Critical Thinking about Science in The Media

1. Critical Thinking about Science in The Media

2. The New Swedish School Syllabus 2011 ”... eleverna utvecklar ett kritiskt tänkande kring sina egna resultat, andras argument och olika informationskällor ... Källkritisk granskning av information och argument som eleven möter i olika källor och samhällsdiskussioner med koppling till kemi...” - "Historiska och nutida upptäckter ..."- "Aktuella samhällsfrågor ..."-  Aktuella forskningsområden ..."   Mål Skolan ska ansvara för att varje elev efter genomgången grundskola kan kommunicera på engelska i tal och skrift ... - Del ur Lgr 11:kursplan i kemi i grundskolan

3. Critical Thinking • 1. Skeptical – ”Is it true?” • 2. Calculate – Check the facts ... • AND • ... check the argument

4. The Scientific Method ... used wrongly

5. Critical Thinking 1

6. Critical Thinking 2

7. Spherical Flying Machine ”imagine a thousand of these things going off to drop water balloons on forest fires…” http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/spherical-flying-machine/

8. Scientific Heresy ”Be of good courage, brother Ridley, and play the man; for we shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out” - Latimer to Ridley -1555 "What sustains pseudoscience is confirmation bias. We look for and welcome the evidence that fits our pet theory; we ignore or question the evidence that contradicts it. We all do this all the time. It’s not, as we often assume, something that only our opponents indulge in. I do it, you do it, it takes a superhuman effort not to do it. That is what keeps myths alive, sustains conspiracy theories and keeps whole populations in thrall to strange superstitions." http://www.bishop-hill.net/storage/ScientificHeresy.pdf

9. Global Temperatures ... rising? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2055191/Scientists-said-climate-change-sceptics-proved-wrong-accused-hiding-truth-colleague.html MULLER'S COLLEAGUE PROFESSOR JUDITH CURRY – WHO BESIDES BEING A ”B.E.S.T.” CO-AUTHOR CHAIRS THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AT AMERICA’S PRESTIGIOUS GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY – ”THERE IS NO SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR SAYING THAT WARMING HASN’T STOPPED,”

10. Sea Level ... rise? September 2011: “The latest sea level numbers are out, and Envisat shows that the two year long decline is continuing, at a rate of 5mm per year.”

11. To Biofuel ... or not? Biobränslen ger, till skillnad från fossila bränslen, inte någon ökning av koldioxidhalten i luften eftersom de tar upp lika mycket koldioxid när de växer som de avger vid förbränning.– Lgr 11 Chemistry Commentary Booklet New study suggests EU biofuels are as carbon intensive as petrol (4 Nov 2011) A new study on greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations has calculated a more than 50% increase in levels of CO2 emissions than previously thought – and warned that the demand for ‘green’ biofuels could be costing the earth. they imply that on average biofuels in Europe will be as carbon intensive as petrol , with all biodiesel from food crops worse than fossil diesel http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uol-nss110411.php http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/11/04/study-green-biofuels-could-be-costing-the-earth/

12. Climate Change Skeptic – ”combustible” (Is this a way to argue?) 97--98% of the most published climate researchers think humans are causing global warming http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U5iS7BL1tDA ”the 97% statistic is based on only 79 climatologists, and that those participating were self-selected.” Doran, P. T., and M. Kendall Zimmerman (2009), Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change, Eos Trans. AGU, 90(3) http://climatequotes.com/2011/02/10/study-claiming-97-of-climate-scientists-agree-is-flawed/

13. Humans building castles in the sky

14. Humans make mistakes Prohibition – 1920s Eugenics – 1910s The Great Tulip Bulb Mania – Holland 1637 Lysenkoism – Russia1950s Carbon Dioxide – 2010s (?)

15. VISTA sees new globular star cluster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi_thnFk12k

16. Youngest planet forming Using the ten-metre Keck telescopes, astronomers have snapped the first direct image of a super-Jupiter planet in the act of formation. The evolving protoplanet, known as LkCa 15 b, is surrounded by a swirling mass of gas and dust that is accreting onto the planet. At a youthful two million years in age, it is five times younger than the previous record holder. http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n1110/20lkca

17. Curiosity mated with rockethttp://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av028/111103stacking/ Curiosity on Marshttp://www.universetoday.com/87069/dramatic-new-nasa-animation-depicts-next-mars-rover-in-action/ lady speaking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqZVf08nEYc man speaking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MIze1RxDNY&feature=related

18. New date for Humans coming to America 13 800 years ago

20. About the UNs 7 billion The precision is bunk, of course, or rather a public-relations gimmick. According to demographers, nobody knows the exact population of the world to within 100 million. (Incidentally, the record-setting baby will not be the seven billionth human being to have existed, as some press reports have implied—more like the 108 billionth.)http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204777904576651023080338648.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle

21. The probability of peaking turns out to be almost the same in every decade from 2040- 2050 through 2090-2100 Coping with only six billion If even half of these things happen, feeding six or even nine billion in 2100 would take far less land than feeding seven billion requires today. A greater proportion will live in cities, freeing still more land. And with more people able to afford fossil fuels, fewer will depend on forests for cooking fuel (or bushmeat), freeing still more land from human pressure. If they wear synthetic fleeces instead of wool and live in steel and concrete buildings instead of wooden ones, the footprint of their lives will shrink. Even their carbon footprint will fall as gas replaces coal and oil. http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/coping-only-six-billion

22. Debate: Is a growing population bad? http://watch.ctv.ca/news/national-affairs/oct-31/#clip559645

23. Humans are getting kinder Reason ...moves us away from forms of morality more likely to lead to violence, and toward moral advances that restrict it to the uses necessary to improve social welfare, We prefer life to death, and happiness to suffering, and we understand that we live in a world in which others can make a difference to whether we live well or die miserably. Pinker argues that enhanced powers of reasoning give us the ability to detach ourselves from our immediate experience ... and frame our ideas in more abstract, universal terms. This in turn leads to better moral commitments, including avoiding violence. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pinker07/pinker07_index.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/books/review/the-better-angels-of-our-nature-by-steven-pinker-book-review.html?pagewanted=allhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/sep/22/better-angels-steven-pinker-reviewhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204528204577011681658907746.html