Flag Counter The Political Freakshow • Posts Tagged ‘science’

As Mr. Perry, wearing a white shirt and no jacket, shook hands with a mix of well-wishers and naysayers on the cafe’s patio, Kristin Bunce, 43, helped ease her 9-year-old son, Sam Beane, into Mr. Perry’s path.

Sam, wide-eyed and looking up at the governor, asked Mr. Perry a question. The governor crouched down so he was just inches from Sam’s face, and in a soft, calm voice began to answer.

“How old do I think the earth is?” Mr. Perry said. “You know what? I don’t have any idea. I know it’s pretty old, so it goes back a long, long way. I’m not sure anybody actually knows completely and absolutely how long, how old the earth is.”

“And here your mom was asking about evolution, and you know, it’s a theory that’s out there and it’s got some gas in it,” Mr. Perry continued. “In Texas, we teach both creationism and evolution in our public schools.”

He added: “I figure you’re smart enough to figure out which one is right. Thank you.”

“I asked him how old he thought the earth was,” said Sam, a rising fourth grader, recounting the exchange. “He said he didn’t know.”

“…Evolution, I think, is correct,” Sam said, looking up at his mother.

The New York Times, “Perry Parries Hecklers in Portsmouth.”

Of course a nine-year-old is smarter than the Republican presidential frontrunner.

(via inothernews)

jtotheizzoe:

motherjones:

This Heatwave Is No Accident

(via Peter Sinclair)

Pack this video as potent ammunition in your climate science arsenal. This heat is no accident.

If climate deniers insist on not helping themselves, we must help them.

Keep calm and spread the knowledge.

I dare…no I hope…that Fox News and all of the climate change deniers wake up and see what is really going on.

If they don’t, they are hopeless…oh, wait, they already are hopeless.

-Drew, Concerned American

(via jtotheizzoe)

Source: motherjones

nationalpost: Libyan rebels using Canadian-made reconnaissance droneAs rebel forces in Libya continue trading fire with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, Canadian technology is helping them learn where to shoot.The Aeryon Scout Micro UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), designed and built in Waterloo, Ontario by Aeryon Labs Inc., was chosen by Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC) to acquire intelligence on the positions of Col. Gaddafi’s forces to help coordinate their attacks. In cooperation with Ottawa’s Zariba Security Corp., TNC troops in the North African country have already put the three-pound, backpack-sized drone to work on the front lines.
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nationalpost:

Libyan rebels using Canadian-made reconnaissance drone
As rebel forces in Libya continue trading fire with forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, Canadian technology is helping them learn where to shoot.

The Aeryon Scout Micro UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), designed and built in Waterloo, Ontario by Aeryon Labs Inc., was chosen by Libya’s Transitional National Council (TNC) to acquire intelligence on the positions of Col. Gaddafi’s forces to help coordinate their attacks. In cooperation with Ottawa’s Zariba Security Corp., TNC troops in the North African country have already put the three-pound, backpack-sized drone to work on the front lines.

It's Okay To Be Smart: The Selective Outrage of Fox News and Climate Science

jtotheizzoe:

This week, prominent climate scientist Michael Mann (author of the famed/maligned “hockey stick” graph) was cleared by the National Science Foundation’s Inspector General of any misconduct as a result of the “ClimateGate” (non-)scandal.

This marks at least seven investigations into…

jtotheizzoe: Are We Still a Nation of Science? “We once had a group of brilliant, influential and politically engaged leaders who were fascinated by science, wanted the country to be the world leader in the pursuit of new knowledge about the natural world, and in some cases even made original contributions. They were called the founding fathers.” Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock and James Bowdoin, Abraham Lincoln … the list goes on. If you want to support the ideals of the Founding Fathers, you must support science. Let’s be very clear about that. (via Science Progress, emphasis mine)
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jtotheizzoe:

Are We Still a Nation of Science?

“We once had a group of brilliant, influential and politically engaged leaders who were fascinated by science, wanted the country to be the world leader in the pursuit of new knowledge about the natural world, and in some cases even made original contributions.

They were called the founding fathers.”

Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock and James Bowdoin, Abraham Lincoln … the list goes on. If you want to support the ideals of the Founding Fathers, you must support science. Let’s be very clear about that.

(via Science Progress, emphasis mine)

(via jtotheizzoe)

Newspapers Could Fuel Your Ride

futurejournalismproject:

What are newspapers good for?

Tulane researchers say they’ve found a bacterial strain that can turn yesterday’s news into tomorrow’s fuel.

Via the Tulane press office:

Here’s one way that old-fashioned newsprint beats the Internet. Tulane University scientists have discovered a novel bacterial strain, dubbed “TU-103,” that can use paper to produce butanol, a biofuel that can serve as a substitute for gasoline. They are currently experimenting with old editions of the Times Picayune newspaper with great success.

TU-103 is the first bacterial strain from nature that produces 
butanol directly from cellulose, an organic compound.

“Cellulose is found in all green plants, and is the most abundant organic material on earth, and converting it into butanol is the dream of many,” said Harshad Velankar, a postdoctoral fellow in David Mullin’s lab in Tulane’s Department of Cell and Molecular Biology.  “In the United States alone, at least 323 million tons of cellulosic materials that could be used to produce butanol are thrown out each year.”

Mullin’s lab first identified TU-103 in animal droppings, cultivated it and developed a method for using it to produce butanol. A patent is pending on the process.

And with that, an industry saved.

(via pieceinthepuzzlehumanity-deacti)

Source: futurejournalismproject

cultureofresistance:

denverpost:

2011 has been a year of weather extremes in the U.S.

Nature is pummeling the United States this year with extremes. Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now, unusual hurricane-caused flooding in Vermont. If what’s falling from the sky isn’t enough, the ground shook in places that normally seem stable: Colorado and the entire East Coast.

Total weather losses top $35 billion, and that’s not counting Hurricane Irene, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. There have been more than 700 U.S. disaster and weather deaths, most from the tornado outbreaks this spring.

And the year isn’t over yet.

(View more photos)

A taste of things to come. It’s beyond me how people still defend industrial processes that are clearly massively disrupting the climate and creating mass ecological crises. 

Scientists Say Climate Change is Contributing to More Extreme Weather Now

(via thisisnotjay)

Source: The Denver Post

Carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas; it is a harmless gas …And yet we’re being told that we have to reduce this natural substance and reduce the American standard of living to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in the Earth.

Michele Bachmann, House floor speech, April 22 2009

from In Their Own Words: GOP Candidates and Science

(via youarenotyou)

She could start by cutting down on her talking. That would lower carbon dioxide levels.

(via youarenotyou-deactivated2012022)

plantedcity: A climate change denial cartoon from the Seattle Post Intelligencer’s David Horsey
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plantedcity:

A climate change denial cartoon from the Seattle Post Intelligencer’s David Horsey

(via sageoflogic)

Source: plantedcity

gonzodave: UMD Report: Regular Viewers of Fox News More Likely To Be Misinformed … In the great majority of cases, those with higher levels of exposure to news sources had lower levels of misinformation.  There were however a number of cases where greater exposure to a news source increased misinformation on a specific issue.  Those who watched Fox News almost daily were significantly more likely than those who never watched it to believe that: most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely) most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points) the economy is getting worse (26 points) most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points) the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points) their own income taxes have gone up (14 points) the auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points) when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points) and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points)  These effects increased incrementally with increasing levels of exposure and all were statistically significant.  The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democratic and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it—though by a lesser margin than those who voted Republican. It’s a disturbing trend. The growth in Fox News’ popularity has coincided with rising distrust of the rest of the media, which the right tends to dismiss as “liberal” and view with reflexive suspicion. That, coupled with Fox’s commitment to producing distorted, right-wing journalism, has essentially created a competing media culture in which counter-factual information with palate-pleasing right-wing spin is considered “the news.” What the UMD studies show is the necessary result of a news organization putting ideology over accuracy. It’s not news, and it’s not healthy for a functioning democracy. Is there really any wondering why a thoughtful liberal sees neocon nutjobs from Eric Cantor to the nutjob mob in the Republican ‘Fox News’ debate audience as racist, mean spirited, greedy, and dangerously misinformed? ~g
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gonzodave:

UMD Report: Regular Viewers of Fox News More Likely To Be Misinformed

… In the great majority of cases, those with higher levels of exposure to news sources had lower levels of misinformation. 

There were however a number of cases where greater exposure to a news source increased misinformation on a specific issue. 

Those who watched Fox News almost daily were significantly more likely than those who never watched it to believe that:

  • most economists estimate the stimulus caused job losses (12 points more likely)
  • most economists have estimated the health care law will worsen the deficit (31 points)
  • the economy is getting worse (26 points)
  • most scientists do not agree that climate change is occurring (30 points)
  • the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts (14 points)
  • their own income taxes have gone up (14 points)
  • the auto bailout only occurred under Obama (13 points)
  • when TARP came up for a vote most Republicans opposed it (12 points)
  • and that it is not clear that Obama was born in the United States (31 points) 

These effects increased incrementally with increasing levels of exposure and all were statistically significant.  The effect was also not simply a function of partisan bias, as people who voted Democratic and watched Fox News were also more likely to have such misinformation than those who did not watch it—though by a lesser margin than those who voted Republican.

It’s a disturbing trend. The growth in Fox News’ popularity has coincided with rising distrust of the rest of the media, which the right tends to dismiss as “liberal” and view with reflexive suspicion. That, coupled with Fox’s commitment to producing distorted, right-wing journalism, has essentially created a competing media culture in which counter-factual information with palate-pleasing right-wing spin is considered “the news.” What the UMD studies show is the necessary result of a news organization putting ideology over accuracy. It’s not news, and it’s not healthy for a functioning democracy.

Is there really any wondering why a thoughtful liberal sees neocon nutjobs from Eric Cantor to the nutjob mob in the Republican ‘Fox News’ debate audience as racist, mean spirited, greedy, and dangerously misinformed?

~g

(via silas216)

Source: mediamatters.org

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