Archive for the ‘Science’ Category

Faithless Christians dismantling public education

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

Two nights ago I half watched a PBS documentary on the Texas School Board which has out sized power in determining what gets put in the nation’s text books. I was busy whittling down what had been a twenty-inch thick stack of untended Duluth News Tribunes dating back to 2010 to clip and file stories mostly related to the Duluth Schools. The central character in “Revisionaries” was the Board’s chairman, a nice fellow and practicing dentist, Don McLeroy.

For ten years Don has been inserting creationism into science textbooks and taking Thomas Jefferson out of History books. Because Texas orders books statewide for all their public schools unlike most states which allow their school districts to purchase textbooks most textbook publishers base their books on the Texas School Board mandates and have done so for several decades. That might help explain why among the western educated nations the US had one of the smallest number of folks who accepted evolution, 28% of the population.

A few years ago when I was running against Roger Reinert for the State Senate I campaigned in part on my proposal to forbid any Minnesota School District from buying books that had been designed to accommodate the Texas standards. Roger, I support the Red Plan, Reinert won that DFL primary.

Enough digression.

McLeroy struck me as a naif. He and his Board majority require the teaching of creationism the latest alternative to evolution saying that science hasn’t decided between the two “theories.”

The thing that no one else comments on is that this silliness not only turns biology on its head but all other sciences. For his part Dr. McLeroy was shown explaining to some grade schoolers how Noah’s ark was plenty big enough to hold two of every animal in the world. McLeroy believes that the universe is only 6,000 years old. He laughs off dinosaurs living tens of millions of years ago.

But If McLeroy is right then the light from distant stars has only been traveling for 6,000 years. Those who keep up with NASA may know that the medium sized galaxy we live in is 120,000 light years across. It takes a photon of light that many years to traverse the distance of the Milky Way if the physicists are right about this. In a 6000 year old universe we could only see stars about 1/20th of the way across the galaxy. All the others would be as good as invisible to us as well as the galaxies beyond our own. The astronomers have been telling us that their new telescopes have given them a peek at regions of our universe where light we now see began its travel toward us almost 13 billion years ago. Don’s creationism can not accept this.

Since light, a major preoccupation of physics, travels at roughly 186,000 miles per second, Don McLeroy’s universe and the universe of astronomy and physics are irreconcilable. I hate to think how much money we’ve wasted NASA.

Likewise, geology is being taught all wrong. The non-Biblical Earth is 4 billion years old having formed slowly by matter’s coalescence in a ring around what was to become our sun. At first the Earthly blob was mostly cool but it warmed up through friction as it was bombarded by comets and asteroids turning molten. Huge reservoirs of radioactive metals at its core kept it warm until a thin crust cooled. So, say the scientists but all of this geology, astronomy and physics get’s tossed out on its head in Don McLeroy’s 6,000 year old world.

I think there is a larger irony for McLeroy than using his position on a state school board to moot and undermine all this science. I think a larger irony involves his misunderstanding of his own religion, Christianity.

Don made it clear that he does not just have faith in his positions. He knows that his religion is fact. The creation of the universe that he feels is backed up by the Bible is a concrete truth. McLeroy is not an arrogant man. He’s more of a Sancho Panza following his Quixotic scientific belief. There is, however, no humility in this knowledge. The ark could hold all ten or twenty million animals that could have been collected by Noah. The world is 6,000 years old.

But it is not certainty that the New Testament offers. Jesus offers his follower’s faith. It is enough to believe through faith that Jesus was sired by God of a virgin. It is enough to believe that he was crucified, dead and buried and that he rose again from the dead and ascended to heaven to sit on the right hand of God. The reward for for people who have faith in the message found in the New Testament is eternal life. God bestows his grace on people of faith. This is not good enough for McLeroy who apparently survived his public school years without drinking too heavily of science. No, Mr. McLeroy has to place his science lite creationism along side evolution as a co-equal. Nothing can be left behind to undermine faith.

Joseph Stalin might have appreciated Mr. McLeroy’s concern. His purges stunted of a generation of horticulturalists and evolutionists who he replaced with Lamarkian “scientists” like Trofim Lysenko whose theories, Stalin was persuaded, fit better with dialectical materialism.

Of the twelve disciples I most identify with Thomas and his famous doubt. He refused to believe the litany of the Apostle’s creed until he was able to place his hands in the wounds of the crucifiction. Jesus then chided him for his flimsy faith thereby honoring the unquestioning faith of the other eleven.

McLeroy doesn’t really have to worry about the teaching of the birth of Jesus in American textbooks. Tens of millions of children in Sunday School classes have accepted this rather than quarrel with their elders or church. But evolution is different. Many mainline churches grew to accept evolution without considering it a threat to their overall faith. This is not true of McLeroy. He is a fundementalist and he can’t have public schools undermine the faith of students who might begin to doubt a seven day creation. Creationism has to be put in textbooks as a legitimate theory much like Lysenko’s theories had to be put in Joseph Stalin’s textbooks. Doubt must be stamped out. Faith can not be trusted. Or perhaps, like me, Don McLeroy would have been a Thomas but unlike me he finds this thought troubling. He can not trust children who are taught mainstream science to ignore it. He must insert nonsense into America’s textbooks because he can not trust mere faith to uphold the Godly world he wishes to enforce. To me this is a demonstration of Dr. MeLeroy’s faithlessness not his faith. I do not see how God can grant grace to a man of so little faith.

Perhaps, it is even a rejection of the Constitution’s expectation that the state will not promote religion.

Increasingly Dr. McLeroy’s Creation science is Republican science. It may, however, not remain Texas science forever. Dr. McLean was defeated in his run for reelection to the State education Board by about 450 votes. Still, the standards he and his fellow Board members approved for Texas, (and consequently America) will be in force until 2020 or another seven years.

Amblyopia

Tuesday, January 8th, 2013

My Dad had a favorite term: “self fulfilling prophecies.” He warned me against them so often I took the idea to heart. They can be powerful. Shamans used them in tribal societies to put curses on folks who got so caught up in the curse that they conveniently got sick and/or died.

My Dad unwittingly handed one to me when I was in junior high that I made particular use of. When I was struggling with long division (I had a hell of a time keeping place holders straight when I subtracted remainders) he told me that “Welty’s aren’t good at math.” That was good enough for me in succeeding math and algebra classes.

I’ve more recently (starting about twenty years ago) gotten very interested in the notion of the “plasticity” of the brain or in the words of the previous post: “teaching old dogs new tricks.”

So this post from Andy Sullivan caught my cell phone learning attention this morning. Read it and c how the xperts got it wrong.

“Amblyopia is a visual disorder in which the two eyes don’t properly align; sometimes it’s called “lazy eye.” The standard medical advice is to treat your child early, by getting them to wear an eye patch over the good eye (in order to strengthen the weak one). If you don’t treat the problem early, you can just forget about ever fixing it.”

He sure looks like Lincoln who also was interested in science

Wednesday, August 29th, 2012

But the current owners of the GOP won’t like his message.

George W Bush was incurious

Monday, August 6th, 2012

Obama has Curiosity. Woohoo!

When a sparrow falls

Tuesday, July 31st, 2012

Apparently I have hornets and wasps to thank for my wine cellar. They carry yeast in their guts and bite wine grapes thus passing it on.

Reading about this reminded me of one of the great miscalculations of Maoist China that caused the starvation of about 30 million people, The Great Sparrow Campaign.

It may be true that no sparrow can fall to the ground without God’s knowing it but that doesn’t mean the consequences are all that obvious to man. That’s worth keeping in mind as Republican leaders keep pooh poohing the notion that releasing hundreds of millions of years of naturally sequestered carbon into the atmosphere over a couple of human lifetimes will have any adverse consequences.Some say that God is in the details so we should be grateful that the Republicans have his ear. I’m sure the close collaboration of God and his party will prevent Lake Superior from evaporating. Apparently some people have been aware of this for quite some time.

Of course, if God’s party is right and America starts acting all godless by allowing gays to marry it could be curtains for ole Gitchi Goomi.

The Egg pump

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Thank you Science Friday:

NASA data at its best

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

What is it?

If the radiation doesn’t get you…

Friday, February 10th, 2012

…maybe the cat parasites will:

My Buddy sent me that link and then wrote that because he didn’t have a cat he didn’t read it. I’ve lived in a house with cats for most of the last 45 years and I’ve been the principal cat litter changing agent since I was married. That’s because my wife who as a premie survived her Mother’s bout with toxoplasmosis required me to do it. Cat poop is a principal means for the parasite’s transmission. Since I would not be getting pregnant she felt it should be my responsibility to clean the cat pan and take on the risk. Little did I know that I might be subjecting myself to schizophrenia as a result. Ten percent or so of all Americans have the bug in their brains. Its as high as 95% in much of Africa.

Reiber has her eye trained on other human pathogens that she thinks may well be playing similar games, if only science could prove it. For example, she says, many people at the end stages of AIDS and syphilis express an intense craving for sex. So, too, do individuals at the beginning of a herpes outbreak. These may just be anecdotal accounts, she concedes, but based on her own findings, she wouldn’t be surprised if these urges come from the pathogen making known its will to survive.

“We’ve found all kinds of excuses for why we do the things we do,” observes Moore. “‘My genes made me do it.’ ‘My parents are to blame.’ I’m afraid we may have reached the point where parasites may have to be added to the laundry list of excuses.”

Maybe we should ban cat ownership in favor of dogs just like some would have us abandon nuclear energy for solar energy.

This American Life had a fun segment on the subject a few years back but this NPR story is shorter to listen to.

Windmills are great…

Friday, February 10th, 2012

—but people who demonize all nuclear generation of electricity remind me of our great grandparents who tried to block the new-fangled electrical outlets installed in their houses because they were afraid that electricity would leak out and kill them.

My Buddy sends me another global warming story…

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

…that suggests I’m right about its having two triggers.

Liberals may especially enjoy the embedded link within this page to a story about how right wing politics and intelligence correlate. BTW I didn’t read it.

Jupiter nears the Moon

Monday, January 30th, 2012

I heard on the news today that Jupiter is moving near conjunction with the Moon today. Since I’m in Jupiter, Florida at the moment that has inspired many bad puns. Its true. Look out the window tonight and Jupiter lies about the width of ten moons away from our satellite. I’m sure Newt is looking at it and imagining the grandiose specter of his moon base.

The landing is about 4 minutes in.

We saw the Scorsese movie “Hugo”. Its about 20 minutes too long. The part about Georges Méliès is, however, very pleasing.

What brings “altruism” to mind

Monday, January 30th, 2012

My eclectic Buddy doesn’t only goad me by sending links like this one today showing that Mitt Romney is ahead of Obama. He recently sent me the email with some serious evidence undermining the human causation of global warming – not mind you global warming itself.

I didn’t read it for a week. I’ve been busy. When he sent it again, presumably because I didn’t reply with a biting critique I promised to give it a look. That resulted in a couple emails. My Buddy has also been fencing with others and he mentioned E.O.Wilson the eminent scientist who pioneered the once heretical science of “sociobiology.”

I wrote my Buddy back explaining that I was aware of Wilson and mentioned that he had studied ants. I also mentioned that he had founded sociobiology much to the “consternation” of other scientists and then recently abandoned much of his thinking. That was a surprise and my Buddy asked about it. I looked at a Wikipedia page which did not seem to mention Wilson’s change of heart then did a more general google search. That brought me to this old Discover Magazine article.

I’m too preoccupied enjoying Florida’s mild weather and the Republican backbiting to give this much thought at the moment but here’s a bit of a toss off on the subject. (more…)

This cold water poured on Global Warming…

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

…is not the product of climate deniers. No doubt they will soon trumpet it, however.

My Buddy sent this to me and it is very interesting.

‘Nature is about to carry out a very interesting experiment,’ he said. ‘Ten or 15 years from now, we will be able to determine much better whether the warming of the late 20th Century really was caused by man-made CO2, or by natural variability.’

Meanwhile, since the end of last year, world temperatures have fallen by more than half a degree, as the cold ‘La Nina’ effect has re-emerged in the South Pacific.

If it should turn out over the next couple decades to be borne out it doesn’t necessarily undermine the theory that the release of carbon by humans has caused/is causing warming. It makes me wonder if humans are incredibly lucky and are about to be given a reprieve in our search for alternate forms of energy.

God knows the Chinese aren’t about to give up burning coal any time soon. Not if their leaders want to avoid another revolution.

Don’t read this post’s link unless you have a strong stomach and…

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

…a scientifically curious mind.

Here’s a hint on what’s at the other end of this link. A number of years ago I was grossed out by a chimpanzee at a zoo. This chimp casually stuck his/her finger into another Chimp’s nose and sucked the retrieved prize off his/her finger afterwards. Could there be a biological advantage for having done this? That’s what the link discusses.

In a related hint. When I was a kid I used to watch a sort of early reality program called Bold Journeys. It was comprised of expensive home movies taken by mostly American world travelers as they ventured into regions then far removed from the “civilized” world. In one movie a circle of Amazonian women were sitting around a large earthenware pot as they chewed leaves. Every so often they took turns spitting into the pot. The narrator explained that much like setting sour dough bread out in the air to catch wild yeast to enable it to rise these women were creating a juice which would use their saliva to ferment the jar’s contents thereby creating an alcoholic beverage which the entire village could enjoy.

Fifty years later I’m still recovering from that information.

More heat than light

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

As a few people know Claudia used to run the local power company. (Oh I forgot, all my potential new constituents don’t know that that’s a joke – but only sort of.)

We’ve been on the energy saving binge for a decade buying the new fangled lightbulbs since MP&L gave us a little coupon to buy them with on an energy saving kick. So when Claudia heard that the Republicans in Congress saved the Chinese and Indian light bulb manufactures who supply us with the old fashioned energy wasting light bulbs to save us from enviornmentalists run amok she expressed concern for the American manufacturers of the new bulbs who will have to retool to start making the inefficient ones again. She sneared that Congress was always generating more heat than light. Do you get the joke? (Its because you can burn your fingers touching old lightbulbs that turn electricity into wasted heat when what we really want from them is light.)

Which got me thinking, (an admittedly dangerous thing eschewed by good dittohead Republicans these days) that we obviously have the worst schools in the world since all they manage to do is turn out dumb scientists who think Humans are the reason the North Polar ice cap is about to melt. Darn that evil Nancy Pelosi and her little dog Newt too.

90% of you is something else

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Fascinating and it poses an interesting question about the theoretical cloning of dinosaurs.

Thomas Jefferson cut out all the stuff….

Monday, September 19th, 2011

…he didn’t like in the Bible.

He also had five of the books of Lucretius. The story of how secular humanism sneaked into the modern world.

“We need a theory of everything”

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Music of the spheres?

Scientist disses global warming

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

My Buddy sent me the blog post from a political hack who was delighted to report that a scientist who endorsed Obama has quit a science organization because he doubts that man is the cause of Global Warming. I found this story elsewhere.

I note that the scientist in question is a Norwegian. Generally speaking Norwegian endorsements of American Presidents don’t count for all that much unless, of course, they come from the Nobel Committee.

All creatures small and great [BIGOTRY ALERT]

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

It seemed a tad early to go to bed so I looked at the Discover Magazine’s webpage and read five or so interesting articles about human-neanderthal sex, the possible extinction of the bacterium that caused the Black Death, using insulin to postpone Alzheimers and a planet half the mass of Jupitor just a hop, skip and a jump away that seems to be made up mostly of diamond. (good luck catching it. If it was in the Moon’s orbit around Earth it would travel around Earth about every hour instead of every month…..or something like that.

With the Texas School Books mandated to dumb down science and the entire American text book industry basing its contents on Texas standards we can expect the Chinese to eat our lunch all the more quickly.

Anyway, one article led to another and then I read this brief book review about a book about viruses that was hailed by a NY Times reviewer. I particularly noted the reviewer’s thrill that the book was a mere 100 pages long. Brevity may be not only the soul of wit but of learning as well.

This all got me to thinking about just how much of the world’s biomass is made up of bacteria and other microbes. I recall reading some jaw dropping figure like maybe that there was twice or twenty-five times as much microbial weight as everything else bigger. I did a hasty google search and failed to find the answer but ran across this webpage which had more fascinating information about bacteria. For instance, we all have about a quarter of a pound of bacteria living on us at all times. Without it we would die because much of it is necessary to keep the little universes that are our bodies alive. This reminds me of my cousin who had a boyfriend who washed everything himself because he, like Howard Hughes suffered from germ phobia. Poor fellow had 600,000 bacteria living on every square inch of his skin and didn’t know it.

My son does this all the time – stays up late reading science stories and hopping from one to the other.

Somehow his curiosity survived public education. [BIGOTRY ALERT] I hope it survives the Republican Party.

Until I get tired of doing it I will try to remember to insert an alert every time I am about to ridicule today’s Republican Party. [BIGOTRY ALERT] If you are a passionate pachyderm you will want to stay away from the link on the right “God’s Own Party.”