Topics
This is the place to leave suggestions about science questions you want to discuss in class. Simply leave the idea as a comment below. (If you want to do it anonymously, post a comment on the instructor blog or email Andrew.)
We need reasonably focused questions. Broad topics, like 'Evolution' or 'Stem Cells' or 'Genetically Modified Organisms' won't work. Pose a question scientists have (or could) set about answering. The questions might be anything from those that scientists consider solved (How old is the Earth?) right through to questions considered unanswered (How did life arise?). Also fair game are course-relevant questions non-scientists argue about, even if scientists do not (Is there anything in astrology?).
My plan is to chose questions that allow us to explore the course objectives. By way of examples, I currently have in mind questions like
But I am open to suggestions........
We need reasonably focused questions. Broad topics, like 'Evolution' or 'Stem Cells' or 'Genetically Modified Organisms' won't work. Pose a question scientists have (or could) set about answering. The questions might be anything from those that scientists consider solved (How old is the Earth?) right through to questions considered unanswered (How did life arise?). Also fair game are course-relevant questions non-scientists argue about, even if scientists do not (Is there anything in astrology?).
My plan is to chose questions that allow us to explore the course objectives. By way of examples, I currently have in mind questions like
- Does HIV
cause aids?
- Are
vaccines dangerous?
- Is passive
smoking dangerous?
- How many
deer to kill in deer season?
- Can your
genome tell us how long you have to live?
- Why do peacocks (or birds of paradise) have such a ridiculous tails?
- Is the Earth warming?
But I am open to suggestions........
Is the fast food industry permanently affecting American evolution by making Americans "fatter"?
Suzanne - Funny I was just wondering about precisely a question like that this morning. Specifically, about whether high fructose corn syrup would turn out to be the cigarette of the 21st century.
I would personally like to have a discussion about potentially harmful vaccinations.
I saw this story on 20/20 about a young woman named Desiree Jennings who claimed to suffer from side effects of the seasonal flu shot. Of course, many people believe that it's all in her head but it was still enough to get me to question the safety of the whole vaccine process.
Apparently, I'm not the only one who is questioning, either. The following is a website covering the controversy and discussing possible theories about vaccinations:
http://www.vaccinationeducation.com/
And here's a link to an article with a video of Desiree Jennings if you wanted to see what I was talking about:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/desiree-jennings-fake-muscle-disorder/story?id=11228285
I really hope we cover this topic in class.
One idea from the blog: Why do certain parts of the country get hit with certain natural disasters and others don't?
Another idea from the blog: Cognitive enhancement drugs. Several people asked about them. For some background, see this Time article. Nice blend of science, ethics and safety issues - and a heap of uncertainty.
I just read the article you posted Andrew. I've heard from numerous people here at PSU that ritalin is a very in demand drug, especially during finals week. It's amazing to me to think that so many people that I pass on an everyday basis are using ritalin or selling it. It makes me question the morality of some of my fellow PSU students. I also wonder..if these students get caught, what is their punishment?
Here are some topics I am interested in:
What challenges are there to overcome in order to land on mars?
Is there truly potential to live forever?
Is there truly a possibility of the "Grey Goo" occurring?
What are we doing to avoid the possibility of an asteroid colliding with earth?
How are we going to clean up radioactive materials?
How we are going to clean up space junk?
We could also pick up on the question in class Thursday - what sample size is necessary to draw a sound conclusion?
Clearly there are cases where n=1 is enough: we can reject the hypothesis that the Dodo extinct with just one live animal.
Equally clearly, we would not draw conclusions on climate change based only on the last hot summer in Center County.
How many smokers with lung cancer do we need to be persuaded that smoking is dangerous?
I think learning about why peacocks (or birds of paradise) have such a ridiculous tails would be the most interesting for me
Just to reiterate my question: What alternatives to chemical antibiotics exist, and how affective are these other options?
What is the basic idea behind String Theory? It is considered a valid theory in physics and is there anyway to do particle experiments to test for it?
Are wormholes possible?
Is time travel/traveling faster than the speed of light possible in any sort of way?
Someone blogged about attractiveness and how do we differentiate who we find attractive or not? I would be very curious to see the data behind this.
I'd like to talk about space travel and the possibility of traveling/inhabiting another planet, either with faster and light travel or the use of "generation" ships (If they're very far away, ie. not in our solar system)
Is it possible for a zombie virus to exist?
I am interested more about leeches. I would like to know how we decided they would be a good option in medicine? When we stopped using them for bleeding? How do we use them to clean wounds today? Where do we get the leeches(do we get from a stream, home grown. Are there special kinds of leeches? Can I do this on my own or is it only for a Dr. to do? How do you get a leech off? How do leeches actuall suck blood or eat things?
I would never want this done to me.
The science of addiction. Not just drug addiction, but things like gambling, working out, tanning, video games, tv, etc. I guess it would kinda also be necessary to define what qualifies as an addiction and what doesn't. I don't really know if all of the above would or not, and I think it would be really interesting if there is enough science about it. (chemicals in our brain, etc)
I want to know what actually is the most important piece of science to learn at a young age that will help people as they grow up become more accepting of science and more skeptical of other (possibly religious, or possibly political etc) reasoning processes. With science remaining to be a controversial subject in areas such as evolution, global warming, cloning, what keeps the everyday person in touch? And other than random polling, can accurate experiments be done to show such a general trend?
I think you should teach what a scientific theory is because from what I've noticed, most high school graduates have no idea whatsoever.
I'm still interested in that one question from the syllabus, "Why are scientists geeks?". And maybe by extension, why are women still underrepresented in scientific fields?