Top 10 Scientific discoveries of 08

[Collier11]

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/top10/article/0,30583,1855948_1863947,00.html

[Petro-Sooner]

Interesting.

[Fraggle145]

Craig Venter is a freakin genius. Writing a new DNA code for a living is organism worries me a little bit though... He's a lot better scientist than I am, I just hope he knows what he is doing :O

[Fraggle145]

this is the one that worries me the most...


9. Think Americans haven't gotten smarter? Think again. Between 1979 and 2006, the percentage of scientifically literate adults doubled — to 17%. This year, a survey by a professor of political science at the University of Michigan found that that dismal showing may have improved, but only a little. Currently, 25% of the population of the U.S. — the country that invented the airplane and the light bulb and landed men on the moon, remember — qualify as "civic scientifically literate." In practical terms says the investigator, that means that only one in four adults can read and understand the stories in the weekly science section of The New York Times. And this comes at a time when the U.S. electorate is being asked to grapple with — and reach informed consensus about — such complex questions as global warming and stem cell research. Meantime, in November, Beijing announced a new high in scientific literacy scores for the Chinese. So let's at least raise a glass to China. It's somewhere in Europe, right?

[starclassic tama]

not surprising in the least. hell, just take the south oval. there are lots of people on here that don't know the difference between a scientific theory and a belief system.

[Collier11]

then there are people like you who dont even understand basic human principles like dont be a dikwad all the time

[Jacie]

It's too bad we don't have statistics on scientifically literate adults from say 1879 to 1906 so we could compare and see whether that 17% is a good number or a bad one.

[LosAngelesSooner]

As the S.O.'s resident dickwad, I'd like to thank you for sharing this article. It's a good read. :)

[Collier11]

HEH

[GottaHavePride]

Yeah, good read. And someone get Ted Turner working on that woolly mammoth thing. I'd go for a mammoth burger or two. ;)