This week, Dr. Michio Kaku wrote an article for Newsweek titled "Asteroid Apocalypse." Within it he discusses the potential for an asteroid collision in the next few decades. Do asteroids actually pose a serious threat to our civilization and species?
Read MoreUnderselling Science
I am an atheist, and I care about the way non-religious belief is communicated by atheists to the public. Over the years, I have become increasingly disappointed with the way atheists explain our origins to the public. In the future, I hope that we stop underselling how much science knows about “how we got here.”
Read MoreThe Curiosity Announcement
When Dr. John Grotzinger told NPR that the Mars rover had made a discovery “for the history books” everyone overreacted, including me. Unfortunately, Curiosity did not discover microbial life, but they did discovery complex chemical compounds (e.g., carbon, chlorine). This discovery, although still disappointing for many, raises a few very interesting questions. And we shouldn’t forget that Curiosity’s mission has just begun.
Read MoreScience Meets YouTube
Over the last few weeks I have been interested in how new media is changing education. YouTube has become an exciting avenue for a new generation of science educators to build a global audience. In the future, we should be lucky enough to see more and more interesting and exciting educational channels. This post is a list of my favourite at the moment.
Read MoreNew Media Army
The Young Turks and new media have changed political discourse in America over the past few years. Their emergence and success has challenged the status quo. Traditional media’s relentless divisiveness and misinformation campaigns should represent a tactic that cannot be effective in the age of new media. The madness that was the past ten years of American politics should end.
Read MoreClimate of Doubt (Fear, Corruption, and Lies)
A few days ago I watched Climate of Doubt, a PBS documentary hosted by John Hockenberry. Throughout the documentary Hockenberry reveals how the political desire and ability to reduce our carbon footprint has been transformed by money in politics. Special interest groups have developed a successful tactic to combating the scientific consensus that our planet is warming and we are the cause. Unfortunately this issue can’t be solved if we wait for a partisan divide to be resolved. We need action from the most powerful country on the planet now.
Read MoreWelcome to the Strange World of Ken Ham
Ken Ham is a Young-Earth Creationist (YEC) and president of the Creation Museum. On August 29th he released a response video to Bill Nye's viral Big Think video re: the dangers of teaching creationism to children. Within his response we get a chance to dissect what it is YEC think about science, scientists and education.
Read MoreA Conservation Story Gone Bad
In a recent conservation documentary by the BBC the social dynamics between the Afar tribe and the baboons are explored. Throughout the documentary conservation biologist Mat Pines attempts to build a positive relationship with the tribe but ends up failing to understand the root of the conflict.
Read MorePrometheus Fails
Science fiction in the media is often judged based on how scientifically accurate or plausible the story is. Prometheus tells the story of humanity visiting another habitable planet for the first time. During this trip they encounter another intelligent civilization. How realistic was this story? Did it depict a plausible scenario?
Read MoreEvolution and the Public
Evolution is frequently discussed in major media outlets like TV, newspaper and online. However, the people who write about evolutionary news and research are frequently unqualified to do so. This leads to the public becoming more and more misinformed about what evolution is and what is factual. In the future, major media outlets should allow more people with credible scientific qualifications to write and speak about evolution in the news.
Read More