Science

Consensus Cascade: Fear the “Experts”

By Marc Comtois | October 10, 2007 |

The New York Times piece, “Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus” explains how a scientific “consensus” came into being that a low-fat diet was best (despite evidence to the contrary) (via Dale Light). How’d it happen? We like to think that people improve their judgment by putting their minds together, and sometimes…

Not Slaves to the Synapses

By Justin Katz | October 8, 2007 |

So conditioned have we become to the materialist construction that we find it surprising when somebody suggests that our bodies — even our brains — are something more than time bombs waiting to betray our spirits: A surprising study of elderly people suggests that those who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower…

Artificial Life

By Monique Chartier | October 6, 2007 |

The Guardian (United Kingdom) is reporting that Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth. The announcement, which is expected within weeks…

The Human Race: Safe for the Next 62,000,000 Minus 12,900 Years?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | September 25, 2007 |

You’ve probably heard the theory that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs tens of millions years ago, but did you know that a similar impact may have caused the extinction of the woolly mammoths, just 12,900 years ago? According to Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper, a Brown University geologist is a leading…

The Reductiveness of Science

By Justin Katz | September 24, 2007 |

A July 30th L.A. Times piece that held the dominant spot in this Sunday’s Providence Journal Lifebeat section is a fine specimen of science’s reductive power in the hand of a secularist: The forces of attraction are in many ways mysterious, but scientists know certain things. Studies have shown that women prefer men with symmetrical…

Skeptical, Cynical, Sarcastic, or Just Saying “Heh”

By Justin Katz | September 9, 2007 |

During a perusal of Instapundit, I came across two (seemingly) unrelated items. The first reports that British skulls appear to have grown 20% above the eyes since the times of the plague: The two principal differences discovered were that our ancestors had more prominent features, but their cranial vault — the distance measured from the…

Dictating the World to the Rest of Us

By Justin Katz | August 12, 2007 |

This represents less of a movement than the Jackass movies — albeit mildly less adolescent and significantly less influential — but it is somewhat emblematic of a certain way of thinking: As noted by Bobbie Johnson’s Guardian-related blog, some blogger in California (I think) has taken it upon himself to recategorize books that stores have…

Improving Power Dynamics by Flipping the Bird to the Birds

By Carroll Andrew Morse | July 18, 2007 |

Apologies. I know we’re discussing some serious stuff in the posts below. But I just can’t resist using Justin’s most recent title as a hook to introduce this Boston Globe item about research being conducted at Brown University to improve aircraft design through the study of pregnant female bats…Since the Wright brothers took to the…

See, Here’s the Thing About Evolutionary Argumentation

By Justin Katz | June 1, 2007 |

It is not my intention, herewith, to offer a supporting addendum to Sam Brownback’s New York Times piece about evolution, although I think his gist is surpassingly reasonable. Rather, in reading the discussion of that piece in the Corner — which I’m sure is, or might as well be, playing out in various venues across…

Literal Signs of Rhode Island’s Apocalypse?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | April 24, 2007 |

Here’s one you probably didn’t expect. According to a study by A.M. Best, Rhode Island is a top-10 State in terms of projected damage per square mile caused by tornadoes and “related weather events”… Most people associate tornado activity with the “Tornado Alley” of the Great Plains states. While this is true in terms of…