Why people reject science?

A blog post in Psychology Today says that the conservatives and the liberals reject evidence inconsistent with their ideologies.

The report says because of asymmetrical ideological motivation "conservatives are more dispositionally distrustful of scientific evidence than are liberals. Also, symmetrical ideological motivation "...motivates people on the left and the right to reject evidence inconsistent with their ideologies..."

List of new species discovered - Aug 17

This page lists the new species of plants and animals discovered. The list is based on newspaper reports and will be updated till end of this month.

Mesosticta davidattenboroughi - A type of damsel flies, shadowdamsels, named after Sir David Attenborough. Discovered from Burma. The hyperlink has a list of species named after David Attenborough.

Hundreds of potentially new species of fungi discovered in the deep coral ecosystem from the University of Hawaii researchers.

New species of Monkeyflower reported from Shetland, UK.

Capinatator praetermissus, a new genus and species of arrow worms (Chaetognaths).

New species of grass snake identified in England, says Guardian.

Xibalbaonyx oviceps, a new species of giant sloth discovered from Mexico.

Cycas pschannae and Cycas dharmrajii are two new Cycas species discovered from India, taking the total number of species in India to 14.

New Species of Ocean Sunfish, the World’s Largest Bony Fish, discovered, says the Smithsonian magazine.

Reinwardtia glandulifera (Linaceae), a new species from Kachin State, northern Myanmar. Interestingly, Reinwardtia indica, yellow flax or pyoli, is a species of Linaceae found in the Himalayas, says Wikipedia.

Mercury in aquatic organisms can affect gene expression

Well known is the heavy metal Mercury's bioaccumulation in fishes and crabs. But a new study by University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, says that Mercury can affect the gene expression in algae found in aquatic ecosystems.

The researchers studied the set of all RNA molecules that controls gene expression using molecular biology tools in a species of algae known as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The study says:

"...mercury disrupted the metabolism of algae, with numerous genes being deregulated, regardless
of whether the concentrations were comparable with those set by European environmental standards."

For more information, click here to read the study details.

SMELL TEST: How to Identify Fake News

How will you identify whether a news link, an image or video that you have received from your friend on Facebook or Whatsapp is fake or not?

The SMELL test will help you check whether hundreds of messages circulating as news on various media is fake or not. 

The SMELL test involves the following:

• S is for Source: Does the news story mention the source of the news. From where did the reporter get the news. Have they quoted anyone?
• M is for Motivation: What exactly is the motivation? Is it to inform the reader or is it to mislead people? Is it to create a controversy, tarnish someone's image or to affirm our bias?
• E is for Evidence. What evidence is provided for supporting the news? Is there any contrary opinion provided or is there is any scope for a different angle?
• L is for Logic. Does the news look nonsensical? Is it just statement of facts or is there any editorializing? Are certain facts hyped to assert the writer's viewpoint??
• L is for Left out. Do you think that something has been left out Do you think that if more details were included the story would have been more factual?

Next time when you read a news story, a social media post or a message shared on social media platforms, do the SMELL test. 

You will become wiser. 

The Hindu's redesign and a broken headline

A lazy Sunday prompted a quick review of the The Hindu newspaper's new look. But on page 19 of today's Bengaluru edition, there is a broken headline.

Australia's spinners get a...? says the headline about the visiting Aussies tour against India A.

The Chennai edition accessed online had a different headline for the same story: Shreyas leads India-A reply.

It has to be assumed that someone tried to add a different headline based on the story's intro and forgot to adjust the space or recheck the proof. 

The Sunday edition seems to have some interesting content to look at. While the body text font, Publico, looks OK, the Guardian Sans font used for the briefs looks too small for the eye. The brief news looks a tad too smaller compared to the body font on other stories. May be it is an individual opinion. 

I will post a review of the content later. So far the weekend content does not look that impressive. 

What caused the Bellandur lake fire?

Yeah, what caused the fire in the polluted Bellandur lake in #Bengaluru?

Let us look at what the media reported:

"...Fires are often sparked by deadly effluents in the lake, but this time, it was a pile of burning garbage that caused the scare." said Deccan Herald. 

The Hindu newspaper quoted unnamed firemen and said " the fire originated in the thick layer of hyacinth in the lake". "...But they are clueless on what set the hyacinth on fire," added the newspaper.

The New Indian Express in a report titled, Bellandur lake spews fire, named the reasons as methane from industrial waste, solid waste and rise in ambient temperature! 

At least the editorial teams must have checked how and from where a gas called methane is created. 

The Financial Express went ahead and made it even worse by saying that the entire city choked because of smoke. Is it? I was feeling better yesterday after a few days of allergic rhinitis, which is common in Bengaluru.

This report has phrases and words like "illegal dumping of debris, garbage, toxic chemicals, toxic effluents". Confusion was written all over this report.

 The news portal, Newsminute, has a much more sensible report on the fire. It had cited previous inspections by the state pollution control board and said that in the past methane had caused the fire in the lake.

In all these news stories, one can see unscientific expressions and factually incorrect words being used to mislead the less discernible readers. Accurate science reporting has never been the forte of Indian newspapers, but certain 'myths' need to be busted here:

Firstly, when a lake is infested with weeds like Water Hyacinth and degraded because of pollution, the oxygen levels become very less or even zero. If the depth of the lake gets reduced because of sediments or the so-called 'debris' dumped, Methane gas builds up because of anaerobic conditions and it can start a fire. If anything else caused the fire, including human mischief, only an official probe will reveal it.

The weed growth in the lake is because of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from domestic and industrial waste. The weed makes the lake more and more anaerobic, meaning it blocks free flow of oxygen to lower levels of the lake. The lower depths of the lake, including the sediment, becomes anaerobic, leading to build up of gases like methane and hydrogen sulphide. When it rains, the phosphate in the lake creates the froth. Gases and the degraded lake create the foul smell and the polluted groundwater poses risk to all life.

Secondly, all industrial effluents are not 'toxic' or 'deadly'. The word, toxic, has a very clear definition. Reporters must check the usage of these words. Similarly, what is this 'debris'  being dumped into the lake? Sand, silt, construction waste or something else?

Bellandur Lake requires a gigantic lake restoration project, similar to the one undertaken to save Lake Erie.
Even though everybody knows the reasons behind the degradation of the lake, the problem is there is reluctance to undertake such a 'soft' project.   

Why I Distrust Opinion Polls

I am not a big fan of opinion polls, because I think I have the common sense and the knowledge to decide by myself whom I should vote for. I also don't want any marketing firm to tell me what is the 'mood' of the nation. My vote is purely my vote and I don't care what others think of the prevailing state of affairs in my country. 

Let us look at the latest PR exercise and spin done by a media house that I trust the least. The following are the reasons why I distrust this sham poll and will kick it out of my window:

• Interviews with a few thousand invisible Indians are not a scientific methodology. So, can you publish the methodology of the survery, including how it was analysed and conclusions arrived at. 
• Why was the survey done only between Dec 30 and Jan 9. What prompted the agency to select this period? Why was this agency hired for the poll?
• What were the terms and conditions between the agency and the media house?
• What was the age profile of the respondents? Where they spread out or were they overwhelmingly the urban youth?
• What was the gender of the respondents?
• What were the educational qualifications of the respondents?
• How were the questions asked?
• Were the answers simple 'yes' or 'no'? If not, have you documented the alternative answers?
• What were you trying to prove with this poll?

Unless such details are shared with the public, these kind of polls serve the purpose of affirming the confirmation bias of the people the media is trying to placate. 

The biggest evidence for the distrust in opinion polls and media coverage of politics and elections is the results of the US elections. So, come with better evidence and better disclosure of your methodology.