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Politics Science

No Child Left Behind: Unintended consequences

How depressing. Right there on the front page of the New York Times this morning: SACRAMENTO — Thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Science

Applying science to green tea

It occurs to me that I haven’t done much straight science blogging lately. Yes, debunking pseudoscience and quackery is fun, useful, and has the potential to educate people about how science is misused, but this is ScienceBlogs. Since arriving here four weeks ago, I haven’t fulfilled my quota of science blogging, and it’s time to […]

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Science

A “Well, duh!” study

Occasionally, while perusing EurekAlert!, I come across studies that I like to call “Well, duh!” studies because they seem to come to conclusions that are mind-numbingly obvious. For example, this one: If women want the best possible service at a clothing store, they had better be looking fashionable and well-groomed before they hit the mall. […]

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Evolution Intelligent design/creationism Pseudoscience Science

The “Darwin Is Dead” carnival

I love blog carnivals. In fact, I love ’em so much that I hosted four of them took one over when its creator decided to retire from blogging. But here’s one that PZ, RPM, Afarensis, and all of the other ScienceBloggers inclined to defend evolution will want to wander over to see just how inane […]

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Clinical trials Medicine Science

Impressive science failing to impress patients

One of the greatest challenges in medicine can sometimes be to convince a patient that the results of scientific and medical research apply to them, or, at the very least, to explain how such results apply. A couple of days ago, in an article the New York Times, Dr. Abigail Zuker, proposed one reason why […]