The reboot of Cosmos was on the must-see television list for many; it is a prime-time non-fiction science program, with one of the best hosts in science media, a generous budget, airing on 10 channels, and even had music by the guy who did Captain America. Excitement was high.Then it actually began. It had an alarming non-science gaffe - the story of the likely insane philosopher Bruno...
read moreThe American Physical Society is reviewing its Climate Change Statement. The APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) formed a Subcommittee, consisting of Steven Koonin, Phillip Coyle, Scott Kemp, Tim Meyer, Robert Rosner and Susan Seestrom, to consider revisions to its 2007 statement and that group convened a workshop with 6 climate experts, including 3 who are skeptics, though really they are more...
read moreIf there is a pleasant, chemically-induced but culturally acceptable pastime, someone at U.C. Davis is probably studying it. They have one of my favorite beer scholars, Prof. Charles Bamforth, and are even setting up a coffee science group. Their nutrition department has been generously funded by Mars candy company and, no surprise, a whole 'science of chocolate' panel appeared at an AAAS meeting...
read moreUniversity of North Carolina has loose academic standards for athletes. Obviously lots of schools do that. But UNC takes it to a whole new level. Some of the classes never met and only required a paper. And even terrible papers earn an A.This paper, uncovered by ESPN, was a paragraph long, chock full of spelling and grammatical errors and didn't say much of anything.I was on the competitive...
read moreThe Rhynchohyalus natalensis in a recent paper was caught about 1000 meters under the Tasman Sea and it has two pairs of eyes, allowing it to spot danger from every angle. One pair is upward-facing tubular eyes, to spot danger from above, while another set is on the side of its head, to detect bioluminescence from deep sea creatures. The second type of eye is typically associated with...
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