Bad science ....

[Paul mabbott]

We do get such a load of twaddle written on to this and other fora that one wonders where it comes from. Were people so badly educated? Are so many people in the pay of Exxon and other polluters?
I suspect that the ignorance demonstrated is because people read something in their daily paper and take it as the truth. Often what is published in newspapers combines poorly understood science with seriously bad journalism. A very good example in today's Daily Mail: Turkey Twizzlers are GOOD for you and polar bears AREN'T dying out! | Mail Online

Haven't enough space or time to go into all the lies here but take a few:

1 "Meanwhile, data from between 1880 and 2000 shows a close correlation between increased solar activity and higher average temperatures on Earth. So couldn't it be that the Sun is responsible for heating us up after all?" Patently the sun warms us up (no sun, no heat); probably solar activity causes changes in Earth temperature; however this does not mean that other phenomena don't also have an effect on climate. No mention of the 'greenhouse effect' at all.

2 "But so confident are property owners in the Maldives that the sea is receding, they are building a flurry of lavish seafront hotels."
Bizarre - who's advice would you prefer: the majority of the world's scientists or a group of property developers and estate agents?

3 "But what is often ignored is that in the Earth's past, carbon dioxide levels have often been as much as ten times higher than they are today."
I don't know any scientist who would ignore this. The high CO2 levels in the Devonian era coincided with the highest temperatures on the formed Earth: when most of the land surface was desert - it's where our sandstones come from. This one is a bit of an own goal.

4 "A widespread belief has emerged that organic foods are better for you than others because they do not contain 'chemicals' used in large- scale conventional farming. This dogma is wrong. All plant nutriment comes from the air, in the form of CO2, and from water-soluble chemicals in the soil. The composition of these chemicals is the same, whether they come from a plastic bag or from 'natural' manure or compost."
Ignores the toxins poured onto food plants and animals and the pollution caused by industrial farming.

I could go on and on ..... The original authors have provided a few half truths but not published alternatives; the newspaper has gone even further and said that the book proves the opposite of what scientists say ... Gets my prize for bad science but I'm sure there is more out there!

[eeyore]

Quite

for instance headline example

TURKEY TWIZZLERS ARE FINE
The much-disparaged Turkey Twizzler, bugbear of TV chef Jamie Oliver, is made of recovered turkey meat and provides the same amino acids as normal turkey breast.
Corned beef, now an unfashionable meat product, is also no less nutritious than any other beef, although, like Turkey Twizzlers, it is also a reclaimed meat product.

well duh of course they contain the same amino acids as other turkey as they are from a turkey - but it kind of overlooks the issue relating to how the meat is recovered (scraped of the bones and shredded internal organs) - and they dont contain the same vitamins and other nutrients as for example a breast fillet.

also corned beef is not MRM - it is simply minced beef that as been preserved with salt then canned.

GLOBAL WARMING MIGHT EVEN BE GOOD FOR US
A warmer climate and an increase in CO2 will be a boon for farming and agriculture in general. One can even envisage returning to the warmer landscape of Roman times, when vineyards were common in England.
With less severe winters, it will also be possible to grow many crops that, because they are susceptible to the occasional frost, cannot be grown at present.

well make up your minds earlier they were saying the global warming is caused by the sun - now they are saying that it is caused by increased CO2.

the answer to why they are writing such oooo probably lies in the description of their "expertise"

Stanley Feldman, a professor of anaesthetics at London University, and Vincent Marks, a former professor of clinical biochemistry and dean of medicine at the University of Surrey.

neither has any qualification in 99% of the topics on which they are pontificating - i think i'd prefer to read jeremy clarkson who while no more knowledgeable or acurate is at least occasionally amusing.

[Meta menardi]

Please, don't suggest that journalists might twist the odd fact. I find this so hard to believe.

[RobSutton]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

....

I suspect that the ignorance demonstrated is because people read something in their daily paper and take it as the truth. Often what is published in newspapers combines poorly understood science with seriously bad journalism.

The furore around the MMR vaccine was a classic example of poor science and appallingly bad and irresponsible journalism that cost some children their lives as levels of vaccination fell.

[Hobjob]

Couldn't agree more Paul.

Incidentally the MMR fiasco is by no means over; there are still
deaths waiting to occur ...............

I have a feeling that schools are so exam and tick box orientated
that they do not have the time (?skill) to encourage enquiring minds.
Only if one does a science degree do the priciples of the scientific
method really get taught, and no doubt badly in some Unis.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

Please, don't suggest that journalists might twist the odd fact. I find this so hard to believe.

Allegedly .....

There is also the occasional bit of total incompetence - spot the minor mistake:
Killer plague of ladybirds | The Sun |News

That's just to show that I don't hold a grudge against the Daily Mail ....
oh well, if you insist ....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...tive-bugs.html

[Meta menardi]

Part of the problem comes from the strange attitude of many presenters on the media.

"Tell us a little more about your discovery, but keep it simple,please"

"Well blood circulation..."

"Please, try to cut down on the jargon"

But they love elections and speculation. Science? I would think the BBC website would blank this out as rude. Maths is seen to be boring, stupid and only for those who forget to put trousers on in the morning.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Allegedly .....

There is also the occasional bit of total incompetence - spot the minor mistake:
Killer plague of ladybirds | The Sun |News

That's just to show that I don't hold a grudge against the Daily Mail ....
oh well, if you insist ....
How deadly ladybirds are winning the war on native bugs | Mail Online

It's a bit like when the news reported an underground station was shut down because of a swarm of wasps, which were actually Marmalade Hoverflies. D'0h!

Cheers,

Adam

[tcvarlh]

Please folks, spare a thought in pity for journalists, it is a lousy job, you have to interview people who use big and confusing words, take it down onto paper or memory recorder, drive away after saying 'Fank u' nicely to the person you have had droning in your ear for the last hour or so, drive all the way back to the office wondering why the bloke didn’t look like a footballer with all that white hair and his specs would surely get in the way when he was headin’ the ball where you hand your notes or recorder to that 'fit' bird that types fings for you, get out of the office earlier than the printers, 'cos they hog all the good spots in the boozer and you can't get to the bar proper like, have a couple and get transported to the front door about midnight, with a curry and fall asleep on the couch, come morning you wait 'til the paper-person brings your words of wisdom translated from the bumpf handed to you by that geezer yesterday and then you notice that ‘dozy bint’ in the pool has managed to spell your name wrong.
Probably not much like that in reality but it would explain quite a lot.
H

[Cellarman]

Paul

Just because it don't agree with what you believe, don't make it rubbish!