Category Archives: Science

Homosexuality Among Mammals, and Human Families

Posted on Sunday 15 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Several pieces about a recent study that suggests homosexuality evolved among mammalian species to reduce conflict “intrasexual violence”; A review of a book about the nuclear family, which the reviewer suggests doesn’t take alternatives into account. – – –   … Continue reading →

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Human Extinction and Climate Change

Posted on Friday 13 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Émile P. Torres at Salon on the history of ideas about human extinction; The latest data on climate change is scary; September was the hottest month ever. Peter Gabriel’s “I Grieve”. – – –   The scary thing is that … Continue reading →

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Planets, Scientific Certainty and Placebos, and Peter Gabriel

Posted on Wednesday 11 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Phil Plait on the history of planetary discovery, since 1992; Flossing and the quest for scientific certainty; How placebos sometimes work; Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street”. – – – Good summary of the past thirty years’ discoveries of new planets. Phil … Continue reading →

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MAGAs and Ukraine; Trust in Science

Posted on Tuesday 3 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman on why MAGA supports Putin rather than Ukraine; An essay on why Americans increasingly distrust science; And in tribute the late Larry Kramer, the greatest track I heard when he introduced me to the rock band U2. NY … Continue reading →

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Psychology and Ostranenie

Posted on Monday 2 October 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

What psychology is good for, and its recent accomplishments; The idea of Ostranenie, a kind of defamiliarization, which of course is one of those things science fiction does at its best. Big Think, Elizabeth Gilbert and Nick Hobson, 1 Oct … Continue reading →

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Science and Political Items

Posted on Friday 29 September 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

First, a couple science bits. Let’s start with an intriguing episode of Veritasium. Veritasium: Math Has A Fatal Flaw. Maybe not a “flaw” but an aspect beyond human intuitive understanding: how in any system of mathematics, there exist true statements … Continue reading →

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Murdoch, Azarian, Reich, and Scientists

Posted on Friday 22 September 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items today: The retirement of Rupert Murdoch, who became wealthy by degrading American politics and appealing to many Americans’ worst instincts; Republican hypocrisy example: John Fetterman vs. Lauren Boebert; with a classic definition: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to … Continue reading →

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This Week’s Sciency Bits

Posted on Wednesday 20 September 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

False Memories and the Narrative Bias; Another piece with Lee McIntyre about misinformation vs. disinformation; And how the world’s population will likely peak by the end of this century, and then drop; And my thoughts on what the consequences would … Continue reading →

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Conspiracy Theories from Apollo 11 to Today

Posted on Thursday 14 September 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Looking at today’s Phil Plait column at Scientific American, about his responses to a 2001 Fox TV program that claimed the Apollo 11 Moon landing was a hoax; The history since then about so many other conspiracy theories; And how … Continue reading →

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Science Reporting in the Mass Media; Harari on the Discovery of Ignorance; The Republicans’ Need to Game the System

Posted on Thursday 7 September 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Two stories about how science stories are reported in the mass media: One about how humans nearly went extinct 900,000 years ago; another about that “crisis in cosmology”; Yuval Noah Harari about the discovery of ignorance; And three items that … Continue reading →

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