The stereotype of the mad, creative genius is well established - because it is firmly rooted in reality.A new study shows that bipolar disorder - e.g. manic depression - is more common among all groups that have artistic or scientific professions, from dancers and photographers to researchers and authors. Even mental patients’ relatives are more likely to have creative professions, according to...
read moreIn a closely watched trial, prosecutors who argued that a group of Italian scientists is accountable for not adequately warning residents about the risks of an earthquake in the town of L'Aquila have succeeded. The Italian scientific community has naturally been concerned; how can you penalize people for not doing the impossible? Nevertheless, legal minds have found that the seven scientists...
read moreWhat do French attitudes about capitalism, American attitudes about sex and Korean attitudes about evolution have in common? They are all in school textbooks used by their countries. It's not news that school textbooks have a powerful influence on developing minds, that is why efforts to hijack school teaching for the purpose of social engineering have always been a factor - heck,...
read moreDr. Oz, the famous television doctor/celebrity, has never found a bit of scare journalism or a miracle vegetable he didn't promote. He is infamous among public health professionals for exaggerating the origins of autism, vaccines, dangers of BPA and chemical additives, arsenic in foods. His latest misadventure in questionable pop science was an October 12 program titled “GMO Foods: Are They...
read moreWouldn't it be great if seeds from GMO plants were sterile? Then, unlike with regular seeds, farmers would have to buy them over and over again.Wait, Monsanto already does that, right? No, but it's a nice myth. Heck, I bet even Monsanto lets that one slide, because then gullible people will buy their seed every year, even for crops that don't need it. And it perpetuates the...
read more