Practical News from Your Government

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Climategate

Climategate is a scandal involving the hacking of email messages of researchers at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Britain. Scientists entrusted with temperature variation data, used to evaluate the global warming hypothesis, were caught exchanging messages suggesting data slanting to minimize indications of cooling patterns. Defenders argue that data indicating warming over preceding decades still shows recent global temperature increases but climategate remains significant for several reasons.

The most obvious implication is a strong ideological bent toward global warming political policies by individuals who are considered gatekeepers for the objective gathering of empirical data. That in turn discredits science- the very discipline used to evaluate global temperature variation hypotheses. Can the public trust researchers and their data or are researchers as susceptible to political pressures as non-scientists?

A more subtle but deeply troubling aspect of climategate relates to the publication of scientific papers through what is known as a peer review process. As a researcher named Mann, who disliked the fact that a science journal published a dissenting view, wrote:

Perhaps we should encourage our colleagues in the climate research community to no longer submit to, or cite papers in, this journal. We would also need to consider what we tell or request of our more reasonable colleagues who currently sit on the editorial board.

Mann is considering ways to retaliate to as to intimidate the journal's editorial board. He does not like the theme of a dissenting paper. It's politics, not science. This should send a chilling message to those who value science as a metholoogy for producing objective data. But perhaps it was unrealistic in the first place to expect that scientists could separate their political passions from their gathering of related data. In any case the actions of Mann and others raise concern about the integrity of the peer review process. That castes doubt about the reliability of scientific data and the integrity of those generating it. It also clouds political positions grounded in data. That includes political policies based on warming assumptions.

Conceptually Understanding Problem Solving Approaches

A Science Daily article titled You Do The Math: Explaining Basic Concepts Behind Math Problems Improves Children's Learning cites research at Vanderbuilt University indicating that students benefit more from having teachers explain math problems from a conceptual point of view as opposed to explanations based on procedural problem solving. This does not surprise me in the slightest and I believe the study has applicability extending well beyond the teaching of math.

When learners are able to grasp a problem conceptually they can then utilize their own innate reasoning skills to find solutions. There is no point to reinventing the wheel so the teaching of procedural problem solving methods is still relevant. However, the problem solving steps can be learned within a context that allows for a thorough understanding of why it is they work. Retention of procedural instructions is more likely when the purpose of them is understood. This likely has implications for problem solving in general. Business and interpersonal relationship problems can be better resolved if the solution steps are conceptually understood and not simply rote memorized.

News Items

* Pillowy Antibacterial Polymers is a Technology Review article noting a research discovery having implications for antibacterial coatings of medical devices. The gist of it is that bacteria adhere with greater difficulty to soft surfaces.

* A Tiny Sensor Simply Made is another Technology Review article discussing the development of a biosensor capable of detecting trace amounts of as many as 25 microorganisms.

* Cell Signaling Technology makes available "antibodies, kits and reagents for chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)."

* How Angel Investors Get Their Wings is about investors (angels) looking to invest money in promissing business investments that do not attract the attention of professional venture capitalists.