If you’re like me, you’ve found Elizabeth May’s debate appearances impressive. The Green Party has some worthwhile positions on important issues. As they are fond of pointing out these extend beyond issues related to the environment. With that said, there is a problem and it’s a big one. The policies discussed in the debate and…
The GMO industry should stop fighting labels and focus on public education
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have been around for a long time now. They were first introduced in the 1980s and since that time no significant evidence has emerged that they are harmful. Despite this, bans on GMOs and calls for labeling genetically modified products at the retail level continue to gain strength. Despite the fact…
Once more with feeling “GMOs Won’t Harm Your Health”
Indre Viskontas at Mother Jones has posted an interview with Dr. Steven Novella of Yale. “Novella is a prominent voice in the skeptical movement, a scientific movement that, as he describes it, focuses heavily on explaining the truth behind common myths—things that people believe that aren’t true.” It is worth reading the whole article but…
Suggested Reading: “Michael Pollan Explains What’s Wrong With the Paleo Diet”
One of my pet peeves, of late, has been the ‘all natural’ or the philosophy that seems to believe that humans were better off before modern science, medicine and agriculture took hold. This has also been referred to by some as the anti-science left. The truth, according to most reliable, modern science is that organic…
Why Do So Many Science Fiction Writers Fear Science?
Charlie Jane Anders at io9 asked an interesting question this week: “Why does science fiction portray extended human lifespans negatively?”. It is an interesting question in and of itself, but it almost immediately raised other questions for me. Specifically, how do science fiction writers treat other advances that may soon be within our grasp. Surprisingly,…
What Are Genetically Modified Foods [Video]
There is a lot of talk about genetically modified food but there frequently seems to be far more talk than thought on the subject. Yes, there are problems but they are not generally health related problems. The key problem, in my opinion, is that genetic modification happens so quickly now that the impact on the…
Don’t Let Bad Science Hinder Progress
Humans have a deeply ingrained fear of the unknown. In recent years this has lead to technophobia and chemophobia. This makes it easy to convince people that new things are potentially dangerous. While it is important to safety test any new technology, especially bio-medical technology, we can’t let paranoia rule the day. Whether or not…
Don’t Let Bad Science Hinder Progress
Humans have a deeply ingrained fear of the unknown. In recent years this has lead to technophobia and chemophobia. This makes it easy to convince people that new things are potentially dangerous. While it is important to safety test any new technology, especially bio-medical technology, we can’t let paranoia rule the day. Whether or not…