I myself have spent some time in the past trying to show “‘the lack of scientific certainty’” inherent in the construction of facts. I too made it a ‘primary issue.’ But I did not exactly aim at fooling the public by obscuring the certainty of a closed argument – or did I? After all, I… Read More Bruno Latour: Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? (2004)
Recycling plastic can make it more toxic and should not be considered a solution to the pollution crisis, Greenpeace has warned before the latest round of negotiations for an international plastics treaty. “Plastics are inherently incompatible with a circular economy,” the global environmental network said in a report that brings together research showing recycled plastics are more… Read More Recycled plastic can be more toxic and is no fix for pollution, Greenpeace warns
First posted June 06, 2016 Henri Bergson’s debate with Albert Einstein reached and swayed the 1921 Nobel committee. NB – it is remarkable that the Roman Catholic Church banned three of Bergsons books in June 1914; and the Nazi’s banned Einstein after Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 – DS This Philosopher Helped Ensure There Was No Nobel for… Read More Jimena Canales: This Philosopher Helped Ensure There Was No Nobel for Relativity
Laura Paddison, CNN More than half of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs have lost significant amounts of water over the last three decades, according to a new study, which pins the blame largely on climate change and excessive water use. Roughly one-quarter of the world’s population lives in the basin of a drying lake, according to the study… Read More Why the world’s largest lakes are shrinking dramatically
It takes the expansive perspective of an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist who ponders the origins and unfolding of the universe to place today’s parochial debates over intelligent technology in the context of planetary evolution. BY NATHAN GARDELS In Noema, Sara Walker bends the modern mind to link the coming future to the primordial past. “The technologies we are… Read More From Biosphere To Technosphere
Laura Paddison, CNN Countries could slash plastic pollution by 80% in less than two decades, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme. Plastic pollution is a scourge that affects every part of the world, from the Arctic, to the oceans and the air we breathe. It’s even changing ecosystems. Scientists recently found rocks made from plastic on a remote… Read More The world can cut plastic pollution by 80% by 2040: UN
Helena Horton Microbes that can digest plastics at low temperatures have been discovered by scientists in the Alps and the Arctic, which could be a valuable tool in recycling. Many microorganisms that can do this have already been found, but they can usually only work at temperatures above 30C (86F). This means that using them… Read More Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low temperatures
NEW DELHI: Breakthrough Science Society, a collective of scientists and researchers across India, has raised concerns over the deleted ‘Theory of Biological Evolution’ from National Council of Educational Training and Research (NCERT) books for Class 10. Condemning NCERT’s decision, the collective wrote that learning “evolutionary biology is important not just to any subfield of biology, but is… Read More NCERT Books: 1,800 scientists, researchers demand restoration of Darwin’s evolution theory
The rationalist in me knows that coincidences are inevitable, mundane, meaningless. But I can’t deny there is something strange and magical in them, too Paul Broks The term “coincidence” covers a wide range of phenomena, from the cosmic (in a total solar eclipse, the disc of the moon and the disc of the sun, by… Read More Are coincidences real ?
Eco-anxiety stems from a sense of hopelessness and the realisation that there are limits to how much agency we have as individuals to affect global change. But we are not hopeless, far from it. The future is still unwritten; we cannot know what it holds, but we will make it first in our minds, in our… Read More Does climate breakdown mean we’re doomed? No: if we’re brave, big change can happen fast
After the truth-shower 