Chemophobia and the Flouridation Battles

Jack Blumgart gives an account in Slate of the latest round in the travails of fluoridation proponents in  Portland, Oregon.  One proponent is quoted as saying, "The opponents are very good at raising fear, using words like chemical and industry, and there is this basic fear of change."

Science Communication and Political Bias

The NYTimes Dot Earth Blog has an Andrew Rivken piece that links to a number of papers about the difficulty of breaking through cultural and political biases with scientific information.  Several studies indicate that we filter scientific fact through our cultural and political inclinations before we really try to understand and evaluate the scientific data.  Rivken's example is climate change, but the findings probably refer to other scientific issues with cultural and political implications.

My friend just showed me this article about genetically modified corn. The article talks about regulations in Hungary banning all GMO corn,  we might want to discuss if there is really a significant difference in GMO and organic

Citizen Science vs. DIY Science in the public's view