Stamp out anti-science...

An OpEd from New Scientist:

Stamp out anti-science in US politics

It is time to reject political movements that turn their backs on science, says Nobel prizewinner and Royal Society president Paul Nurse

IF YOU respect science you will probably be disturbed by the following opinions.

On evolution: intelligent design is "a legitimate scientific theory that should be taught in science class". And don't believe in "a theory that human beings - thinking, loving beings - originated from fish that sprouted legs and crawled out of the sea or from monkeys who eventually swung down from the trees."

On the use of embryonic stem cell research to cure diseases: it should be shut down because it involves "the wholesale destruction of human life".

On climate change: variations are "natural, cyclical environmental trends". That "we can't say with assurance that human activities cause weather changes" and that climate problems in Texas are best solved through "days of prayer for rain".

You would probably be even more disturbed to be told that these are the opinions expressed by potential Republican candidates for the US presidential nomination (see "Science rears its head in Republican debates"). It's alarming that a country which leads the world in science - the home of Benjamin Franklin, Richard Feynman and Jim Watson - might be turning its back on science. How can this be happening? What can be done?

Read the rest at New Scientist