Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
This week the UK’s MPs’ vote on a decision regarding mitochondrial gene therapy. You would think that the obvious rational decision should be “of course” because this is about making a dramatic change in the lives of those who might inherit a mitochondrial disease, which is passed on to children from mothers who possess mutations in the DNA … Read more
Famous (in Ireland) Irish TV Personality, Gay Byrne (that really is his name, not his orientation,it is an abbreviation for Gabriel), recently interviewed well-known and highly popular comedian Stephen Fry on one episode of his TV series “The Meaning of Life” in which he interviews well-known individuals with a set a predictable questions. Now Stephen Fry, knowing what … Read more
Maajid Nawaz (pictured above), a former radical Islamist, now a liberal counter-extremism activist, and author of his autobiographical book ‘Radical’ , held an AMA (ask me anything) over at /reddit/r/books a few days ago, here are some of the questions and answers from that session. The Introduction to the AMA opened with this … My name … Read more
Saudi Arabia is in the news, and it is rather important to keep it there and ensure that the spotlight remains, not because of the passing of the baton of power (at the age of 90 King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz died yesterday), but rather due to them being a state that is, and has been for a … Read more
Harriet Hall, the skeptic-doc, writes over on Science Based Medicine a fabulous article all about why people ignore the facts and instead buy into absurd ideas when it comes to making decisions that can potentially be the wrong side of the line between life and death. (Side note: she is a fascinating person, not only is she … Read more
This has been popping up in a few places, and so just in case you have not seen it yet, here is Mr Deity with a fabulous response to the Pope’s morally reprehensible comments regarding the violence in Paris against the satirists at the French weekly, Charile Hebdo. Warning … he uses a few naughty words, … Read more