Overheard Online

Regardless of what he says, McCain is anti-science and will continue Bush’s attack on science and science funding. At least that’s the stench I smell from him. I don’t think I can take another four years of Republicans, with their misleadership, truth-twisting, and corruption.
Everyday Scientist on McCain

Why are we failing at math and science? Because it isn’t fun any more. When you put safety on the highest altar, what do you give up? When fear of lawsuits — not to mention fear of technology — drives product design, marketing, and public policy, you eliminate science at its roots, in the natural experimentation of kids who want to know how the world works.
O’Reilly on Math and Science

Sometimes it will be hard, or impossible, to discover simple models explaining huge collections of messy data taken from noisy, nonlinear phenomena. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Hypotheses aren’t simply useful tools in some potentially outmoded vision of science; they are the whole point. Theory is understanding, and understanding our world is what science is all about.
Cosmic Variance on Theory

So it turns out that what the public really trusts is whatever journalists tell them about science. This is why it is so important to do everything we can to support good science journalism, and to resist the temptation to contribute to poor efforts by overly sensationalizing our own work when speaking to journalists about it.
Cosmic Variance on Science Journalism

These days we seem to live in a world where everything two days ago seems not to matter anymore and what we do today will be forgotten two days from now. But good science creates a tower of knowledge where today’s blocks rest on what lies below and journal articles tell us how that tower was built so we can better build it higher.
Computational Complexity on Science

What exactly was the message? That we should turn off our lights for an hour once a year? I know what they were trying to get at, but I don’t think the symbolism was representative of the spirit of conservation. Conservation is a slow, daily process, being mindful of the consequences of your actions. It’s about curbing, not cutting off.
The Voltage Gate on Earth Hour

Let’s face it. The US education system sucks. The public school system was a great historical achievement, producing high literacy rates, but in the 21st century the US is increasingly at a competitive disadvantage compared to other industrial nations. Instead of investing more we are investing less while promoting privatization, a recipe for mediocrity. This is seen most clearly in . . . anyone? what kind of eduction? . . . science education.
Effect Measure on the US Education