Science and Society - Is Science truth? Why does it take time for science findings to be accepted by society?

Speaker: Dr. Dick Wilson, Retired Professor of Biology, Rockhurst University

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Location: Coach’s Bar and Grill, 14893 Metcalf, in private room

RSVP on the KCFS Facebook page.

You can receive timely updates from Kansas Citizens for Science through our RSS feed. Subscribing to our feed will allow you to be notified when new posts are added to on the KCFS News and Resources page.

 Click here to subscribe in a reader

 Click here to subscribe by email

Or simply use the feed URL below:

http://www.kcfs.org/kcfsnews/wp-rss.php

By subscribing to our RSS feed, you will be automatically notified when additional posts appear on the KCFS News and Resources page.

What is an RSS feed?

For more information about RSS, see this helpful explanation.

Collision with rogue planet Nibiru. The end of the 13th Baktun of the Mayan calendar. The alignment of the equators of Earth, Sun, and the Milky Way Galaxy. Earth passing through the Galactic Plane. Earth spinning wildly out of control. Disastrous geomagnetic reversal. Solar storms. Global consciousness shift, a reincarnated Quetzalcoatl, and Timewave Zero.

Well, it certainly sounds disastrous, don’t you think?

Join us next Tuesday, January 19th, at Cafe Semolino’s (map) in Hays for our first Science Cafe of 2010. Dr. Paul Adams, FHSU’s Anschutz Professor of Education and Professor of Physics, will give us the background behind these scary-sounding events. More importantly, he will help us understand why each and every one of us should be concerned about the effects of 2012 prophecies:

NASA’s Ask an Astrobiologist Web site, for example, has received thousands of questions regarding the 2012 doomsday predictions—some of them disturbing, according to David Morrison, senior scientist with the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

“A lot of [the submitters] are people who are genuinely frightened,” Morrison said.

“I’ve had two teenagers who were considering killing themselves, because they didn’t want to be around when the world ends,” he said. “Two women in the last two weeks said they were contemplating killing their children and themselves so they wouldn’t have to suffer through the end of the world.“

Hays’ Science Cafe is sponsored by the FHSU Science & Mathematics Education Institute, Kansas Citizens for Science, and Cafe Semolino’s.

KCFS is a not-for-profit educational organization that depends on membership dues for its sustenance. So join or renew your membership now, and get a nice tax deduction for the year. For membership information, go here.

Why is it important to join now?

In the 2010 elections, five of the 10 Kansas Board of Education seats will be at stake. Join the KCFS Facebook page (Go to http://tr.im/J2FP),and we’ll let you know how the candidates stack up on science topics, so you can be an informed voter. We’ll also pass along the latest science news and notices of KCFS events throughout the year.

Thank you for your support for world-class science standards in Kansas public schools! And Happy New Year!

“Chasing Lizards in Paradise: Biodiversity and Conservation?”

Presented by: Kansas Citizens for Science, www.kcfs.org

Speaker: Dr. Bob Powell, Professor of Biology, Avila University

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Location: Coach’s Bar and Grill, 14893 Metcalf Avenue, in private room

Time: 7:00 PM

Come and hear about Dr. Powell’s pursuit of amphibians and reptiles, world-wide threats to these and other organisms, and whether we should care about biodiversity.

What is a Science Café? Science cafés feature a short talk to focus discussion followed by a conversational setting for the rest of the evening.

Goal for the Johnson County Science Café: To serve as casual setting for the exploration of scientific understanding by the public through conversation. Though some comments may be technical, the goal of the café is to present science in an understandable way to the average person.

Future meetings: Tuesday, February 9, Dr. Dick Wilson, Retired Professor of Biology, Rockhurst University, Science and Society—Is Science truth? Why does it take time for science findings to be accepted by society? Same location and time.

Questions: Contact Harry McDonald, biologycctrack@hotmail.com, 913-897-9630

Powell Observatory Event

The Public is invited to a free Year of Science 2009 event sponsored by Kansas Citizens for Science and The Astronomical Society of Kansas City on Friday, July 3, 2009, 8:30 p.m. The event will feature:

• Viewing the night sky using the extraordinary Powell Observatory 30” Newtonian telescope, and
• A short presentation, “400 Years After Galileo,” by Jackie Marsh, KCFS Board.

Please invite friends and family.

Powell Observatory is located at 10297 W 263rd St, Louisburg, KS 66053

Questions may be directed to Harry McDonald, 816-863-7580, biologycctrack@hotmail.com.

Directions to Powell Observatory near Louisburg, Kansas:

From Kansas City: Take US 69 south to the Louisburg exit.  After exiting, turn left (East) and travel approximately ½ mile to N. Broadway (just past the Casey’s store).  Turn left (North).  Travel one mile to 271st St.  Turn left (West) passing under US 69.  Shortly after US 69, turn right (North) on Jingo Road and drive one mile to 263rd St.  Turn left (West) on 263rd St.  Powell Observatory is on 263rd.

From the South:  Take US 69 north to the Louisburg exit.  After exiting, turn right (East) and follow the instructions as from Kansas City.

NEWS RELEASE
10/26/08 - For Immediate Release

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Harry McDonald • 913-897-9630 or 816-863-7580
E-mail: biologycctrack@hotmail.com

Kansas State Board of Education Candidates Answer Questions on Science

Ten of the 11 statewide candidates respond to KCFS questionnaire

Over the past 10 years, science education issues have been points of contention among members of the Kansas State Board of Education. These issues have included the adoption of public school science standards, the Board members’ openness to recommendations of the science community in making policy, and sex education.

In the upcoming Board of Education election, all but one candidate will be new to the Board.  Kathy Martin, of Clay Center, is seeking a second term.

Since most candidates’ stands on science education issues will be unfamiliar to voters, Kansas Citizens For Science has prepared and submitted questionnaires dealing with these issues to all 11 candidates. Nine candidates have provided responses.

Questionnaires received
District 2 – Sue Storm, Steve Roberts, Mary Ca Ralstin
District 4 - Carolyn Campbell (Robert Meissner did not respond)
District 6 – Christopher Renner, Kathy Martin
District 8 – Walt Chappell, Dennis Hedke
District 10 – David Dennis, Paul Casanova

To access the full documents, and any questionnaires received later, go to KCFS News at http://www.kcfs.org/kcfsnews .

KCFS is a not-for-profit educational organization that promotes a better understanding of what science is and does by:
•    Advocating for science education
•    Educating the public about the nature and value of science
•    Serving as an information resource

See below for the individual responses.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Fact of Evolution: Implications for Science Education
Download file

Abstract
Creationists who object to evolution in the science curriculum of public schools often cite Jonathan Well’s book Icons of Evolution in their support (Wells 2000). In the third chapter of his book, Wells claims that neither paleontological nor molecular evidence supports the thesis that the history of life is an evolutionary process of descent from preexisting ancestors. We argue that Wells inappropriately relies upon ambiguities inherent in the term ‘Darwinian’ and the phrase ‘Darwin’s theory’. Furthermore, he does not accurately distinguish between the overwhelming evidence that supports the thesis of common descent and controversies that pertain to causal mechanisms such as natural selection.

Patterned off the very successful RNA symposium the CUO staged with biology last year under the leadership of Katsura Asano, the CUO and philosophy department will host “Naturalism in Science: Bias or Necessity” from Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12.

This symposium will feature seven prominent philosophers

of science– Gilbert Harman (Princeton), Michael Bishop (Florida State), Paul Churchland (UC-San Diego),

Terrence Horgan (Arizona), Gillian Barker (Bucknell), Michael Dickson (South Carolina),

Barbara Forrest (SE Louisiana)– and poet Patiann Rogers (Pacific).

Free registration for all talks will be provided to KSU faculty and students; and the event will be advertised nationally

with an expectation that we will have significant participation from regional universities. The speakers have pledged to make their talks accessible, and the CUO has issued a broad invitation to the secondary school science teaching community in Kansas, with resources set aside for travel support.

We will also advertise the event to the greater local community. Please let your colleagues, friends, and neighbors know about this event. More information can be found at our web site here: http://www.phys.ksu.edu/origins/Philosymp.htm .