Science

Subsections:

2009

Science and Supposition

Patricia J. Williams : Medicine/Drugs

The new Obama protocols on scientific research will influence not just stem cells but climate change, genetics, sex education and food safety.
Crisis of Faith

JoAnn Wypijewski : Law & Justice

As the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reviews defrocked priest Paul Shanley's conviction on child rape charges, "repressed memory" will be held up to scientific scrutiny.
Lab Test

William Deresiewicz : History

Does the profit motive distort and degrade the unpredictable path of scientific discovery?
Back Talk: Adam Frank

Christine Smallwood : Religion

A conversation with astrophysicist Adam Frank about science, religion and manifestations of the sacred in the physical world.
Scientists Come Out for Human Rights

Sonia Shah : Human Rights

After eight years of being sidelined by the Bush administration, many in notoriously apolitical professions are ready to stand up and be counted on the social and ethical implications of their work.

Back Talk: Kenneth Miller

Christine Smallwood

Cell biologist Kenneth Miller discusses the dangers of politicized science.

Du Côté de Chez Madame Defarge

Alexander Cockburn : Native Americans

These days, even London and Paris seem a bit like North Korea.
False Prophets

Patricia J. Williams : Racism & Discrimination

James Watson continues his long and well-documented history of baselessly biologizing social stereotypes.
People Burn Here

Mike Davis : California

Illegal immigrants are the invisible victims of the California wildfires.
Root and Branch

Ian Hacking : Genetics & Genetic Engineering

A Canadian philosopher surveys some of the livelier flashpoints in America's battle over evolution.
John Gofman's Nuclear Courage

Joseph J. Mangano : Anti-Nuclear Activism

Remembering an eminent scientist who fought tirelessly to protect human health from the hazards of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.
NASA Scientists Challenge Security Rules

Dave Lindorff : Privacy Rights

Wary of government efforts to silence global warming research, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and Goddard Space Flight Center are going to court to block new security rules.
Putting Science in the Dock

Barry Yeoman : The Courts

Judges' ability to discriminate against expert witnesses has ended up empowering large corporations.

A Passion for Pluto

Marla Geha

Pluto's demotion from a planet to a dwarf isn't the work of mean-spirited Grinches. It is a necessary part of the same process that got Pluto discovered in the first place.
Science and the First Amendment

Patricia J. Princehouse : Education Policy & Reform

If you can lie about science and get away with it, you can lie about anything. That's why we must say no to ideological zealots who are waging war against science and against democracy itself.
Experimental Art

Joshua Foer : Non-Fiction

Alan Lightman makes scientists into artists in his new book The Discoveries, promoting original journal articles as "the great novels and symphonies of science."
Freezing Their Assets

Nicholas von Hoffman : Economics

Among the superrich, there's a growing desire to freeze themselves and their bank accounts in hopes of rising again. Talk about Groundhog Day.