"Science-y" Saturday

Rest assured that, being the opinionated sort of person I am, I'll pontificate a little (sometimes maybe a lot) when I feel it is necessary, but support my position with links so you can view the facts and judge for yourself. Those who know me well know that I am not of a particularly religious nature (which doesn't make me a bad person), but I really am okay with different religious outlooks if and when they do not get in the way of human progress by relying on uniformed positions that reject sound science. That is when I draw a line in the sand and get a bit testy.

• Although "old news" from 8 days ago, NASA has successfully launched, and now placed in its correct orbit, the Kepler telescope. Several weeks of instrument calibration will take place before Kepler will begin to search for earth-sized planets. Over 300 extrasolar planets have been discovered to date, but they're all pretty big, with the smallest discovered so far about twice the size of Earth and in a wacky orbit very close to its star. I won't go into a lot of detail about how this new instrument works, but it will be looking for planets similar in size to Earth and, most importantly, in a similar orbit within the "habitable zone" where liquid water can occur. The process will not be fast - when a signal is detected that may indicate the presence of a possible candidate, the scientists will have to wait about another year before they can check that star again. Since stars are so bright we can't see the planets and Kepler will be looking for changes in the star's brightness as the planet transits (passes in front of) the star. A planet within the habitable zone will take about a year to complete an orbit and transit again, so we'll have to wait that long for first verification, then one more year for additional proof. So it will really be about 3 years before we know something positive, if and when such a planet is found.

• Arguably the biggest news in the world of science this week was President Obama lifting the restriction on use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research. The big news, in my opinion, is not that it happened, or the fact that we've lost 8 years in this area research thanks to the past administration, but the fact that there has been so much wailing and gnashing of teeth by religious conservatives over this issue. The problem, and it is a huge one, is their position is based purely upon misinformation. The thing they don't seem to get is that the embryonic stem cells that will be used in this research are no longer needed by the donors (who must sign a release so they can be used research, by the way) and fertility clinics will dispose of them as medical waste if they don't make their way to research. So the question is, and it has nothing to do with someone's perceived morality, do we try and save human lives through medical research, or do we send these "human souls" we're so hell-bent on saving to an incinerator along with all the used syringes and other medical waste? Because, like it or not, that is where they are going. Where is the "morality" in that? To my mind these are questions not even worthy of asking. Have a look at this article from Daily Kos if you have doubts - it is well written and contains some worthwhile links if you need a better understanding of the facts related to this issue. Sure e don't know if the research will actually lead to cures, but research that may ultimately lead to saving a life when there is otherwise little hope is far better than incineration, don't ya think? These cells are doomed one way or the other.

"Promoting science isn't just about providing resources, it is also about protecting free and open inquiry," Obama said. "It is about letting scientists like those here today do their jobs, free from manipulation or coercion, and listening to what they tell us, even when it's inconvenient especially when it's inconvenient. It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."

• Via Bad Astronomy I read about a survey commissioned by the California Academy of Sciences to see just how well versed American adults are in science. The findings here are kind of scary when, for example, 47% do not know that it takes 1 year for Earth to complete an orbit around the Sun. Another statistic I find amazing is that 41% of the respondents actually think that dinosaurs and humans coexisted. While knowledge of basic scientific facts certainly seems to be weak based upon the results, the vast majority of respondents felt that scientific education was important.

• What may be more important than knowing facts, however, is that, as a society, too many people lack a basic understanding of the scientific method, the nut and bolts if you will, of how science works. A classic example is how some people like to define the word "theory" as some kind of wild a$$ed guess and, in the common vernacular, it can mean that. But to a scientist it means something totally different. The W-A-G, if there is one, is the hypothesis; the theory is only formulated after a series of facts supporting the theory are well established. Some 30 to 40% of the U.S. population fails to see this, though. They listen, for example, to some bully in a pulpit spout off how "evolution is just a theory", readily accept what has been said, but fail to realize that this aspect of biology is well supported by 150 years of evidence and that what we've learned about DNA in the last 60 odd years or so, to say nothing about the fossil record, not only provides support to Charles Darwin's basic conclusions, but - and this REALLY important - expands upon and - as "good science" will do - even corrects some of the things in his original theory. That such a significant portion of the U.S. populace utterly fails to come to grips with this is simply astonishing from where I sit . . . these folks can't possibly understand basic science or, for religious reasons, choose to ignore it. To expand upon this line of "theoretical" thinking, we only need to look at Newton's Law of Gravity. The fact of the matter is, Newton's theory is not 100% correct, even though we are taught it is a "law". For most general purposes it works quite well for us regular folk, however one example of its failure is when astronomers in the 19th century had trouble accurately predicting Mercury's orbit using Newtonian physics. Along comes Einstein with General Relativity and, poof, it corrects some of those problems with Newton's math (okay, I'm over-simplifying a bit here) and, what do you know, Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation gets an important correction through use of the scientific method (and some intensive mathematics). This is how Real Science(tm) works - it is self-correcting when necessary and properly applied.
  

• In some other news, now about 10 days or so old, researchers studying a dinosaur tracksite here in Utah published a paper (Bird-Like Anatomy, Posture, and Behavior Revealed by an Early Jurassic Theropod Dinosaur Resting Trace) on a theropod trackway over near St. George. They discovered a spot where a big ol' meateater decided to stop for a rest and the cool part of it is, this creature was holding its palms in a way that is found only in modern birds. If bird had palms as we think of them, that is. Birds have wrists, however, which, as I understand the paper, they turn unlike other tetrapods, and this is a major part of the conclusion reached in this study - this dinosaur was turning its joints in the same manner as a bird. This research provides further evidence supporting what is now becoming widely accepted - that birds are living descendants of theropod dinosaurs. If you are ever in or driving through St. George you can visit St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm, where this discovery was made, and see some dinosaur tracks for yourself (if you don't mind a hike, I can direct you to some in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, too)! (hat tip to PZ for this one)

• In the "astronomy gee-whiz" category, the Bad Astronomer posted another in his 10 Things You Didn't Know series, this latest about the now "dwarf planet" Pluto. The rest of the series covers the Sun, Black Holes, Earth, and the Milky Way Galaxy.

• And finally, a little scientific trivia and some silliness for today, March 14: First, it is Albert Einstein's birthday and, if you've seen Google today, also the birthday of astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, known for maps of Mars he drew in 1890. And the silliness? Well, today, 3-14, we celebrate "Pi Day" (you know, that mathematical constant we all learned in school about circles). So bring me some pie, preferably French Silk, and we can have a party . . .