Promoting Science and Critical Thinking
I’m quite happy for people to believe whatever they wish to believe, and to practise that. If however such beliefs are promoted into the public square, and I am faced with demands that I should conform to these beliefs, then the gloves are off and I will happily mock the promoted silliness and encourage others … Read more
As a rather blatant slap in the face for the anti-vaccine movement there is a new study that illustrates the profoundly positive and deep impact that vaccines have, and will continue to have. Vaccines save 20 million lives, $350 billion in poor countries since 2001 It is the one medical intervention that stands out from … Read more
The Antarctic is of course glaciated and very very cold, that is well understood. What is new is the realisation that it is not all a barren lifeless landscape, but instead contains niches where life has potentially gained a foothold in a rather surprising way. Hidden under the ice are Geothermal ice caverns. This is because Antarctic … Read more
Back in 2011 photographer David Slater was in the Indonesian jungle and had setup his camera. A rather playful troop of crested macaque monkeys that he had befriended starting larking about with his camera, and soon one ended up taking the above monkey selfie. Now here is the key question. Who owns the copyright to that picture? Generally … Read more
Religious moral claims often boil down to “because the Bible says so”. No attempt at any reason or justification beyond that is offered. Sometimes there are attempts to articulate a religiously-inspired but reason-based moral stance. Generally what you will find is that it is most probably an example of the infamous is-ought fallacy. The what? … Read more
The observation that we are seeing Hurricanes that are unprecedented and also of a size never seen before in the West Atlantic will quite naturally inspire many to wonder if there is a Climate Change connection. There is. This is because Climate Change does indeed directly increase Hurricane intensity. As I write this, we have … Read more
