Download or read book Bringing Skepticism to Crop Science written by Thomas Sinclair and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-01-01 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global food production and climate change among other concerns are societal issues that require major research input from crop science. While suggestions are abundant on how crop science can help to resolve these issues, many of the suggestions come from people who are not actually familiar with the challenges and requirements to modify crop plants grown under field conditions to achieve the necessary improvements. Efforts to alter a gene or even several genes have very rarely proven successful in having impact on crop production under realistic field conditions. This lack of success has not been addressed head on. This book serves as a reminder to crop scientists and others that open, clear-minded assessments of the entirety of evidence concerning a hypothesis is required before making claims of possible increases in crop performance. This attitude of skepticism is not a negative attitude but rather an employment of the cornerstone of scientific investigation based on formation and evaluation of hypotheses. Skeptical analyses are to be presented in the book on some of the common suggestions for improving crop plants. The six specific topics to be addressed are photosynthesis, seed number, nitrogen use efficiency, water use efficiency, crop water loss, and unconfirmed field observations. Each of the topics in this book, will first be reviewed to present the origins of the popular assumptions about how specific plant modification will result in improved crop performance. The review of the background information will be followed by an examination of the evidence, logic, and predicted outcomes for the assumed benefits of the modifications. Finally, each chapter will offer novel, alternate approaches to plant modification that have documented support for positively impacting crop performance. The book will not be written in specialized, detail language but offer access for those with a wide range of interests in options for increasing crop production in the future. The goal of the book is to provide information that is useful to those with interests ranging from climatologist to food-oriented sociologists. Of course, the topics covered will be of direct interest to those studying plant sciences, particularly crop scientists. The hope is to challenge a reader to re-examine some of her/his assumptions about crop improvement and approach the topic with a renewed practice of skepticism in formulating and evaluating hypotheses.
Download or read book Tomorrow s Table written by Pamela C. Ronald and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-04-18 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production. Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.
Download or read book Bringing Communities Together written by Bev France and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-07-30 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over recent years connective partnerships between educational communities and sectors outside of education have become increasingly popular. One significant reason behind this popularity has the expansion of information and communication technologies which have increased access and provided mechanisms for ongoing connections to be made between differing worlds. But... successful connections that cross cultural boundaries are not easy to establish and even harder to maintain in ways that are mutually beneficial. This book focuses on science and technology connective ventures and the complexity inherent in bringing such worlds together. . The authors have been ‘in the business’ of developing such connections and this book brings them together to describe how and why making connections can support the science/technology education sector, the technology/science communities, and the wider sociocultural life we all inhabit. A range of illustrative examples of connections-in-action provide an empirical basis from which to explore and gain insight into the issues for and potential of such connective ventures, alongside a rich mix of critical commentary, arguments, cautions and challenges. Five key principles have been distilled from the collective experience and wisdom of the authors, serving to capture that which underpins effective and efficient connective initiatives. Each principle is accompanied by a set of questions that reflect the issues raised and successes illustrated throughout the book. It is hoped these principles and questions will serve to guide people interested in developing, funding and/or participating in future connective initiatives in the fields of science and technology.
Download or read book Skepticism and Humanism written by Paul Kurtz and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-05-31 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As we begin the third millennium there is cause for cautious optimism regarding the human prospect. Democratic revolutions and the doctrine of universal human rights have captured the imagination of large sectors of humanity, while major advances in science and technology continue to conquer disease and extend life, contributing to rising standards of living, affluence, and cultural freedom on a worldwide basis. Paradoxically, at the same time ancient authoritarian fundamentalist religions have grown in vitriolic intensity along with bizarre New Age, media-driven paranormal belief systems. Also surprising is the resurgence of primitive tribal and ethnic loyalties, unleashing wars of intolerance and bitterness. In Skepticism and Humanism, Paul Kurtz locates these threatening developments within a long-standing and largely unchallenged theological worldview. He proposes, as an alternative to religion, a new cultural paradigm rooted in scientific naturalism, rationalism, and a humanistic outlook. An estimated 60 percent of scientists are atheists or agnostics. However, the skeptical world view has been given little currency even in advanced societies, because of a cultural prohibition against the criticism of religion. At the same time, science has become increasingly narrow and specialized so that few people can draw on its broader intellectual and cultural implications. Skepticism and Humanism attempts to meet this need. It defends skepticism as a method for developing reliable knowledge by using scientific inquiry and reason to test all claims to truth. It also defends scientific naturalism-an evolutionary view of nature, life, and the human species. Kurtz sees the dominant religious doctrines as drawn from an agricultural/nomadic past, and emphasizes the need for a new outlook applicable to the postindustrial information age. At the same time, he rejects postmodernism for abandoning science and embracing a form of nihilism. There can be no doubt that as a new global civilization emerges, scientific naturalism, rationalism, and secular humanism have something significant to say about the meaning of life. Skepticism and Humanism shows how they can to foster democratic values and social prosperity. The book will be important for philosophers, scientists, and all those concerned with contemporary issues.
Download or read book Apocalypse Never written by Michael Shellenberger and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now a National Bestseller! Climate change is real but it’s not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem. Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world’s last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today’s Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed “billions of people are going to die,” contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that, as a lifelong environmental activist, leading energy expert, and father of a teenage daughter, he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction. Despite decades of news media attention, many remain ignorant of basic facts. Carbon emissions peaked and have been declining in most developed nations for over a decade. Deaths from extreme weather, even in poor nations, declined 80 percent over the last four decades. And the risk of Earth warming to very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely thanks to slowing population growth and abundant natural gas. Curiously, the people who are the most alarmist about the problems also tend to oppose the obvious solutions. What’s really behind the rise of apocalyptic environmentalism? There are powerful financial interests. There are desires for status and power. But most of all there is a desire among supposedly secular people for transcendence. This spiritual impulse can be natural and healthy. But in preaching fear without love, and guilt without redemption, the new religion is failing to satisfy our deepest psychological and existential needs.
Download or read book The Skeptical Inquirer written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Managing Cover Crops Profitably 3rd Ed written by Andy Clark and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2008-07 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.
Download or read book Genetically Engineered Crops written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-01-28 with total page 607 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genetically engineered (GE) crops were first introduced commercially in the 1990s. After two decades of production, some groups and individuals remain critical of the technology based on their concerns about possible adverse effects on human health, the environment, and ethical considerations. At the same time, others are concerned that the technology is not reaching its potential to improve human health and the environment because of stringent regulations and reduced public funding to develop products offering more benefits to society. While the debate about these and other questions related to the genetic engineering techniques of the first 20 years goes on, emerging genetic-engineering technologies are adding new complexities to the conversation. Genetically Engineered Crops builds on previous related Academies reports published between 1987 and 2010 by undertaking a retrospective examination of the purported positive and adverse effects of GE crops and to anticipate what emerging genetic-engineering technologies hold for the future. This report indicates where there are uncertainties about the economic, agronomic, health, safety, or other impacts of GE crops and food, and makes recommendations to fill gaps in safety assessments, increase regulatory clarity, and improve innovations in and access to GE technology.
Download or read book Tomorrow s Table written by Pamela C. Ronald and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Tomorrow's Table" argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. Readers see the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals--a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses--and they learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. The book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices, and for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. The first edition was published in hardcover in 2008 and in paperback in 2009. This second edition reflects the many and varied changes the fields of farming and genetic engineering have seen since 2009. It includes a new preface and three new chapters-one on politics and food-related protests such as the Marin county anti-vaccine movement and the subsequent outbreak of whooping cough, one on farming and food security, and one containing various recipes. Existing chapters on the tools of genetic engineering, organic vs. conventional foods, the tools of organic agriculture, and food labeling and legislature have all been updated.
Download or read book Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030 written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-04-21 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For nearly a century, scientific advances have fueled progress in U.S. agriculture to enable American producers to deliver safe and abundant food domestically and provide a trade surplus in bulk and high-value agricultural commodities and foods. Today, the U.S. food and agricultural enterprise faces formidable challenges that will test its long-term sustainability, competitiveness, and resilience. On its current path, future productivity in the U.S. agricultural system is likely to come with trade-offs. The success of agriculture is tied to natural systems, and these systems are showing signs of stress, even more so with the change in climate. More than a third of the food produced is unconsumed, an unacceptable loss of food and nutrients at a time of heightened global food demand. Increased food animal production to meet greater demand will generate more greenhouse gas emissions and excess animal waste. The U.S. food supply is generally secure, but is not immune to the costly and deadly shocks of continuing outbreaks of food-borne illness or to the constant threat of pests and pathogens to crops, livestock, and poultry. U.S. farmers and producers are at the front lines and will need more tools to manage the pressures they face. Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030 identifies innovative, emerging scientific advances for making the U.S. food and agricultural system more efficient, resilient, and sustainable. This report explores the availability of relatively new scientific developments across all disciplines that could accelerate progress toward these goals. It identifies the most promising scientific breakthroughs that could have the greatest positive impact on food and agriculture, and that are possible to achieve in the next decade (by 2030).
Download or read book CIO written by and published by . This book was released on 1999-08-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-07-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.
Download or read book Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education in the Field written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interest is growing in sustainable agriculture, which involves the use of productive and profitable farming practices that take advantage of natural biological processes to conserve resources, reduce inputs, protect the environment, and enhance public health. Continuing research is helping to demonstrate the ways that many factorsâ€"economics, biology, policy, and traditionâ€"interact in sustainable agriculture systems. This book contains the proceedings of a workshop on the findings of a broad range of research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The areas of study, such as integrated pest management, alternative cropping and tillage systems, and comparisons with more conventional approaches, are essential to developing and adopting profitable and sustainable farming systems.
Download or read book The Energies of Crop Circles written by Lucy Pringle and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A scientific investigation of the healing and energetic effects of crop circles • Shares the results of decades of research into crop circles, including detailed scientific explanations and responses from an 800-person questionnaire study • Explores the connections between crop circle formations, cosmic energies, and consciousness • Features stunning, full-color aerial photographs of crop circles from Lucy Pringle’s personal collection In 1990 while studying the energetics of a crop circle, Lucy Pringle experienced a miraculous healing of a severe shoulder injury. Inspired, she expanded her research to investigate the physical, psychological, and energetic effects of these mysterious formations on people as well as on animals. In this book, alongside her stunning full-color aerial photographs of crop circles, Pringle shares the results of her research, including anecdotes from an 800-person questionnaire study, in combination with detailed scientific explanations by aerospace engineer and fellow crop circle researcher James Lyons. The authors discuss case histories of healing, from temporary respite from arthritis, Reynaud’s, and Parkinson’s, to the permanent cure of muscle strains and chronic pain, to emotional healing and feelings of peace and happiness. They explore the relationship of crop circle formations and consciousness, highlighting “intention” as a key factor in crop circle manifestation. Pringle describes the wide range of physiological effects--both positive and negative--caused by the frequencies in crop circles and shows how the negative symptoms may possibly be caused by heavy use of pesticides. Drawing on the science behind the formation of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, the authors explain how the same electromagnetic waves that produce these lights in the sky also interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and ley lines to produce geometric-energetic patterns in fields--crop circles--akin to the cymatic patterns of sand on a vibrating drum surface. They reveal dowsing as a way to identify underlying sacred geometry within a field and explain how healing arises as the result of communication with the self-organizing energy field of a crop circle. With the first recorded appearance of a crop circle formation more than 4,000 years ago, crop circles are an ancient part of Earth’s and humanity’s intertwined history that we are only beginning to understand.
Download or read book The Craft of Science Writing written by Siri Carpenter and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2024-11-05 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deeply sourced, inclusive guide to all aspects of science writing with contributions from some of the most skilled and award-winning authors working today. Science writing has never been so critical to our world, and the demands on writers have never been greater. On any given day, a writer might need to explain the details of AI, analyze developments in climate change research, or serve as a watchdog helping to ensure the integrity of the scientific enterprise. At the same time, writers must spin tales that hook and keep readers, despite the endless other demands on their attention. How does one do it? The Craft of Science Writing is the authoritative guide. With pieces curated from the archives of science writers’ go-to online resource, The Open Notebook, this book explores strategies for finding and shaping story ideas, pitching editors, and building a specialty in science writing. It delves into fundamental skills that every science writer must learn, including planning their reporting; identifying, interviewing, and quoting sources; organizing interview notes; and crafting stories that engage and inform audiences. This expanded edition includes new introductory material and nine new essays focusing on such topics as how to establish a science beat, how to find and use quotes, how to critically evaluate scientific claims, how to use social media for reporting, and how to do data-driven reporting. In addition, there are essays on inclusivity in science writing, offering strategies for eradicating ableist language from stories, working with sensitivity readers, and breaking into English-language media for speakers of other languages. Through interviews with leading journalists offering behind-the-scenes inspiration as well as in-depth essays on the craft offering practical advice, readers will learn how the best science stories get made, from conception to completion. Contributors: Humberto Basilio, Siri Carpenter, Jeanne Erdmann, Dan Ferber, Tina Casagrand Foss, Geoffrey Giller, Laura Helmuth, Jane C. Hu, Alla Katsnelson, Roxanne Khamsi, Betsy Ladyzhets, Jyoti Madhusoodanan, Amanda Mascarelli, Robin Meadows, Kate Morgan, Tiên Nguyễn, Michelle Nijhuis, Aneri Pattani, Rodrigo Pérez Ortega, Mallory Pickett, Kendall Powell, Tasneem Raja, Sandeep Ravindran, Marion Renault, Julia Rosen, Megha Satyanarayana, Christina Selby, Knvul Sheikh, Abdullahi Tsanni, Alexandra Witze, Katherine J. Wu, Wudan Yan, Ed Yong, Rachel Zamzow, Sarah Zhang, and Carl Zimmer
Download or read book The Demon Haunted World written by Carl Sagan and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2011-07-06 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A prescient warning of a future we now inhabit, where fake news stories and Internet conspiracy theories play to a disaffected American populace “A glorious book . . . A spirited defense of science . . . From the first page to the last, this book is a manifesto for clear thought.”—Los Angeles Times How can we make intelligent decisions about our increasingly technology-driven lives if we don’t understand the difference between the myths of pseudoscience and the testable hypotheses of science? Pulitzer Prize-winning author and distinguished astronomer Carl Sagan argues that scientific thinking is critical not only to the pursuit of truth but to the very well-being of our democratic institutions. Casting a wide net through history and culture, Sagan examines and authoritatively debunks such celebrated fallacies of the past as witchcraft, faith healing, demons, and UFOs. And yet, disturbingly, in today's so-called information age, pseudoscience is burgeoning with stories of alien abduction, channeling past lives, and communal hallucinations commanding growing attention and respect. As Sagan demonstrates with lucid eloquence, the siren song of unreason is not just a cultural wrong turn but a dangerous plunge into darkness that threatens our most basic freedoms. Praise for The Demon-Haunted World “Powerful . . . A stirring defense of informed rationality. . . Rich in surprising information and beautiful writing.”—The Washington Post Book World “Compelling.”—USA Today “A clear vision of what good science means and why it makes a difference. . . . A testimonial to the power of science and a warning of the dangers of unrestrained credulity.”—The Sciences “Passionate.”—San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle
Download or read book Green Economy Implementation in the Agriculture Sector written by Constansia Musvoto and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-01-01 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, focusing on the agriculture sector, provides useful analysis of the green economy implementation context and a practical framework for implementing vegetable crop production green economy projects. The book addresses a distinct gap, as there are currently no guidelines available for planning and implementing green economy projects in the agriculture sector. The book combines information from desktop reviews and field research on vegetable production in a green economy context in South Africa in order to bridge the gap between the theoretical green economy concept and practical implementation issues that would be encountered at the project level. It includes a step-by-step process for translating abstract green economy principles into tangible projects on the ground, so that the potential benefits of a green economy are realizable.
