Kids who spot bullshit, and the adults who get upset about it Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 28 May 2011 If you can tear yourself away from Ryan Giggs’ penis for just one moment, I have a different censorship story. Brain Gym is a schools program I’ve been writing on since 2003. It’s a series of elaborate physical movements with silly pseudoscientific justifications: you wiggle your head back and forth because that gets more blood into your frontal lobes for clearer thinking; you contort your fingers together to improve some unnamed “energy flow”; they’re keen on drinking water, because “processed foods” – I’m quoting the Brain Gym Teacher’s Manual – “do not contain water.” You pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for Brain Gym, and it’s still done in hundreds of state schools across the UK. This week I got an email from a science teacher about a 13 year old pupil. Now, this is weakminded, and perhaps even vicious. Closer to home is Rhys Morgan, a schoolboy with Crohns Disease. But even before that happens, we can feel optimistic.
20 Most Influential Scientists Alive Today Scientists are perhaps the most influential people in the world today. They are responsible not only for the great practical advances in medicine and technology, but they also give us a deep understanding of what the world is and how it works. Their role in shaping the worldview of our culture is unrivaled. Below is SuperScholar’s list of the twenty living scientists that we regard as having most profoundly influenced our world. 1. Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web by being the first to successfully implement the transfer protocols on which the Web depends. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
Academic writing skills by Katharine Stapleford on Prezi Error and the Nature of Science March 2004 How science works is the key to understanding its concepts. Einstein predicted in 1907 that light bends in a gravitational field. Today, telescopes on Earth can pick up the light bending around a massive object in space. Source: NASA’s hubble.org. Scientific information abounds. Profiling the Nature of Science Observation comes from different angles. What features of the nature of the science are most important to know? Scientists think critically about claims. Scientists back their findings with multiple lines of evidence. Observation is sometimes enhanced by quantitative measurement, by comparison—especially with controls that isolate the effect of individual variables or help distinguish correlation from causation—and by graphical representation and statistical analysis summarizing patterns in the data and the chances for error.Data does not speak for itself. Science deals with facts, not values. Science is a human enterprise. Some claims are rooted in unsound principles. Social
Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived Additional notes from the author: If you want to learn more about Tesla, I highly recommend reading Tesla: Man Out of Time Also, this Badass of the week by Ben Thompson is what originally inspired me to write a comic about Tesla. Ben's also got a book out which is packed full of awesome. There's an old movie from the 80s on Netflix Instant Queue right now about Tesla: The Secret of Nikola Tesla. It's corny and full of bad acting, but it paints a fairly accurate depiction of his life. The drunk history of Tesla is quite awesome, too. History.com has a great article about Edison and how his douchebaggery had a chokehold on American cinema.
Sports Science in the Real World With reports of supplement and substance abuse in Australian sport, supplements and sports science have been omnipresent in the Australian media as of late. Much of the media's focus has been negative, which is to be expected. However, at times like this, it is worth highlighting the high quality work that is being done by truly upstanding and innovative professionals in Sports Science and related fields. Here is an excellent resource, created by Prof Louise Burke and her team of the AIS Sports Nutrition department, that summarises the evidence base surrounding the possible performance-enhancing effects of various supplements. For me, it's also proof that not all sports scientists are created equal ;)
Nature of science Using 3D Printers To Generate Villages Of Houses Rome wasn't built in a day, but a village of 10 houses created out of 3D printed concrete parts has been constructed in just one day in Shanghai, China. And the even better news? Each one only cost around $5000. Oh, and they’re partly made out of recycled waste, too. The company that built the structures, WinSun Decoration Design Engineering Co, spent years perfecting the system which allowed them to achieve this impressive feat. The material used to construct the parts is a mixture of high grade cement, recycled construction waste and industrial waste, which is then reinforced with glass fibers. The software used to design the parts also allows for the addition of things like plumbing and windows which can be added on after the building is erected. Although these buildings may not look like your traditional three bedroom home, they are hoped to provide a rapid and inexpensive housing solution for poverty-stricken or displaced individuals and families. Images via 3ders.org