Tag Archives: science

How Africa can close its continent-wide science funding gap

How Africa can close its continent-wide science funding gap

The idea that Africa’s development depends critically on science, technology and innovation is embodied in the African Union’s Agenda 2063. This document emphasises economies that are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. But the continent has some serious work to do if it’s to create such economies. It starts at a disadvantage: Africa is […] … learn more→

University Science is dead

University Science is dead

“You don’t understand science!” –I’ve tried to explain to friends that much of the “global warming” movement doesn’t follow normal scientific principles, and several times I’ve received this response. I know tenure is much maligned in the public eye, and I openly acknowledge “job for life” has real potential for abuse…I feel such concerns are […] … learn more→

How much do YOU know about Science?

Take the interactive test that researchers used to find the average American only gets a C grade When put to the test, Americans rate a solid if unspectacular C in science, a new study has found. The Pew Research Center found in a basic quiz of a dozen random science questions, Americans got eight correct, […] … learn more→

A degree of uncommon success

A degree of uncommon success

One of the problems with the master’s degree in the arts and sciences has always been its lack of identity and concrete purpose. It’s an award on the way to a doctorate, but it’s also a bauble that gets handed out as a consolation to those who leave the Ph.D. path. It’s a credential to […] … learn more→

Most people think ‘man’ when they think ‘scientist’ – how can we kill the stereotype?

Most people think ‘man’ when they think ‘scientist’ – how can we kill the stereotype?

Children learn to associate science with men at early ages. Over 40 years ago, less than 1% of American and Canadian elementary school children drew a woman when asked to draw a scientist. My latest research, published in Journal of Educational Psychology, shows that gender-science stereotypes persist even now, worldwide. Using data from nearly 350,000 […] … learn more→

Scientists and public disagree, but let’s not get too excited

A new set of surveys of scientists and the public finds the two groups have widely different views about scientific issues. Conducted by the Pew Research Center in collaboration with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the survey found scientists tended to have a more positive opinion of many technologies than the general […] … learn more→

Science\’s creativity crisis

Are you as innovative as you want to be? Although eight of 10 respondents in a poll of thousands of workers from the United States, Europe, and Japan in 2012 said creativity was critical to unlocking global economic potential, only one in four felt they were fulfilling their own creative potential. Almost half complained that […] … learn more→

To understand Science, study History

To understand Science, study History

I love the sciences. Because my father was a scientist, I grew up surrounded by talk of running gels, western blots, and poorly calibrated centrifuges. I desperately wanted to be a scientist. First and foremost, to prove to my dad that I could—he was convinced that science was not for me. But also because its […] … learn more→

Distinguishing science from nonsense

As Americans enter 2014, there is grave concern among our political leaders that we are lagging behind other nations in terms of our children’s scientific literacy. An international survey confirmed in December that many American kids don’t understand science, and that they continue to fall behind children from other nations—many much poorer than we are—in […] … learn more→

Testing the theory: taking Einstein to primary schools

School students today are taught physics based on obsolete theories and outmoded ways of thinking. Instead of the truth, most learn a naive simplification – the 300 year-old Newtonian physics, itself based on disproved 2,300 year-old Euclidean geometry. But why? Simply put, the thinking has long been that one can’t learn the truth without first […] … learn more→