Hello Science Positive Friends,
It’s hard to believe how fast “time flies” these days. There is one thing I look fondly on about the Times of Covid, that’s the traffic! Remember how easy it was? It seems like we are back to driving way too much and there are a few out there who seem to have forgotten how to drive safely and share the road. I think it would be great if we all slowed down and scheduled time better, as we did for video meetings.
It was just 2 years ago that we landed a rover on Mars and started a new story-line of discovery with a vehicle that flies on another planet. It was only 118 years since Orville left his brother on the ground at Kitty Hawk and though we weren’t there personally, I think it is fair to say, we flew a helicopter on another planet.
Have you ever wondered just how much can we learn about the universe which includes stars and our own individual microbiomes? It is often difficult to tell good information from bad. Two recent successes in fighting bad information are worth noting. You may have seen or heard about a book called the Atlas of Creation by Harun Yahya. It is a fascinating story about a creationist trying to disprove and discredit the theory of evolution. I recently saw that the author aka Adnan Oktar was recently sentenced to 8568 years in prison (thanks NCSE)! Here’s another success story about fighting for science… Homeopathy will be getting a chance to try and prove its’ legitimacy and value in court. Telling Fake from Fact can be tough. Understanding the limits of science can help understand, support, or repudiate bad and dangerous science misunderstanding. If you have the time I recommend Why is getting it wrong good for science? Here’s one more item to look at, the Dunning-Kruger effect may actually just be a data artefact.
So how about learning new and interesting science stuff this week? Here are a few you might want to catch…
Wonderfest: The Mathematics of Card Shuffling Tue in Novato @ 7:00 PM
After Dark: Point of View Thu in San Francisco @ 6:00 PM
Jazz Under the Stars Sat in San Mateo @ 6:30
There’s so much else to see and learn…
Keep in mind that Pi Day is just around the calendar a bit. 18 Ways NASA Uses Pi, How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Really Need?, and Countdown to Pi Day.
You may or may not know that Beer Week is coming to an end. There’s a tun of science in beer! Sometimes you just have to do your own research. Have a great week.
I hope you find many cool things to learn in the following days. Never stop doing it.
herb masters
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.”– Abraham Lincoln
“Just refrigerator efficiency saves more energy than all that we’re generating from renewables, excluding hydroelectric power… I cannot impress upon you how important energy efficiency is. It doesn’t mean you eat lukewarm food and your beers are lukewarm. You can still have it; you just make a better thing” — Steven Chu
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