Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science. Show all posts
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Science News website: Fill up on some science!
A great example of how popular perception can clash with the evidence
"The picture painted of America's southwestern border with Mexico is a bloody one, in which the drug violence decimating northern Mexico has spilled onto U.S. soil and turned the region into a war zone."
Thus begins an article recently appearing in USA Today.
What first appeared to be another article covering the swelling, out-of-control lawlessness and violence in towns close to the Mexico border, actually turned out to be a report by USA Today in which they analyzed actual crime data covering a 10 year period (1999-2009) from 1600 local law enforcement agencies across the 4 states bordering Mexico. And the story the data told were very different from what almost everyone expected. The data show that crime rates in towns both big and small that are within 50 or 100 miles of the Mexico border actually have lower crime rates than their state average! Check out the article for the details.
The perception of an environment riddled with drug-fueled smuggling, violence, and other crimes has been the impetus for the expenditure of millions on hiring hundreds of more border agents, fortifying fences, passing the controversial and arguably unconstitutional laws such as the one in Arizona making it legal for police to stop, question and search anyone they happen across who they believe may be in the U.S. illegally.
But the evidence tells a different story. As Galileo put it after being forced to recant his proposal that the earth revolves around the sun: E pur si muove, "and yet it moves".
Thus begins an article recently appearing in USA Today.
What first appeared to be another article covering the swelling, out-of-control lawlessness and violence in towns close to the Mexico border, actually turned out to be a report by USA Today in which they analyzed actual crime data covering a 10 year period (1999-2009) from 1600 local law enforcement agencies across the 4 states bordering Mexico. And the story the data told were very different from what almost everyone expected. The data show that crime rates in towns both big and small that are within 50 or 100 miles of the Mexico border actually have lower crime rates than their state average! Check out the article for the details.
The perception of an environment riddled with drug-fueled smuggling, violence, and other crimes has been the impetus for the expenditure of millions on hiring hundreds of more border agents, fortifying fences, passing the controversial and arguably unconstitutional laws such as the one in Arizona making it legal for police to stop, question and search anyone they happen across who they believe may be in the U.S. illegally.
But the evidence tells a different story. As Galileo put it after being forced to recant his proposal that the earth revolves around the sun: E pur si muove, "and yet it moves".
Friday, July 15, 2011
Science is Sexy!
Anyone who listens to PBS will know who Ira Flatow is. He hosts a very popular weekly program on PBS called "Science Friday".
I stumbled across this great lecture he gave back in November 2010 on why he believes that science can be as sexy and cool as any other topic. A lotta fun to watch. Highly recommended, if only to give those of us who carry the torch for science some powerful weapons to promote public appreciation for science.
I stumbled across this great lecture he gave back in November 2010 on why he believes that science can be as sexy and cool as any other topic. A lotta fun to watch. Highly recommended, if only to give those of us who carry the torch for science some powerful weapons to promote public appreciation for science.
Monday, June 20, 2011
How the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spends its money
Want to know how much the NIH is spending on research in various areas? Check out their Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) athttp://report.nih.gov/budget_and_spending/index.aspx. Yes, I already checked on how much they devote to chronic pain research… It’s was 1% of their 2008 budget! Doesn’t sound like enough considering that chronic pain affects 30% of Americans!
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