SCIENCE, CULTURED
At least as important as public opinion in the raw is the behavior of political “elites”–elected representatives, TV commentators, think tank mavens, and so on. And left and right elites behave very differently with respect to the precautionary principle and to science.
SCIENCE AND SOCIETY
A new survey by the Barna Group suggests the that perception that many churches are “anti-science” is driving young people in the millennial generation to eschew formal religion altogether.
PSYCHOLOGY
Recent studies about “identity protective cognition” could have important consequences for public policy. How do we preserve neutral courts or trust in the findings of the scientific community if judges and scientists can’t be trusted to remain neutral?
SOCIAL PSYCH & CLIMATE COMMUNICATION
A recent study found that climate scientists scores on certain aspects of the Myers-Briggs test differ from those of the general public. Chris Mooney looks at what that might mean for climate science communication.
We are proud to announce the of relaunch Chris Mooney’s “The Intersection” blog here at Science Progress. “The Intersection” has for nearly a decade been the place where “science collides with life, slams into culture, crashes with politics, and gets totaled.” We’re thrilled to welcome Chris and his hard hitting analysis back into the fold.
SCIENCE EDUCATION
Attacks on climate science in schools aren’t just interferences with teaching, they prepping young minds to make the kinds of emotionally driven argumentative responses that make our public discourse at the national level so fruitless.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
A single, small study stirred a mass anti-vaccine movement that threatens public health. Now that the paper has been declared totally invalid, advocates and the medical establishment need to talk.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
With the latest climate scandal—this time, involving dubious claims made about the likely fate of the Himalayan glaciers—the case grows ever more urgent for serious rethinking of science communication practices.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
The latest figures on the relationship between science and the U.S. public can be used to support either a positive or a negative perspective.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
What a highly influential recent paper on mountaintop removal mining shows about how scientists can change policy by getting their message (and timing!) right.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
Two conservative senators have teamed up in a fleece war on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, targeting 100 of its projects, many of them scientific in nature, as examples of wasteful spending.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
It was a banner year for scientific progress and progressive science policy. But sadly, it was also the year for the rebirth of what is now a wide-ranging war on science.
BLOGGING COPENHAGEN
An analysis of the warming in store, and the warming we can hope to prevent, shows that proposed policies will have to stretch to put us in a climate “safe zone”— especially for developing nations.
By Chris Mooney Back in 2006, the year of the release of An Inconvenient Truth, it felt as though serious and irreversible progress had finally been made on the climate issue. The feeling continued in 2007, when Al Gore won [...]
Chris Mooney contributes this post. And now, the climate change deniers will claim a scalp. Yesterday, climate researcher Phil Jones, director of the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia in the UK—which is responsible for one [...]
SCIENCE, CULTURED
Redressing the imbalance between research and outreach, between the creation of knowledge and its sharing.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
U.S. science education occurs in the context of an American culture that has very deep problems with science—problems that are manifested in many spheres other than the educational system, but are certainly reflected there, too.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
How to understand how America has changed since the days of the Space Race.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
Conservatives have found another ludicrous charge to hurl against the president’s science adviser.
SCIENCE, CULTURED
Human embryonic stem cell research has been embroiled in political controversy for much of its short existence. Now, at last, we have a policy with ethical and scientific authority.
Science Progress and American Progress's Doing What Works project teamed up to produce a set of policy proposals that the Obama administration and Congress can adopt to reinvest in the building blocks of American science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Read the overview of the five reports.
Science Progress proceeds from the propositions that scientific inquiry is among the finest expressions of human excellence, that it is a crucial source of human flourishing, a critical engine of economic growth, and must be dedicated to the common good. Scientific inquiry entails global responsibilities. It should lead to a more equitable, safer, and healthier future for all of humankind.