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After The Blood Moon: Do Some Post-Apocalypse Science

Posted by on Apr 15, 2014 in Chemistry | Comments Off on After The Blood Moon: Do Some Post-Apocalypse Science

Since the Blood Moon - whatever that is, it sounds Biblical - was last night, and it spells the beginning of our doom, according to a guy trying to sell some books, it's time to start prepping for the days of ultimate holy war. That means no more Southern blots and particle colliders, it's back to basics.

In preparation, this weekend the kids and I decided to see what kind of life we could make for ourselves while the Four Horsemen duke it out with the Holy Ghost in what would arguably be the best D&D game ever.

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When It Comes To Food, Do You Trust Science Or A Yogic Flying Instructor?

Posted by on Apr 13, 2014 in Science and Society | Comments Off on When It Comes To Food, Do You Trust Science Or A Yogic Flying Instructor?

Professional forester and writer Norm Benson recently got a healthy dose of anti-science environmentalism, because he wrote an article endorsing a vitamin-enriched bowl of rice that, nonetheless, is protested by Greenpeace, Union of Concerned Scientists and everyone else who hates science more than they love children.

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Viagra Linked To Risk Of Malignant Melanoma

Posted by on Apr 11, 2014 in Cancer Research | Comments Off on Viagra Linked To Risk Of Malignant Melanoma

A recent paper found an increased risk for malignant melanoma in men who took sildenafil (Viagra) for erectile dysfunction.

Unlike some observational studies, this is not being exaggerated by attention-whoring researchers. They are cautious about what it means and doesn't mean. The media is making hay, of course, and they may be making it for good reason.

The prospective cohort study was based on participants in the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study who were questioned regarding sildenafil use for erectile dysfunction in the year 2000. A total of 25,848 men were used after excluding those who reported cancers at baseline.

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Viagra Linked To Risk Of Malignant Melanoma

Posted by on Apr 11, 2014 in Cancer Research | Comments Off on Viagra Linked To Risk Of Malignant Melanoma

A recent paper found an increased risk for malignant melanoma in men who took sildenafil (Viagra) for erectile dysfunction.

Unlike some observational studies, this is not being exaggerated by attention-whoring researchers. They are cautious about what it means and doesn't mean. The media is making hay, of course, and they may be making it for good reason.

The prospective cohort study was based on participants in the Health Professionals’ Follow-up Study who were questioned regarding sildenafil use for erectile dysfunction in the year 2000. A total of 25,848 men were used after excluding those who reported cancers at baseline.

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With Ernie Moniz, We Finally Have An Energy Secretary

Posted by on Apr 11, 2014 in Science Education and Policy | Comments Off on With Ernie Moniz, We Finally Have An Energy Secretary

I was cautiously optimistic when Dr. Ernie Moniz was tapped as Energy Secretary, for two reasons. First, he wasn't picked because he was obsessed with CO2 and $9 a gallon gas, the way Steven Chu was, and second, he had political experience. 

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Kansas Republican Mike Pompeo Introduces Safe And Accurate Food Labeling Act For New GMO Products

Posted by on Apr 10, 2014 in Science Education and Policy | Comments Off on Kansas Republican Mike Pompeo Introduces Safe And Accurate Food Labeling Act For New GMO Products

Kansas Republican Mike Pompeo, a Congressman from Wichita, is behind a bill to create a national standard for mandatory for review of GMO foods by the FDA, called the"Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act."

What? Have Republicans gone over to the anti-science dark side too? No, Pompeo sides with science and recognizes GMOs are safe. He says this is more to cut off state ballot initiatives popping up across the country, which are invariably hijacked by homeopaths, alternative medicine gurus and the $29 billion organic industry to claim a facade of 'food awareness' but really are just warning labels for competitive products.

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If The Gospel Of Jesus’ Wife Is A Forgery, It Isn’t A Modern One

Posted by on Apr 10, 2014 in Science History | Comments Off on If The Gospel Of Jesus’ Wife Is A Forgery, It Isn’t A Modern One

If The Gospel Of Jesus’ Wife Is A Forgery, It Isn’t A Modern One
Harvard Divinity School Professor Karen L. King believes that an ancient Coptic fragment, the first-known explicit reference to a married Jesus Christ, is authentic, and supports the argument with an article in Harvard Theological Review.

The fragment, announced at the International Coptic Congress in Rome in 2012, contains a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples in which Jesus speaks of “my wife” and so it was informally given the title The Gospel of Jesus's Wife.

Here is the translation:

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The Blood Moon Is Coming – Get Ready To Open That Sixth Seal

Posted by on Apr 10, 2014 in Space | Comments Off on The Blood Moon Is Coming – Get Ready To Open That Sixth Seal

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth - Revelation 6:12-14

We've only had a few doomsday events come and go in 2014 but a new one arrives April 15th. No, it isn't the IRS, though that is doomsday for American wallets. 

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Two Wrong Meta-Analyses Don’t Make A Right

Posted by on Apr 9, 2014 in Science and Society | Comments Off on Two Wrong Meta-Analyses Don’t Make A Right

Want to find the flaws in a study? Ask a competitor, just like you would ask a competitor about the flaws in an iPhone or any other product.

And if you really want to see griping about the flaws in a study, ask someone who happens to believe just the opposite. 

When a paper comes out that uses the exact same terminology as studies that advocates happen to like, conservative scientific verbage like using the word "possible" is touted as a weakness and they will insist there is no "clear" correlation. When culturally contradictory papers are published, we are told cross-sectional studies can't tell us anything at all about causality, exactly the opposite of what we read about papers confirming a position.

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The Upcoming Food Inquisition

Posted by on Apr 7, 2014 in Science Education and Policy | Comments Off on The Upcoming Food Inquisition

Federal appointees do not report to the public. They are political picks chosen to advance the agenda of their administration. Since they are picked to influence issues of science, politics comes first, and science might come second — but, more often than not, last. That explains how institutions such as the EPA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignore and suppress inconvenient research. 

Frustratingly, political appointees and their hand-picked experts are also determining the future health of our children. Administration True Believers are deciding what is dogma and what is heretical. We’re facing a looming Food Inquisition, and few people seem to notice.

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