“New Study Debunks Prior Belief” is a pretty common format for science news headlines, especially in any area of science that deals with how human beings behave, what they believe, and what values are important to them (psychology, in other… Read More ›
Well, kind of. Here is a video of the keynote lecture I gave as part of the #celt12 ‘Written Word’ conference held last June in Galway, Ireland. Why not set aside 29 minutes or so of your life and watch something… Read More ›
We’ve previously discussed the whole “oh-my-god-vaccines-are-terrible” carry-on that seems to have gripped the popular Luddite imagination since, well, since vaccines were basically invented. Well, they’ve been at it again. This time the controversy has related to the tragically young death… Read More ›
So, as you may have heard, Mr Akin, the Republican Party Senate candidate in Missouri (hi, Missouri!) has some weird views on rape, conception, and abortion. Basically, this is what the Todd Akin t-shirts are going to be saying this… Read More ›
Here is an interesting article from Discover Magazine, about some recent research into the association between intelligence and social attitudes. The study was conducted by some psychologists from Canada, and published in the prestigious journal Psychological Science. It represents a… Read More ›
I am generally nonplussed by birthdays. And I realise that blog posts about blog posts can sometimes be boring. However, as I’m an obsessive hoarder and a data geek, in this case I am going to make an exception. You… Read More ›
The scientific method is truly amazing. Not only can it be applied to such clichéd domains as physics, chemistry, biology, flying people to the moon, curing cancer, adding ears to the backs of mice, cloning sheep, and running tarantulas through… Read More ›
Either overusing the internet destroys your brain, or it doesn’t. If it does then I apologize (I’m assuming that as you’re reading this humble blog instead of, say, Art Project, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, or Celebrity Bitch Fest [Scarlett Johansson… Read More ›
My post on Dr Wendy Walsh — “Atheists die first”: CNN’s “expert” fights back — has been experiencing a spike in hits over the past day or so. It deals with the research evidence surrounding claims that religious belief (and… Read More ›
It’s Christmas (kind of). This is a science blog (kind of). And so, therefore, I am obliged to offer you… …A SCIENCE-OF-CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! Woo-hoo! As with all Christmas-related activities, blogging about the Science of Christmas is something of a fixed… Read More ›
![That's me in the corner [Photo: Alan B.]](http://thesciencebitdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/cs.jpg?w=120&h=120&crop=1)
Just over a week ago, I gave a public lecture for Cork Skeptics at the magnificent Blackrock Castle Observatory. Subject to technological issues (i.e., assuming it worked), a video of the talk will be available online soon. In the meantime you… Read More ›
Sometimes I actually feel sorry for politicians. There, I’ve said it. The other week, when wannabe-POTUS Governor Richard “Rick” Perry suffered his spectacular live-TV retrieval failure in front of millions of people he was trying to impress, I genuinely cringed on his… Read More ›
![Not the world's seven billionth person, with her parents this morning. [Note: Unlike Plan International, I am choosing to pixelate the face of this unconsenting minor]](http://thesciencebitdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/nargis.jpg?w=120&h=120&crop=1)
Typically, I get uncomfortable when I’m in the presence of more than, say, five other people. Therefore, you might expect me to be particularly perturbed by reports that the world’s population reached seven billion people earlier today, 31 October 2011. Such… Read More ›
So, apparently, being married is good for you. Married, I tells ya, as in party to a matrimonial contractual arrangement with a legally eligible spouse. Why might this be? Well, one advantage to being married is that your tax and inheritance… Read More ›
If you were confused by last week’s media stories about the latest review of UK science research on monkeys, then you are forgiven. The review, commissioned by the major British science funders and chaired by the president of the Zoological… Read More ›
UK newspaper, The Sun, is no stranger to controversy. Indeed, as part of News Corporation, it is currently mired in the phone-hacking scandal that engulfed its now killed-off sister paper, The News of the World. (The sheer speed of developments prevents… Read More ›
This week, the popular science magazine Psychology Today found itself at the centre of controversy following their publication of a blog post by evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa. His post was subsequently removed from the Psychology Today website, but you can… Read More ›
