Reskinning
I’m currently replacing the K2 theme I previously used with a home made one. As this is still a work in progress things might look a little screwy around here.
Daily Mail ignores own terrible reporting and blames the media
The Daily Mail has reported on the suicide of an Indian girl that they have attributed to fears over the LHC.
Indian girl, 16, ‘killed herself over fears Big Bang experiment could lead to end of the world’
I don’t wish to discuss the circumstances behind her death but further information may be found here.
Her father, identified on local television as Biharilal, said that his daughter, Chayya, killed herself after watching doomsday predictions made on Indian news programmes.
‘In the past two days, Chayya had asked me and other relatives about the world coming to an end on September 10,’ Biharilal said.
‘We tried to divert her attention and told her she should not worry about such things, but to no avail.’
So the Daily Mail are pointing the finger at Indian news programmes being responsible for inciting such fear in this girl that she may have killed herself because of it. Obviously the Daily Heil, being a responsible newspaper, would never publish ridiculous scare-mongering crap such as:
Are we all going to die next Wednesday?
Meet Evans the Atom, who will end the world on Wednesday
If I ever meet someone from the Mail I may just have to call them a cunt.
Creative Differences
Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society, suggested that creationism be taught along side evolution in schools. His reasoning being that if creationism is just ignored then it alienates those that follow it further from science.
He said that around one in 10 children comes from a family with creationist beliefs. “My experience after having tried to teach biology for 20 years is if one simply gives the impression that such children are wrong, then they are not likely to learn much about the science,” he said.
“I think a better way forward is to say to them ‘look, I simply want to present you with the scientific understanding of the history of the universe and how animals and plants and other organisms evolved’.”
Reiss, who is an ordained Church of England minister, told the British Association Festival of Science in Liverpool that science teachers should not see creationism as a “misconception” but as an alternative “world view”. He added that he was not advocating devoting the same time to teaching creationism or intelligent design as to evolution.
I can understand Prof Reiss’ point of view – telling a child that everything they have learnt from their parents/religion is bullshit is unlikely to help their education in the long run. When presented with two conflicting arguments from authority they are likely to side with the one that fits in with their current world view. I, however, do not agree with the teaching of creationism to school children.
Time for science education is already limited and the degredation of standards has been covered several times by Education Watch. Although I don’t know the current syllabus I would hazard a guess that only a matter of hours of childs education is concerned with the science behind the origins of life. Evolutionary theory is currently the only scientific way in which the origin of life has been explained and should be taught with explanation of both the theory and the evidence supporting it. To introduce creationism into the science classroom promotes it above its standing in science. Creationism, including intelligent design, has no basis in science and is simply an answer of “God did it” to anything we cannot currently explain with science.
It is inevitable that, during the teaching of evolution, there will be occasions where pupils will challenge the teacher arguing that evolution is wrong and creationism is the correct explanation. Here, I agree, these childrens beliefs should not just be dismissed as being wrong. Instead this is an opportunity to explain the comparative evidence for both theories (I use the term loosely for creationism). The landslide of evidence for evolution over creationism should convert all but the most strident doubters and for these it is unlikely that any evidence will do.
Reiss’ regarding of creationism not as a misconception but as an alternative world view is a worrying one. Although I think that anyone has the right to believe anything they wish that does not mean we have to give equal credence to those views. If creationism is allowed into the science classroom as an alternative world view why not allow an alternative view of maths where 
. Or that incorrect spelling in an English Language class is an alternative view of how words are spelt.
Daily Mail Mass Hysteria Over LHC – Updated
Over the last week or so the Daily Heil has published several stories about the LHC all using their typical non-hysterical, sensible style of reporting. We’ve had:
Are we all going to die next Wednesday?
Meet Evans the Atom, who will end the world on Wednesday
and rather more sensibly:
Scientists receive death threats over Big Bang experiment from critics who fear end of the world
Unsurprisingly, the comments section on each of these articles reads like the witterings of a deranged maniac interspersed with occasional lucid displays. Schizophrenic to say the least. Here I’ve going to work through some of those comments and counter them. A lot of them follow the same general trend (nothing like adding your opinion to a discussion when it’s already been said many times before) so I’ll use examples of each. A lot of the comment’s probably should invoke Poe’s Law. My comments are in red and I’ve bolded some of the more worryng parts.
The Worlds Biggest and Most Dangerous EVER EXPERIMENT which could mean the end of it all!
Why are these Scientists allowed to take such dangerous decisions and undertake such dangerous experiments without knowing the outcome before they proceed! Someone seems to have forgotten the point of an experiment. An experiment is used to test a hypothesis. In particle physics the current model hypothesises the existence of the Higgs Boson, this experiment is designed to determine if it exists. If we knew the outcome already we wouldn’t bother
What right do these Scientists have to take my life or anyone elses life for that matter. Why has there not been a Court Injunction taken out and served against these Mad Men. Some have tried and failed. They failed because the courts tend to go with the people who actually know what they’re talking about and can back it up with evidence rather than listening to the minority of cranks.
If it all goes wrong and it is the end of the World, who is going to take them to task over their massive micalculation? No one. If it does all go horribly wrong in the way you’re thinking you’ll be beyond the point of being able to care.
If I could, I would stop this experiment taking place any way I could, believing in my own mind that it is sometimes better that a few suffer than the masses! This will go ahead of course and it will not be stopped but it is not right, nor is it fair and Scientists have definitely overstepped the mark this time! This, to me, is a thinly masked death threat.
As the Article says, we all have to keep our fingers crossed and hope the Scientists have got it right! Stupid people!! Sorry Keith, you’re the stupid one.
- keith, winchester, uk, 4/9/2008 11:12
Would it not have been better to spend this amount of money on making the world a better place, why can’t these scientists put their energy and brains into helping people, instead into projects which do not really mean anything. Joan, if we all took that attitude we’d still be in caves.
- Joan Finegan, Montmorillon, France, 4/9/2008 12:41
Four years from now we will see a Quaser emanating through the earth? In 2012 This refers to a quote from Otto Rossler, one of the people trying to stop the LHC
The Mayans predicted the end of the world in 2012, and so have other theories within this, linked to the Bible and they too forecast the end of the world or Armageddon in 2012. The bible is not a source of science, it is a source of contradictory stories.
Is this a coincidence? It does seem scary Yes it is a coincidence. As is the London Olympics being held in 2012. Maybe lighting the Olympic torch will actually create this quasar and destroy the Earth.
- Sarah Jones, Brighton, England, 7/9/2008 2:15
If it’s that certain the earth will callapse, why does it take so long to decide and who is deciding on behalf of all of us….the same people that decide on laws from the EU? I wondered how long it would take for an anti-Europe comment. Now where’s the one about immigrants setting up the LHC to lower house prices in Tunbridge Wells? Oh, and how many times do you need to be told that IT’S NOT GOING TO DESTROY THE UNIVERSE!
Well here’s my vote now and it’s STOP THIS STUPIDITY NOW!-perhaps others will follow? Please do stop your stupidity, either that or shut the fuck up.- s.francis, BROMSGROVE WORCS, 7/9/2008 8:07
You have got to be kidding me!
I all for science but why would people allow this to go ahead if this will end the world don’t they think about their family, friends and pets!
i wouldnt care about this going wrong and killing me but i care about how my friends family and pets would be affected! That’s right they’re doing it to kill your cat.
if scientists are watching this, plase find a better way to find out about the world rather than risking your lives! If annonymus is reading this learn about spelling, punctuation and grammar.- annonymus, england, 7/9/2008 16:02
Interesting to see that Britain has contributed £34 million towards provision of energy for this monster machine! ( Thought we were supposed to be tightening our belts ! ) A lot of people seem to think that all money spent on research that doesn’t give them a new type of ipod next year is somehow a waste of money. Although this warrants a full post of its own people need to realise that the UK economy is heavily driven by intellectual property these days. Manufacturing has all but disappeared because it is cheaper to outsource to Asia. Science is rapidly heading the same way as labour is cheap and many routine experiments can be conducted with little knowledge of what is actually going on. Similarly, China etc. are investing huge sums of money in research facilities to produce high quality science because they know that it will boost their economy through increased IP.
Here we are told we must conserve energy, and we could be doing that all wrapped up in our extra cardigans and foot warmers,using our energy saving bulbs and candles, recycling our newspapers in the fireplace, eating less meat, walking to work, running up and down the stairs to keep warm and lose weight.
Good job I can see the funny side of this
Before we all disappear down a big black hole next wednesday, we could celebrate bonfire night early, say next Tuesday, party to end all parties, at least we could be warm, and instead of burning Guy Fawkes effigy he could be guest of honour.- P.S., West Midlands, 8/9/2008 12:07
Dr Cox, who in the 1990s played keyboards in the chart-topping band D:Ream, will be in the CERN control room for the ’switch on’. He was indeed and in Dare before that
Well his excellent credentials are all in order, he played with D:Ream in the 1990’s, so what’s to worry about? Those of us objecting to this should now rest-assured we are in the best possible hands, It’s called being multi-talented. Maybe Brian May shouldn’t have been allowed in Queen because he could also understand astrophysics.
- A.Pamish, London, 8/9/2008 12:37
the same space..four things are wrong…there eagerness to throw the switch without thinking to much about the mechanical inspections..the amount of power it uses and where it is dilivered from?,,all of a sudden they have found anti matter and are firing it around on the second beam..and just by chance they are launching a very special sattalite 100 miles north of moscow the morning of the swith on, in stealth and disguise to monitor the effect this machine has on the gravitational and magnetic effects it has on this earth .if they do by chance find whatthere looking for we will be snuffed out in a nano second as the universe will cease to be…if they understood how god works they will realize that here is no begining or end to the universe.and no 2 universes can existin the same place…in a word itsall bad…as anything they do glean will not be for the good of man ,,not even god will be able to save us if we vanish without a trace .In a word its all bad and i,m petrified..
What?
- jeff, bournemouth, 8/9/2008 12:38
Update
Firstly, as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, the universe has not been destroyed and so we’re still here. Secondly, just found this wonderful comment over on the Times website:
This is an over expensive man made, man controlled experiment. It was made by men, who controlled what happened and how it happened. This proves to me that in order to create anything, you need a creator.
Paul Peters, Merritt Island, USA
Logical fallacy. Just because we, by which I mean the human race, used our intelligence (I use the term loosely as there may be, either in another part of the universe or at some point in the future, an organism with a far greater intellect) does not mean that in order to create anything you require a creator. Unless of course you define a creator (or god) in the manner that Carl Sagan has previously:
The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard, who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by ‘God’ one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying… it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.
Homeopathic Education Services – Part 1
NB: I started writing this months ago and just found it languishing in my drafts. I was planning on going through all of the Dana Ullman’s articles but I’ll see how it goes.
I found little gem earlier today. As these articles are supposed to ‘educate’ I feel it’s only fair for me to go through them and help educate people about homeopathy.
The first, A Condensed History of Homeopathy, I’ll skip – the history of homeopathy is dull. So straight on to, A Homeopathic Perspective on Health and Healing in the 21st Century. The first oddity in this article is this:
Each new technology, however, brings with it new problems and does not necessarily solve old ones. For instance, despite the many advances in medicl [sic] testing, most medical tests are accurate only 90% of the time. Thus, if a physician recommends a battery of 20 medical tests, only 36% of the patients would receive accurate results
I don’t now how they’ve calculated these figures but using the equation for a binomial distribution:
the value would actually be nearer 12%.
Binomial distribution for number of accurate tests
The accuracy of this value isn’t what annoys me though, its the use of the value to suggest that conventional tests and, by implication, medicine is very poor indeed. From the values used to produce the chart above 99.7% of people would have 14 or more tests return accurate results. From these it should be possible to perform the diagnosis and if there is some ambiguity a test may be rerun – the chance of an incorrect result twice being only 1%.
Later in the article we get treated to the well known canard that homeopathy has a good evidence base.
New research has been published in highly respected scientific journals on homeopathy which shows that the small doses of medicines that homeopaths use definitely have action,(6) and a meta-analysis of clinical studies which was published in the British Medical Journal found the medicines to be particularly effective in treating allergies, arthritic conditions, migraine headaches, common infections, and rheumatoid arthritis.(7)
Reference 6 is for Dana Ullman’s book which I wouldn’t waste my money on. Reference 7 is to this paper in the BMJ in 1991. The conclusions read thus:
At the moment the evidence of clinical trials is positive but not sufficient to draw definitive conclusions because most trials are of low methodological quality and because of the unknown role of publication bias. This indicates that there is a legitimate case for further evaluation of homoeopathy, but only by means of well performed trials.
Considering there are far more recent and stricter meta-analyses that have all found homeopathy to be no better than placebo (see this article by Ben Goldacre for more detail).
Dana then falls back to that other great piece of evidence for homeopathy
Sales of homeopathic medicines in the U.S. have grown from a $100 million market in 1988 to a $200 million market in 1992.
There you have it – misinformed people buy it therefore it works.
More Homeopathic Education when time allows.
Brian Cox: Master of Science Communication
This Wednesday is going to be one of the most significant days in science for the next few years as CERN finally switch on the first beam line at the Large Hadron Collider*. As if often the case in science some people who don’t understand what’s going on think it’s a bad idea. The result is that some of the scientists involved have received death threats. Legendary physicist, presenter and former D:ream keyboardist Prof Brian Cox has, this week, produced two of the finest quotes in the history of science.
Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a twat.
and
If these wormholes appear I will personally eat the hat I was given for my first birthday before I received it.
Brian I salute you and as a mark respect ask everyone to watch two of your finest performances
*Good to see imaginative naming is still going strong what with the Very Large Telescope and the Overwhelmingly Large Telescope.
I think someone has been taking the piss
On the Fisher Scientific website today. I think one of the people responsible for updating product information may have been a little bored.
Expelled
Most people who are likely to read this blog will have no doubt heard of Expelled by now. For those who haven’t Expelled is supposedly a documentary into the imaginary suppression of academics who question evolution. In reality it is a piece of creationist propaganda.
If you like to know more about Expelled go to this lovely website by the National Center for Science Education all about Expelled.
If you are wondering why the word Expelled is appearing so often in this post it is part of a nasty atheist, pro-science conspiracy to try and get the first hit on google for Expelled to be the NCSE site. Yes, that’s right, we’re google bombing Expelled.
If you’d like to join in just write a brief post about Expelled but everytime you write Expelled link it to www.expelledexposed.com.
Welcome to Deathrow
Well I’m on my way to a conference in Edinburgh and I’m currently stuff in T5. Not a lot to say about this wonderful place except that it is the same as any other airport.
Oh well, at least I have the right to claim 250 euro compensation – screw you BA/BAA.
Homeopathy + Physics = Utter Nonsense
I’m hosting this video here just in case it disappears from youtube again. This is Dr Charlene Werner butchering physics beyond all recognition and tarnishing the names of Einstein and Hawking along the way. Unlike Werner I won’t be removing the video if the comments become less than complimentary.
I won’t bother giving a critique of the errors in this video, they are all glaringly obvious, I’ll allow you to have the fun of trying to spot them all.
