Scientific Research Emphasis: Short-Term Crises Or Long-Term Epidemics?

"It is counter-productive and short-sighted to be chasing and funding each new disease whenever fear strikes society, without regard to the bigger picture. We need a way to allocate research funding for health based on the importance of the disease."

We need a more scientific approach to funding scientific research.

Did Life Begin As An RNA Replicator?

"One of the biggest mysteries in the origin of life is how the first biological molecules came into being. Today’s cells use complex assemblies of biological molecules to manufacture DNA, RNA and proteins. How did life work before those molecules existed?"

An RNA molecule that can make copies of a variety of RNAs adds new support to the RNA-world theory.

Is Our Solar System Special?

"Our solar system is in a unique area of the universe that's conducive to life, says John Webb and his colleagues at the University of New South Wales, who have carried out intensive study that threatens to turn the world of theoretical physics upside down."

Our Solar System "Is in a Unique Place in the Universe -- Just Right for Life"

Another Reason Not To Eat Organic Food

"Despite the mountain of evidence showing that organic food is basically a gigantic consumer fraud, what explains its increasing popularity? From a farmer’s perspective, he or she can sell the same crop for a higher price. And from the consumer’s perspective, the most likely explanation is the placebo effect."

Organic Farms Yield 20% Fewer Crops than Conventional Farms

Another Example Of Reality Having A Liberal Bias

"So if we are not actively searching for Democrats among job applicants, why is the ratio of party affiliation so lopsided?

"One reason is the anti-science attitude adopted by many rank and file Republicans and supported by some Republican leaders. For example, a Pew Research Survey in 2013 found that only 43 percent of Republicans believe that humans have evolved over time."

UNC professor: Here’s why most UNC faculty members are Democrats

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/article97341242.html#storylink=cpy

Advise To Christians: Never Quote A Bible Verse

"That’s good advice as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go far enough. It’s true that broadening your reading to the local context can clarify the meaning of the verse and is a fairer way to approach that verse. Unfortunately, this doesn’t assure us that the Bible doesn’t say something contradictory elsewhere—it’s a big book. Said another way, the actual context is the entire Bible."

An omniscient Creator would have made sure that his message got into the world clearly and unambiguously.

The Certainty Of Faith: Its Worst Feature

Why do I say this?  How can one have an important conversation with someone who, when challenged on matters that challenge their beliefs, states that nothing could change their mind?

Can The USA Learn From Its Mistakes Leading Up To The Vietnam War?

The John Batchelor Show's podcasts recently had a rebroadcast of a 40 minute interview with Fredrik Logevall, the author of a 2014 book entitled "Embers of War:  The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam."

How To Interpret The Results Of Animal Studies

“When people do studies in animals, you pay attention to them, but you don’t make any policy or any other conclusions related to that until you do good epidemiological observation in the human system.”

Don’t Make Policy Based on Animal Studies 

Comparing Computers To Human Brains

"Despite the pessimistic overtones in the paper, Christof Koch of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle is a fan. 'You got to love it,' Koch says. At its heart, the experiment on the 6502 'sends a good message of humility,' he adds. 'It will take a lot of hard work by a lot of very clever people for many years to understand the brain.' But he says that tenacity, especially in the face of such a formidable challenge, will eventually lead to clarity."

What Donkey Kong can tell us about how to study the brain

Beware Of Quacks Targeting Patient Groups

"CAM proponents have found they can market themselves and their treatments directly to patients by giving 'educational lectures' to patient groups. These lectures are just sales pitches. I have even encountered this in public schools, offering 'health lectures' promoting things like acupuncture or chiropractic."

Patient Groups and Pseudoscience

More On The Issue Of Sex/Gender In Sports

"As expected giving the current controversies and confusions about gender, reactions to female-identifying hyperandrogenic athletes being allowed to compete as women has been mixed and acrimonious."

The difficult problem of intersexuality and athletics