Category Archives: The scientific method

If it seems obvious, it probably isn’t

Posted on May 13, 2019 by

There’s an interesting paper that someone (I forget who) highlighted on Twitter. It’a about when science becomes too easy. The basic idea is that there are pitfalls to popularising scientific information. Compared to experts, laypeople have not undergone any specialized … Continue reading →

Posted in Pseudoscience, Research, Science, Scientists, Sound Science (tm), The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 44 Comments

The debate has changed

Posted on May 4, 2019 by

I’ve been finding it quite difficult to think of things to post about. One reason is that I’ve been rather busy. Another, though, is that I think the debate has changed. It seems that there is more and more discussion … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, ClimateBall, economics, Environmental change, Policy, Science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 117 Comments

Is STS trivial?

Posted on April 26, 2019 by

In a recent Making Science Public post, Chris Toumey asked is STS trivial? Since I’ve written about Science and Technology Studies (STS) on a number of occasions, I found it an interesting post and posed a question in the comments. … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Philosophy for Bloggers, physicists, Research, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 187 Comments

Post-normal science

Posted on April 7, 2019 by

I’ve been reading a paper by Daniel Sarewitz, that was being highlighted by Jane Flegal on Twitter. The paper is called Of Cold Mice and Isotopes Or Should We Do Less Science? There’s quite a lot that could be said … Continue reading →

Posted in Policy, Politics, Research, Science, Scientists, The philosophy of science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , | 125 Comments

An updated Bayesian climate sensitivity estimate

Posted on March 31, 2019 by

I thought I would update my Bayesian climate sensitivity estimate, given the comments I received (peer-review in action). Based on James’s comment, I’ve removed the noise term and am now using the aerosol forcing as the forcing uncertainty. Based on … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate sensitivity, Research, Science, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 40 Comments

A giant impact outside our Solar System

Posted on February 6, 2019 by

I’ve come down to listen to a General Interest seminar about climate change given by retired physics professor, but I’ve discovered it’s next week. I’ll have to wait to find out if it satisfies the stereotype. Since there is no … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, physicists, Research, The scientific method | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments