Podcast: Download
By Sandra L Hubscher
Article ID: 1347
Editor’s note: The author submitted this article with the following private message. It’s important enough that, with the author’s permission, I’m posting it here:
Podcast: Download
By Nicholas Covington
Article ID: 1346
I have just finished reading what is now one of my favorite books. At the time of this writing, it was published precisely 150 years ago. Ever since, it’s been a brilliant, revolutionary, and even dangerous work. The book I read is “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection” by Charles Darwin. I cherish this book for many reasons: Because I am an outspoken defender of Darwin’s ideas, because of the careful reasoning and observation Darwin showed in the book, because of the joy in learning about how living things came to be, because of the fascinating and airtight case Darwin had for evolution (even in spite of his ignorance of genetics and the meager fossil record of the time), and because this book has so much relevance today, even though it was written a century and a half ago.
Podcast: Download
Editor’s note #1: This article contains spoilers about The Flight of Dragons movie.
Editor’s note #2: This article uses many audio clips from The Flight of Dragons. To fully appreciate this article, listen to the podcast or use the above audio player.
Podcast: Download
By Andy Kaiser
Article ID: 1344
Hi everyone, Andy Kaiser here.
The majority of people who visit Digital Bits Skeptic are – you’ll be shocked to know – mostly skeptics. Many of us here have related interests in critical thinking, in science, and in wondering about how the world works. This is just a guess, but it’s an educated one; these topics often go hand-in-hand.
Podcast: Download
By James Lochbaum
Article ID: 1343
For the United States, there is probably no other weapon as symbolic of today’s conflicts as the Improvised Explosive Device, or IED. Up until 2007, IEDs were responsible for 63% of U.S. casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom (1). They have also been implemented by belligerents in Afghanistan, a place previously devoid of these weapons.
Podcast: Download
By James Lochbaum
Article ID: 1342
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is a Naval base established at the end of the Spanish-American War. It has since become a sort of frontier outpost in a country that, while not openly hostile, is certainly not friendly. Bagram Air Base is a lifeline between the United States and its far-flung troops in the third world country of Afghanistan. Beyond their “wild west” frontier status, these two bastions of American power abroad have something else in common. They each incarcerate numerous so-called “suspected terrorists” away from the prying eyes of American citizens and, to some extent, the world community.
Podcast: Download
by Jeff Kilroy
Article ID: 1341
I attempt to have rational arguments with theists about their beliefs. I really do. Unfortunately, it seems that every time I present an argument that almost makes me shout “Checkmate!”, I get the dismissive reply of “You just need faith,” or “This is just MY faith”. In most religions and even some pseudo-scientific circles, faith is touted as a necessity or virtue. But is faith really a good thing to possess? Better yet, do we really know what faith is?
Podcast: Download
By David Annis
Article ID: 1340
Today I heard an advertisement on the radio urging me to go back to college. “College graduates make a million dollars more over a lifetime,” the advertisement said. It directed me to a website where I could find a college to attend. South Dakota State University has a page that breaks out the earnings differences in great detail. We get information like, “Workers with bachelor’s degrees receive a 48 percent higher wage rate. Those with a master’s, Ph.D., or professional degree receive the highest earnings differentials— about 70 to 96 percent higher than a high school graduate.” Politicians and pundits use the higher earnings of college graduates to advocate education as a boost to our national economy.
Podcast: Download
By Andy Kaiser
Article ID: 1339
Let me tell you about an adventure my family had a few weeks ago. I should also say that I’m not a doctor, and nothing you read here is official medical advice. This is my understanding of what happened in this specific case. I have to lead with this information because, while the story starts out fun, it ends in the hospital.
Podcast: Download
By Navin Kumar
Article ID: 1338
Of all the interesting, insightful models produced in the last two or three hundred years of economics existence (I’m not including the models of financial markets: those are neither interesting nor insightful) few have achieved more long-range influence than the population model of Thomas Malthus.
Podcast
Support
Email alerts
RSS
Facebook