Jubal's BAD SCIENCE

[Jubal]

This thread is the base, laughing point, and news for my personal crusade against Bad Science, in all its forms. I'll be posting regularly (I hope) about bad science in the news, in education, or in politics. And what I've been doing about it. Feel free to comment, facepalm, and laugh along...

[Jubal]

The US schools publisher "Live and Learn Press" recently published a "science" information pack on dinosaurs for young parents, with the note on it; "There is no reference to dates in this pack so you are free to insert your family's personal view of the chronology of the earth and when dinosaurs roamed it". Seriously... I'm left wondering if we'll see similar packs inviting people to insert their own chronology of the nineteeth century ("Nah, Trafalgar would be better a couple years later I reckon." "Do you think? Well, I'm certainly pushing Victoria's coronation a decade earlier, William was a terrible monarch"), or possibly other important parts of fact packs ("... Read moreThere is no reference to the result in this pack on the Crusades so you are welcome to choose who won", or "There is no reference to the ball in this pack on sports, so you are welcome to believe that the 1966 world cup was played using an inflated sheep's stomach").

So... I decided to write them an email expressing my concerns.

Hello,

I'm writing to express my concern that you are releasing so-called "fact packs" about Dinosaurs without actually giving details of the time-frame in which these animals lived. As an educational supplier, I hope you are aware that radiometric dating systems have accurately shown that the strata dinosaur bones are found in date from the period 230 to 65 million years ago. There is no scientifically plausible theory of an alternative chronology to this; we know and can measure the half-life of radioactive substances, therefore by measuring radiation traces we can work out their age. If one had a sufficiently radioactive substance this could probably be done with high-school standard equipment; it's hardly contentious science. If you feel this requires explaining, I can point you to some excellent books on the subject.... Read more

Even as Christians, you should be aware of the scientific method if you are going to sell books on the subject, and the fact is that the theory behind radiocarbon dating is as sound as that behind gravity, something I suspect you're rather less likely to be skating over as a matter of choice in your books. Facts and choice should not be confused, and I am extremely worried that they may be in this case. The correctness of the dating methods we use are no more a matter of choice than who won the Civil War; it's a fact.

Many thanks for your time,

Jubal (Actually I wrote my real name)

[CN2]

I love this so much xD Epic fail, then Epic win By Jubal  :')

[Jubal]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8335189.stm

This is the news that David Nutt, the government's top drugs advisor, has been sacked for speaking out about the dangers of other aspects of society when compared to illegal drugs. It's a real blow for science, as he has said, and sets the dangerous precedent that the government can apparently now choose what science they want to believe. Scientific advisroy committees are SCIENTIFIC for a reason...

[joek]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8335189.stm

This is the news that David Nutt, the government's top drugs advisor, has been sacked for speaking out about the dangers of other aspects of society when compared to illegal drugs. It's a real blow for science, as he has said, and sets the dangerous precedent that the government can apparently now choose what science they want to believe. Scientific advisory committees are SCIENTIFIC for a reason...

David Nutt was my favourite ever govt scientist. I was so sad when I heard this. It just goes to show that our government is only interested in science when it supports its own viewpoint: 2 + 2 = 5, anyone?

[stormcloud]

have you guys gone http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Back-Prof-Nutt/ then?

[Jubal]

I rarely bother with the Downing Street petitions tbh. There's so many of them it seems kinda silly, I'm sure little to no notice is ever taken.

[debux]

This is an interesting article:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/historians-admit-to-inventing-ancient-greeks,18209/

I half-believed the first paragraph, but it's quite funny to read.