Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
The peer review journal Environmental Microbiology has a panel of knowledgeable subject matter experts who review and comment on articles that have been submitted, and, as might be expected, nestled among the comment extremes that run from “What the frack is this crap” through to “Great job, approved for publication” you find some true gems. … Read more
The Geminids are a meteor shower caused by the object 3200 Phaethon, which is thought to be a Palladian asteroid. This would make the Geminids the only meteor shower not originating from a passing comet. If you would like to see them, well tonight is the night … they have been building up to their … Read more
The Boston Review has an article entitled “More Crank Science” and is by Jerry A. Coyne, a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Ecology and Evolution … its well worth reading … I highly recommend it … here is an extract … following by a link to the full article … … Read more
For some, Wikileaks is evil incarnate, and so they have not held back from openly calling for extreme measures against Julian Assange. Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, said those who passed the secrets to Assange should be executed. Sarah Palin demanded that Assange himself should be hunted in the same way an al-Qaida operative … Read more
Latest research deflates the idea that the Universe cycles for eternity. Our view of the early Universe may be full of mysterious circles — and even triangles — but that doesn’t mean we’re seeing evidence of events that took place before the Big Bang. So says a trio of papers taking aim at a recent … Read more
WHY did the 2009 swine flu pandemic kill so many more young adults than children? Paradoxically, it might be because of past exposure to seasonal flu. When Fernando Polack of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues studied 75 adults with swine flu they found severe cases had more antibodies that bound to the virus … Read more