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Climate Confusion Among U.S. Teachers

Eric Plutzer, Mark McCaffrey, A. Lee Hannah, Joshua Rose Science
Whereas, most U.S. science teachers include climate science in their courses, their insufficient grasp of the science may hinder effective teaching. Mirroring some actors in the societal debate over climate change, many teachers repeat scientifically unsupported claims in class.

Friday Nite Videos -- February 12, 2016

Portside
New Hampshire Primary | Samantha Bee's Full Frontal. It's Not Over -- Bernie Sanders. Union Plumbers Volunteer in Flint. Trinity Church Examines the Legacy of Slavery. Gravitational Waves From a Dance of Black Holes.

Gravitational Waves: The Inside Story

Martin Hendry The Conversation
More than a billion years ago and a billion light years away, two black holes merged. This was a truly cataclysmic event a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. In Star Wars Darth Vader tells us not to “underestimate the power of the dark side.” This amazing discovery shows how right he was.

Gravitational Waves From a Dance of Black Holes

Two black holes, about 29 times and 36 times the mass of our sun, collide in this computer visualization of the event that provided the first direct evidence that black holes exist, can exist in a pair, and can collide and merge. Read more.

What Little Babies See That You No Longer Can

Susana Martinez-Conde Scientific American
Before developing perceptual constancy, three- to four-month-old babies have a striking ability to see image differences that are invisible to adults. They lose this superior skill around the age of five months

Time’s (Almost) Reversible Arrow

Frank Wilczek Quanta Magazine
The laws of physics work both forward and backward in time. So why does time seem to move in only one direction? One potential answer may also reveal the secrets of the universe’s missing mass.

Richard Levins: The People's Scientist

Pankaj Mehta Jacobin
Levins showed it is possible to be a serious scientist and a radical — a revelation for a scientifically and mathematically inclined young adult growing up at the “end of history.” He leaves an extraordinary scientific legacy matched by his legacy as a radical and activist.

Dear Mr. President: Please Stop With These Science "Moonshots"

Jonathan M. Gitlin Ars Technica
Science doesn't need another moonshot, and it really doesn't need another vaguely thought-out initiative dropped on it during a State of the Union address. What it needs is much more important—and probably much more difficult politically, because those needs are much less flashy. What science needs is stable, sustainable budget growth. Take the NIH budget and promise to grow it at a percent or two above inflation for a number of years. The number 10 would be good.
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