science

BBC Drastically Improves Science Coverage and Debate

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

The BBC is finally doing something that all media organizations should do – don’t let crazy people derail important debates. For this entire millennium mass media organizations have invited reality-denying people to debates on issues like climate change. This causes the issue to not actually be talked about.

No more will climate change deniers and other wackos be welcome on the BBC. Hopefully other media organizations will follow suit.

To illustrate the ridiculousness of having one fringe “expert” come in to undermine a scientific consensus, the report points to the network’s coverage of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which in September released a report concluding, with 95 percent certainty, that man-made climate change is happening. As was their due diligence, BBC reporters called a dozen prominent U.K. scientists, trying to drum up an opposing viewpoint. When that didn’t happen — probably because 97 percent of scientists agree that man-made climate change is happening — they turned instead to retired Australian geologist Bob Carter, who has ties to the industry-affiliated Heartland Institute.

To be clear, having one guy dismiss the consensus of hundreds of the world’s top climate scientists as “hocus-pocus science” wasn’t the “balanced” thing to do, and the only reason why people like Carter continue to be taken seriously is because news networks continue to suggest they should be.

Read more.

A Scientific Approach to Better Urban Design

- Adam Clare

Urban design is not an easy activity because of the multitude of variables that impact the overall urban experience. There are buildings, traffic (foot and vehicular), landmarks, natural occurrences like rivers, and abstracted economic forces. Space Syntax is a company has set out to make better urban design by using science to calculate the probability of positive spaces being built.

Stonor says his ultimate goal is for the science to catch on with other design firms and consultancies. In a way, he wants to put himself out of business. He says he wants architects and planners to learn to use space syntax themselves, and not rely so much on his consultancy.

Academically, space syntax has caught on in many other schools and countries. However, the Bartlett at University College of London – where Hillier and Hanson developed the science – is still its primary research center. The academic and business sides work closely, a relationship that Stonor says is vital. The academics feed him new ideas, and his company field-tests their research. In addition, every tool and most of the studies produced by both the business and academic sides of Space Syntax are open access and available online.

Read more at Wired’s Map Lab.

Here’s an example of one their reports:

Space Syntax_Informal Settlements Brochure

Studying Positive Emotions

- Adam Clare

How do we study emotion and how do we even think about positive emotions? Why do we even have positive emotions? These questions and more are being investigated by June Gruber, and here she is talking about them:

I thought I’d first start briefly with a tale of positive emotion. It’s a really interesting state because in many ways it’s one of the most powerful things that evolution has built for us. If we look at early writings of Charles Darwin, he prominently features these feelings of love, admiration, laughter. So early on we see observations of them, and have some sense that they’re really critical for our survival, but when you look at the subsequent scientific study of emotion, it lagged far behind. Indeed, most of the research in human emotion really began with studying negative emotions, trying to build taxonomies, understand cognitive appraisals, physiological signatures, and things like anger, and fear, and disgust. For good reason, we wanted to understand human suffering and hopefully try to ameliorate it.
June Gruber is Assistant Professor of Psychology, Director, Positive Emotion & Psychopatology Lab, Yale University. 

 

Canadians: Stand Up for Science on Sept. 16

- Adam Clare

Previously on Things Are Good we’ve seen Canadians concerned about democracy mobilize to ensure that our political leaders make informed decisions. After a streak of attacks on knowledge, scientists and non-scientists alike are rallying in cities throughout Canada this coming Monday. If you’re in Canada you should join the rallies organized by Evidence for Democracy.

Here’s all the relevant information:

A year after gathering on Parliament Hill to mourn the ‘Death of Evidence’, scientists and their supporters are back. On September 16th, they will rally in Toronto and across the country to highlight the critical need to maintain evidence-based decision-making through the support of science in the public interest.

Rallies are set to take place in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Yellowknife, Fredericton and Halifax, along with numerous other communities.

“Science matters,” says Dr. Katie Gibbs, biologist and Executive Director of Evidence for Democracy. “Good science, when coupled with good decision making is what keeps our water and air clean, keeps us healthy, keeps our food safe and is the engine of economic development.”

In Toronto, Dr. John Polanyi, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Scientists for the Right to Know supporter says “Today… the freedom of our science is being constrained. Long-term goals are being sacrificed for short-term. The scientist’s freedom to explore and then debate are being restricted.” Dr. Margrit Eichler, Professor Emerita and President of Scientists for the Right to Know agrees, stating, “Public and accessible science has been at the forefront of Canadian social advancement and innovation. As we lose ground with the silencing of scientists and shutting down of organizations, our democracy is weakened. Science is the lifeline to a prosperous future – we need to keep it strong and independent of political influence”.

National events were initiated by Evidence for Democracy. Local events are organized by Scientists for the Right to Know (S4RK) – a new non-partisan organization advocating for science, in cooperation with the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union, and the University of Toronto Faculty Association. The rally is also endorsed by the York University Faculty Association.

As Prime Minister Harper and his cabinet prepare for the next parliamentary session, Evidence for Democracy, S4RK, its allies, and scientists across Canada call on them to demonstrate their commitment to science in the public interest by:

(1) Supporting the open communication of publicly funded science to the public.

(2) Using the best available science and evidence to make the best decisions.

(3) Funding scientific research from basic science through to applied.

WHAT: Stand up for Science Rally

WHEN: 12:00 pm (noon) September 16th

WHERE: Queen’s Park in front of the legislature and events across the country

WHO: Speakers for the Toronto rally include Dr. Scott Prudham, professor in the Department of Geography & Planning and President of the University of Toronto Faculty Association; Dr. Craig Heron, Professor of History at York University and Vice President of the York University Faculty Association; Dr. Margrit Eichler, Professor emerita of OISE/UT and President of Scientists for the Right to Know; and a statement from Dr. John Polanyi, Nobel laureate and professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto.

A complete list of Stand Up for Science events can be found here.

Canadians Want Science to be Free

- Adam Clare

Scientists in Canada have come under attack and censorship under the federal Conservative government and Canadians want that to change. Science Uncensored is a new organization focused on ensuring that research funded by the government is freely available to Canadians and that the government stop censoring research results. In the past few years, research on the damage of salmon farming to the effects of climate change on Canada have been held back from public release due to alleged political pressure. It’s great to see people who want evidence-based debate on policy standing up against this sort of intervention in scientific research.

If your Canadian, I encourage you to take a few minutes and send a message to your MP to voicing your support for open and free science.

Informed public debate is the foundation of democracy. Informed means, at the very least, having the scientific information that we have paid for through our tax dollars available for discussion. This means allowing our publicly-funded scientists – whose salaries and research costs we pay – to communicate freely.
…
In early 2012, a number of science and science journalism organizations signed a letter to Prime Minister Harper asking that the muzzling of government scientists stop. Despite this and other actions, the muzzling has continued and the situation is getting worse. Just last month Democracy Watch and the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre submitted a letter to the Information Commissioner asking her to investigate and determine whether the new science-communication policies are even legal.

Find out more at Science Uncensored.

Scroll To Top