There’s not much point complaining about the science in Interstellar. It’s a movie. There are actually some nice scientific touches (such as the depiction of artificial intelligence in the robots, and the basis for programming in humour and dishonesty). Anyway, the sci in sci fi is always hampered by the […]
Year: 2014
Forthcoming: “Adventures in Science Communication”
Interested in adventure? Well, then this public lecture is for you. It’s me again, this time at the invitation of Maynooth University as part of their celebration of Science Week 2014. Here is the abstract…
What ‘Science By Press Conference’ looks like
Exhibit A: 1989 and Pons and Fleischmann announce cold fusion — an “inexhaustible source of energy” — at a press briefing in Utah, before they had applied for patents or published their technology. Too bad they were just plain wrong. I bet they feel embarrassed now. Exhibit B: 2002 and five-word […]
Pareidolia special: “Farmer denies wrongdoing as goat born with human face” (Spoiler: Not really human face)
Ah, the good old Sunday Wurdled…. I should warn you that the picture included in the article is a little graphic, but I still have to ask: does it really look like a human face to you? You’ll have to decide for yourself. But I’m calling pareidolia on this.
I’m not saying Greenfield’s a pseudoscientist. I point to her pseudoscientific reasoning. That is all
Like a good sharknado, Susan Greenfield is (a) ridiculous and (b) back for more. We all remember this defence of her claim that internet use causes autism, don’t we? I point to the increase in autism and I point to internet use. That is all. Well, whoopy do. On that basis, […]
That story on sex differences in the brain, line by line
So, let’s take it from the top: Men’s and women’s brains really are different. No they’re not. This study did not look at anybody’s brains, nor did it compare the brains of one sex to those of the other. The study recorded responses to quizzes. Researchers say that if both sexes had access […]