branch of government or a special priesthood. Why else would you think that the UK government would do the following [my emphasis]:
Malaria warning as UK becomes warmer
The UK is to be hit by regular malaria outbreaks, fatal heatwaves and contaminated drinking [...]
DeSmogBlog: Funded by criminality
Posted at 11:13 am | Filed Under Science, Viewpoint
I’ve just posted this to DeSmogBlog as they congratulate themselves on being the best Canadian group blog:
Congratulations on the award, coming as it does on the heels of the conviction of John Lefebvre, the top financial benefactor of the DeSmog Blog, for money-laundering.
Its an impressive moral superiority you display in smearing law-abiding scientists who dissent [...]
Another Open Letter to the UN
Posted at 11:23 am | Filed Under Science
Its a sign of the times I suppose that large numbers of scientists and others feel the need to send open letters to political leaders. These sort of political acts happen when supposedly open scientific channels become blocked by individuals or organizations wishing to end debate.
This one is to Ban Ki-Moon, current UN Secretary General:
Open [...]
Tax revenues well used to fund groundbreaking science
Posted at 1:29 pm | Filed Under BBC, Science
GBP 200,000 worth of great science.