Science

Tuesday night, my amateur astronomer husband dragged me to what I thought was going to be a dull university lecture on astronomy or advanced cosmic theory and such.

As it turned out, the talk was given by an Astrophysicist, but the Astrophysicist in question is the incredibly entertaining Neil deGrasse Tyson (who you may know from Nova’s Science NOW, various Discovery Channel programs). And the topic wasn’t Astronomy, or even Astrophysics… it was something far more dear to my own heart: Scientific Literacy.

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Yes, I’m feeling lazy today, but that’s not why I’m showing you these articles. They’re really worth your time. Promise.

How The City Hurts Your Brain

(Boston Globe)

Every once in a while, I run across an article so fascinating and well written it’s not worth putting my bizarre personal spin on it. This is one of those articles. The subject? The impact of urban vs nature environments on the brain.

So go read the article, then go for a walk in the nearest park.

Blood Sugar Control Linked To Memory Decline

(NY Times)

Whenever I make a list of things to help my brain function better, reducing sugar is always on that list. For me, it’s especially crucial, because I tend to have some pretty wild hypoglycemic reactions that immediately affect my cognitive ability.

But increasingly, it seems like good advice for almost everyone - sugar causes blood glucose spikes, glucose spikes reduce blood flow to parts of the brain crucial to memory and learning.

As we age, our ability to regulate glucose levels begins to falter, meaning that even those with seemingly healthy blood sugar levels can be affected.

But it’s not all about what we eat - physical exercise helps regulate blood sugar levels, too, and the Times article suggests this may be partially responsible for the well-publicized cognitive benefits of exercising.

So again… go for that walk in the park!

Self-Experimenter Freed Himself from Insomnia,
Acne and Love Handles

(Scientific American)

I figure that the majority of “Tweakers” are self-experimenters of some sort or another, constantly running little tests on ourselves. The more scientific our approach to those little experiments, the more likely they are to give us accurate results. And what might have interested me the most about this article? The successful changes the subject made in his life were not things his doctor would have likely ever thought to suggest.

BTW, the “subject” is Seth Roberts: He turned some of his results into the best-selling Shangri-La Diet. Who knows. Maybe if we document our walks in the park, there’s a best seller in our futures too!

With apologies to international readers, this post is admittedly pretty U.S. specific.  Just carry on, please…   I’ll be back to more widely applicable brain stuff soon.   For those of you just tuning in, check out part 1 and part 2.

When I first mentioned this series to a group of acquaintances, one of them scoffed. “A war on science? In AMERICA? Pshaw. There’s always a fringe contingent against anything, and  Churches have been fighting science for centuries! You really think it matters NOW?”

Yes, yes I do.   And I think it should matter to you, too. (’cause I’m a busy body that way) 

I grew up in the heyday of the Apollo space program.  In 1969 I was four years old, and too young to understand the significance of that first moon walk, but I stayed up late to watch it on our flickering black and white TV anyway. My parent’s excitement and tension was infectious:  this was something very, very cool, and a little scary.  

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This post isn’t intended as open debate of Creation vs Evolution , and it isn’t about what I believe, or what I think you should believe.  Rather, it’s about the anti-science aspects of the Creation/Evolution arguments, and how they are contributing to a confused and negative perception of science in the US.  For more info, please see part 1 in this series. 

The problem appears straight-forward and simple on the surface; The Theory of Evolution flat out conflicts with the  literal interpretations of the Bible’s account of Creation.    Many Christians don’t see the conflict as relevant to their lives, and they move quietly beyond it, whatever they actually believe.

But for Fundamentalists, the conflict is clearly relevant.  For them, there is no doubting that life arose as described in Genesis, created by God along with the rest of the Universe in less than 7 days.  In their view, the Theory of Evolution is not only inaccurate, but it is an evil  and atheistic argument against mankind’s unique relationship with God.

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A few weeks ago on Creative Think, creative-thinking expert Roger von  Orech posed an interesting question: “What do you think will be demonized in the next two years?” 

My answer actually scared me:  Science.  

It’s hard to imagine at first…   how could a logical method of investigation (and the body of knowledge produced through that  method) be viewed as evil and diabolic? It seems especially odd in the US, where for so many years,  scientific technology  and education has been the driving force of our success. 

The whole concept seems absurd on it’s face - but under the surface, much of the public’s perspective on science is are shifting from positive to negative. Why?

Science IS Scary Stuff, Sometimes.

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