Human Evolution

PBS had a great NOVA episode on last night. Part 1 of 3 on "Becoming Human". It was facinating, and interesting for the whole family. My little seedling even enjoyed watching it... although I've got to admit that some of her comments were along the lines of...

"mom, they're not wearing clothes. tee hee hee!"
and
"I can see her bum!"

which is always great for a pre-pre teen.

Part 2 and 3 are coming... can't miss!

Friday TED Talks XIII: Nullius in verba

Friday Ted talks returns!

David Deutsch talks about explaining explanations. Highly recommended... and he gives talks just like me! Watch this (especially if you want to know what nullius in verba means).

Wisdom from Unlikely Places

I just finished reading "The Wisdom Of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS" by Elizabeth Pisani. It was well written and the narrative format gave a natural progression through her experiences from a somewhat hopeful to a battle-worn epidemiologist. The collective struggle with politicians, religious leaders, and the bureaucratic nightmare that are individual countries and global programmes is nothing short of heroic.

As an inspirational epidemiologist, she does not hide behind organizational red-tape/policies, but truly tells the science and the reasoning behind each prevention method. Use condoms... have needle exchange programs... find ways to protect the people. It doesn't matter who the people are or what they do. They are still people.

If I could nominate her for a Nobel prize, I would. But I have a feeling that there are many people doing the same type of work just like her. However, I do want to hear her on TED Talks. She is truly inspirational and her book is a must-read. You may not agree with the methods or policies and you may not like who the "people most at risk" are, but it is important to know for preventative measures. This IS something that can be fought with good prevention policies, and there are some innocent victims.

Sociologist/Anthropologist Quote of the Year!LOL

Now that's dedication!

Sociologists send you surveys. Anthropologists go through your trash. One of those data sources won't lie. - Ryan via Skepchick

(Regarding the paper where they analyzed sewage water for traces of drugs)

Friday TED Talk III

Some more Great TED Talks for this Friday

Michael Pollan on Plants Ruling the World :)
Plants’ point of view

Robert Ballard on Exploring the Oceans
Exploring the oceans

Great TED Talks

I've been a regular listener/viewer to TED Talks for a while now. I think as a regular Friday post, I'll post a couple of links to some talks that I think all people should watch.

Here are my two for today:

Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

Margaret Wertheim on the beautiful math of coral
(great talk & great fusion between art & science)


Au revoir!

Bill 44: Good Idea Gone Bad or Giving Parents the Power to Make Kids Stupid?

Bill 44 is an amendment to the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act in Alberta (which if passed will be renamed the Alberta Human Rights Act) which is aimed to include sexual orientation as a fundamental human right along with race, religious belief, colour, gender, physical disability, mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, maritial status, source of income or family status.
This has been a long time coming……
However, I am suspicious of a part of the wording in Section 11.1 which is the Notice to parent or guardian. I am assuming (big assumption though) that the intentions are good. However, by denying all children basic information about sexual health, sexuality, sexual orientation or religion we are ill-equipping them to deal with subject matter that will become more important as they get older, and information to deal with decisions in a logical and mature manner.
There is no such thing as too much information. Instead of picking and choosing what information we give children, cannot we teach them our values and morals while disseminating the information with them so that they are not afraid of information? If we refuse to teach children about other lifestyles, cultures, and practices they will be afraid of them and therefore discrimination will happen more frequently. (I’m trying not to use cliché’s here, but “Knowledge is Power” and “Your only afraid of what you don’t know” come to mind and are very appropriate I’m thinking)
I am an atheist. However, I want my seedling to learn about all of the other religions out there so that when she hears about them, she will be prepared with her decision & it will not be tricked out of her with half-truths and omissions.
I am heterosexual. However, I want her to learn about homosexual and bisexual people, and the fact that they are the same as heterosexual people. (There is no “gay lifestyle” per se as they lead normal lives just like everyone else) I want her to learn about what monogamy, polygamy, bigamy, and abstinence is. What is sexual intercourse and does fellatio count as sex? I want her to know about birth control for both men and women, abortion, sexually transmitted infections (diseases), child birth and child care.
Mostly, I want her to know that there are choices, so many choices and that no one has a right to chose for her (not even me). I want to instill my values and ethics in her, but the individual responses are up to her. And I do this because I TRUST HER! I trust her to make the right choices for her. I trust her to learn from mistakes that she makes. And most of all, I trust her to let her children choose as well. The only way that she can make choices for herself is if she learns about all of this.
There is another problem with this bill. With religion comes the controversy about evolution. Many fundamental religious people believe that Bill 44 is a way to deny their children learning about evolution. However, what they do not realize is that evolution is a cornerstone of all science. In an effort to refuse their children something that they are scared of, they will deny their children any hopes of being successful in science. But then again, maybe I’m thinking this is a good opportunity for the kids that do learn about evolution (survival of the fittest). Ironic.

Alberta - Rape and Pillage

On a road trip this last weekend, to one of the most beautiful places in the World (not just Canada, eh?), I saw the most disgusting view. Alberta sure knows how to welcome guests as we show how to rape and pillage the land that we are only borrowing from our future.
If I was smart enough, I would have gotten the camera out and taken pictures of these horrible sites, but I will next time to show what is truly there.

h.t. to http://www.geocities.com/alta_sailing/wab_destinations/wab_destinations.htm

I've got to admit, the picture is not exactly what I saw, as we were travelling on the other side (on the road, not water, ha ha). Also, this picture looks better than what I saw, as Saturday morning there was smoke spewing out of the stacks. Before the actual plant came into site, I thought there was a brush fire as there was smoke everywhere.

So, now your thinking, oh what a whiny tree-hugger. Can't stand a little smoke, etc. But we also saw strip mining. It wasn't on the scale of Ft. McMurray's tar sands, and I have no clue what they were mining. But there was no other reason for these marks a large quantity of land. We also saw grasshoppers, and "urban" sprawl (if you can call Hinton or Edson urban...). Garbage found in the trees, on the snow, and on the road.

These would not bother me if these were anomolies, but they are symptomatic of the larger problem of massive extraction from the land and pollution of the air. Once in Jasper there were many animals seen as well as beautiful vistas. (I will post nicer pics tomorrow)
But you would think that the Albertan Government would want visitors to our Province to see pristine views and beautiful landscapes from Edmonton to Jasper instead of grasshoppers every 20 meters. Every time someone (National Geographic to name one) writes an article, tells an international panel about Alberta, the politician argue that it isn't true and we are taking it out of context (ie. it's only in Athabasca). However, it is time to understand that we cannot continue taking for granted what we have.

Dept of Education: Work Harder Not Smarter

I'm sure many feel this way about the school system in Canada or the US. Both systems are based on the same practices with few alterations. Core subjects (Math, Science, Language Arts, Social) with a few sprinklings of fun subjects thrown in to keep kids entertained. The problem I am seeing with this strategy is that children are taught to do what the teacher does and do it over & over & over, ad infinitum.
When that child who can recite or redo what the teacher has "taught" (because very few children actually understand the mechanics/reasons behind the theory), they graduate High School and go to university. This university now expects for the reasoning behind methods to be understood without reteaching the subjects.
A few of the children probably have twigged to the understanding of concepts that were not explicitly explained. But the majority of those children (and I have to admit that I am one when it comes to mathematics) recite and give back the teacher what they want, but if asked the same question in another way cannot work their way through and come up with an answer because they lack the underlying principles and/or theory that was implicit in the work but not stated.
And now that university expects them to know this stuff...

Luckily I have the ability to self-teach (or probably more likely avoid classes where there is material I do not understand), and this has not been a problem in acquiring my education so far. But I have seen it come up in a number of places. I have a nasty habit of forgetting most things taught in one semester by the next (unless pummelled into my head over & over & over), even if I DO understand the concepts. I usually pick up quicker the next time it is explained and have that "Oh yeah!" moment.
But how do you teach the underlying principles & to retain material that is absolutely critical in the future? And more importantly, teach this to a wide range of ages & learning abilities...

Global Warming vs. Climate Change

If you've never heard of "global warming"* or "climate change"*, you may want to call the Guiness Book of World Records people. As the last person on earth to hear these terms, they may have you confused. I will try to explain...

The two terms have been used interchangably, but they might not be so. Useage between skeptics and believers have twisted the meaning of each. They refer to the phenomenon of energy that comes from the sun, bounced of the surface of the earth to the atmosphere and reflected back to the earth from the pollutants (hence the greenhouse effect and greenhouses gasses terms that are used). This leads to a rise in atmospheric temperature and ocean temperature (which is the source of the term "global warming").

Incidentally, this rising in temperature has other effects which lead to changes in wind patterns, melting of glaciers, etc. This in turn changes the entire climate of the world, but funnily enough, not equally around the world. Also the changes in climate may have different effects in different places (where some areas may get more hurricanes in general, others may get less hurricanes but they will be more severe). Also, changes in temperature become more severe for certain places. This leads us to the term of "climate change".

People who are conspiracy theorists, science deniers, or the USA government like to use the term "global warming". This phrase of two simple words brings to mind a simple meaning for many people. The only thing we should be worried about is having great temperatures year round, where we don't have to worry about frostbite anymore. Living in the great beyond (think Canadian Siberia), I cannot help but cringe every time someone uses this "global warming" for the process which is occuring on our planet now. People think it will be great having a tropical climate here (think swimming and tanning year round). Other people scoff when it hits -4o degrees celcius; "pffft, yeah right we have global warming... I'll just go run my car to warm up for 1/2 hour".

However, when you read about sea levels rising from glacier melting and thermal expansion, all of those island countries and coastal cities (yeah, think New York, Vancouver, Tokyo) where most of the world's population lives, and we've got real problems. We won't be worrying about war refugees anymore, we'll be concerned about refugees from islands that have disappeared, from areas where severe hurricanes are occuring, where water has run out, etc.

The environmental refugees not only will be fleeing from their homelands, but disease and sickness will also spread. Those countries not ready for the people and climate change will have an increase in diseases never seen before in that area. Malaria will continue to spread (as will West Nile). Cholera and other diseases from unsanitary conditions will increase and there will be stresses on health care systems (as well as current stresses from increases in cancer and obesity).

I'm not trying to act Cassandra on y'all. (Cassandra the prophetess from Homer's Troy who noone listened to, jeez go read some literature!) But, the more we open our eyes to what could happen, the more prepared we are. Canada has a chance to become a world leader in humanitarian causes, while increasing our own technology resources (and incidentally selling that technology to other countries), so there can be economic gain in the future.

I think what is needed is balance between resource management/sustainability and economic gain. Neither can be feasible at the extreme ends of the scale, but moderation with both would be nice and wholly welcome. But don't ever say to me that global warming is bunk, go to http://www.ipcc.ch/ if you want some scientific background on the issue. Everyone including those not involved in science or economy, needs to get in on the discussion. This is everyones problem, not just those worried about it.



*I put these terms in brackets only to denote that they are phrases in common use that must be separated from each other, not to give them quackery status as pseudoscience.

Sports & School

This weekend my daughter is competing in a Highland Dance Competition before school starts next week. I read this timely article, and have been wondering about how I deal with her school & sports.

Because I follow hockey, I see more and more that North America values its sports players higher than intelligence. The multi-billions that sports players get for a one year contract is insane, but even with recent attempts to cut back (think NHL salary caps), salaries are still increasing. From the article it looks like this attitude starts in school, from both the parents and the school officials themselves.

When was the last time that you saw a high level scientist making more than a million a year? I think the only way to use your brains for money is in business, but a few people would argue that maybe it’s your soul that is worth the money, not your mind. However, in the study they compare musicians with all-star athletes, with community-league athletes.

The first comparison is missing school for sports games. 75% is a lot of times. And this isn’t for everyday class work, but for exams!!! Not only that, but schools are tacitly agreeing with the viewpoint that sports are more important than education by letting them make up later, offering special tutoring, and other special treatments, that the other students may not get (or nearly as much).

Now my daughter, Sweet Pea, does not get preferential treatment for exams from me. In fact, last year this was a tipping point for myself. She was getting lower grades (one C) and I told her if she does not shape up, that ALL of her sports are gone until she can manage her school. She is also (unfortunately for me!) good at sports and enjoys sports so this was quite a threat for her, and she barely squeaked by. However, I’m afraid that this will create a dislike for school, whereas I want the exact opposite to happen. She can have it both, but she cannot see that.

Why don’t schools teach that both can happen? I try to be active, but frankly I deserve to be last picked for sports… I just don’t enjoy them. I prefer individual sports, so I’m not really a good role model for her. Why do we rank athletes & compete in tournaments, but not for academics. Who is the best writer in the school? Which math team can answer the most difficult questions? Cannot schools make academics into a sport to make it fun? Would that solve the problem?

I understand with obesity being the next health crisis to try and get the kids active, but really, is it worth having a society of dumb jocks instead of pudgy nerds? Is there no middle ground or why can’t we have both?

Critically Thinking

I recently read these two new papers in PLOS Biology here and here on migrations, and how the phenomenon of migrations can place species more at risk from anthropogenic forces. The species that migrate are more at risk for decreasing numbers and endangerment. They outline how people’s settlements and activities (forestry, mining, highways, etc) affect these populations, and underline how important it is that scientists open communication channels with communities and the governments in order to protect the animals.

However, to make informed decisions about these species’ populations, the people involved do not necessarily have the background in science needed to understand the subtleties. Which is OK, nobody can understand everything about everything, and this is why it is important to know WHO to trust, or at least know their real agenda’s. I do the same when it comes to investing my money, politics (to a certain degree), and world events.

So I have often wondered, can we inform future citizens while they are in school? Start in elementary; teach them how to make informed choices, what sources to trust, which to ignore, and ultimately how to think critically.

A not-so-recent example is the vaccination hoopla. Anti-vaccinationists have sexy campaigns that target the general population with limited knowledge of what vaccinations are and how they work. However, how many of these anti-vaccinationists are actual reliable scientists* that have studied vaccines? Do not just look at what they actually say, but understand their motivations. Are they looking for someone to blame? Are they looking for a conspiracy? Do they want your money? Do they want their 15 minutes of fame? Also realize that some information is correct, but taken out of context. Such as the claim that vaccinations don’t work all the time anyways, so why get them? Well, some vaccinations do not 100% for everyone, but this is not a problem usually because of herd immunity, which is kind of a communal vaccination. The more people that do not have the vaccinations, the more susceptible those individuals are.

So this post is not about vaccines or species in trouble, but being aware of where you get your information and becoming informed to make better decisions. The internet is wonderful, but only if you know what information to trust. And sometimes, it can come from a completely reputable place, but the science itself is sometimes wrong. And this is good. If it were never wrong, then scientists are not doing their job. So also look critically at scientific papers, at scientists, at EVERYTHING you read & hear! People that are reputable and trustworthy will help you understand, not just keep repeating the same things over and over. Use your own common sense.

So let’s start teaching our children how to learn and what to trust. Lets start teaching adults, politicians, anyone who will listen how to do the same. And next time someone says that they would rather you drive your huge SUV all over instead of walking/biking/busing, think of all the scientists that are warning you of global climate change instead of the politicians warning you of the economy. Economies can always rebound, but can the Earth? Do you want to find out? And think … would you rather get your financial information from a trained analyst or from an 8 year old on a playground?

End of Rant


* Reliable Scientists are those that actually study the subject; so NO I don’t mean those other CAM people (Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practitioners) that mostly are people trying to suck as much money out of you as they can.