Comments for A class blog on science and science journalism

Comment on Lost phone? by MTDM

MTDM — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:26:14 +0000

I can totally believe this! Phones are used for so many aspects of our lives now, it’s almost hard to fathom functioning as productively without them. Just walking down the street on my way to class I see that almost everyone is grasping their phones in their hands, or texting, or emailing while walking. Phones can be used to avoid awkward situations..i.e pretending to be busy to avoid talking to someone! We have become so dependent on our phones as a society. I lost my phone for a week last semester, and it was uncomfortable knowing I didn’t have it on me.

Comment on GMOs? GM-Nos! by GMO Alert: Top 10 Genetically Modified Foods To Avoid Eating « News Worldwide

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:20:21 +0000

[...] GMOs? GM-Nos! (uw20sciencemediaandculture.wordpress.com) [...]

Comment on Reasons to Fear a Zombie Apocalypse by leimaf

leimaf — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:30:45 +0000

hahaha uwblogger, i am sorry…

Comment on Reasons to Fear a Zombie Apocalypse by uwblogger2

uwblogger2 — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:03:56 +0000

This is scary and I’m not going to let myself read the rest of this entry because I had nightmares from “I am Legend” for 3 months…

Comment on The Straw That Brings Life by uwblogger2

uwblogger2 — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:02:19 +0000

You are not alone!! I feel SO disconnected to the world when I’m at school. At the beginning of the year when I tried to figure out why this was I deduced this- I am uninformed and disconnected to the world because of 3 main reasons. For one, my parents used to turn on the news every night, often while I was on the couch. Even if I was on my laptop, I would still hear about all different sorts of news stories. Secondly, the newspaper would be on the kitchen table every morning while I ate. I rarely actually read it, but I would still see the cover page which would inform me of some of the most pressing news stories. Third and most importantly, my parents care about what is going on in the world. Not like they are super involved with politics or the news or anything, but they would talk about things that actually mattered which kept me informed (as opposed to my friends here…we talk about what happened on our saturday night, not what’s going on overseas in Iraq or what’s going on with the economy).

Now, about LifeStraw- first of all, I hadn’t heard about this either- VERY cool. I think what’s most awesome about this is that it really is a straw! The immediate problem I see with LifeStraw is that in hot places where water is often scarce, people have to walk miles from their home to find water. So although the LifeStraw can provide clean/safe water in the presence of a water source, it (to my knowledge) would not help if someone needed to bring water back to the rest of the family. Unless, of course, the whole family then drank the water out of the straw once it was brought back.

Comment on What few Darwinists realize: There’s more than just natural selection by uwblogger2

uwblogger2 — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:36:54 +0000

To start, I’d like to recognize that what you are talking about is an extremely controversial and highly debated topic. You present this information as fact, when in reality, the book “What Darwin Got Wrong” is actually another theory completely different from the theory of evolution. Furthering from that, you also say that Darwinist’s are not ‘realizing’ something, but on the contrary, they are presenting a completely different theory than this book is presenting.

So, going off from that…
The theory of evolution suggests that species evolve through a process of random mutation in which certain mutations pose a survival benefit which in turn allows the organism to reproduce and pass on these helpful mutations through the process of natural selection. Over very long periods of time, the series of mutations which caused the survival and the extinction of certain organisms created different species and all different types of animals.
That is the theory of evolution.

The theory of “Intelligent Design” is the theory that “What Darwin Got Wrong” favors. Intelligent Design suggests species are too complex to have occurred on their own (“irreducibly complex”). Because there are certain processes and systems that are almost mechanic in their operation, there must have been a higher power that is behind the creation of these organisms.

So, as can be seen, these two theories differ in many ways, and the theory of intelligent design is in now way just something that evolutionists simply missed.

Comment on Thinking in a Foreign Language Helps Economic Decision-Making by klazar7

klazar7 — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:04:11 +0000

Like Chris said, I don’t think you can say that one definitively causes the other, but you propose an interesting correlation. After first reading this, my initial thought was that people who think in a language other than their native tounge have to take the time to translate and conjugate things into that language. During this process, more time is spent reaching the decision, and thus there is a greater opportunity to make a smart choice, rather than just following your first instinct. Although this shows how the two could be related, it is just one possibility and I think there needs to be much more information provided before a causual relationship can be determined.

Comment on Brain freeze sheds light on animal rights by avtheo

avtheo — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:32:23 +0000

Hands down this is just unethical I think. Although, no damage is being done to the patient or animal, this freezing of the pain is still inducing pain. This procedure connects my thought process to animal testing and what makes it any difference? Animal testing and animal right is very touchy subject. I mean protesters don’t through paint on people wearing real fur coats for nothing. They are trying to make a point. And I understand that this testing process of freezing the brain is trying to make a point as well: to see whether specific medication work well. But it’s still violating the patient, diminishing the justification of speciesism.

Comment on Thinking in a Foreign Language Helps Economic Decision-Making by chrisgermiller

chrisgermiller — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:58:12 +0000

I find this idea embodies a classic correlation/causation fallacy. The problem can be well embodied in an example: consider the fact that both ice cream consumption and murder rates both increase during the summer months. Because these two events are correlated, does that mean one causes the other? Of course not (the actual reason for the increase in both are psychological effects of hotter weather). You’re using a similar, albeit less obvious, fallacy. You’re assuming that because better business decisions are correlated with a foreign language, that one causes the other. However, logic says otherwise.

I propose a different explanation. Perhaps better business decisions are made in a foreign language because people who are better at business tend to learn foreign languages (both because it helps with their job and because they’re generally higher-caliber people). Just a thought.

Comment on Toxic Profit by avtheo

avtheo — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:53:37 +0000

Well it is a known fact that the waste that comes from industry success is not good for us, but even though everyone knows it I don’t think they see the real severity of it. The 21st century exploded with the “GREEN,” which is great because it works to correcting the chemicals and toxins emitted into our air and water. However, the public still lives in its own world where the extremes of pollution aren’t taken seriously. For anything to really change, people need to be more responsible about their waste emissions as well as about their food consumption. A lot of food today is injected with unnecessary hormones and chemicals that are not good for people’s health systems. Today, we basically just need to be more aware of our standards of living and even though we can’t see or taste the toxins they are still there, so we need to be careful.