Pluto shows two remarkably different sides in these color images of the planet and its largest moon Charon taken by New Horizons on June 25 and June 27 from a distance of about 11 million miles.
There has been an assumption made from time to time that while the left has its anti-science kooks, they don't have much sway over the party's science platform. The last part is probably true. But a new poll by Pew calls the former notion into question. Pew found the two issues most often cited as pervasive on the left, GMO foods and vaccines, don't actually break down along the left-right political axis as neatly as
many of us thought:
On genetically modified foods, scientists have repeatedly affirmed their safety for human consumption. And in the Pew data, politics failed to explain differences in why people accept or reject this finding. Ideological groups were broadly similar on GM food safety, Pew found, with majorities across the political spectrum believing the foods are unsafe to eat. [...]
On vaccines, in contrast, there is a minor ideological component — liberals are somewhat more likely than conservatives to support required childhood vaccinations, rather than allowing for any parental choice in the matter. ... However, Pew found, the political differences don’t persist once you inquire about a strictly scientific issue where there is a very strong scientific consensus — vaccine safety.
- Meet a scary-looking arthropod that thrives almost a mile beneath the Earth.
- Wut-woh!
Roman Catholic leaders in the early voting state of Iowa will call Thursday on candidates for president to follow the teachings of Pope Francis and focus as much on the environment and income inequality in 2016 as they have in past elections on opposing gay marriage and abortion.
- Gene therapy shows promise in Cystic Fibrosis.
- Pluto and its largest moon Charon are slowly coming into focus as NASA's New Horizons (Mission profile here) speeds towards its July 14 close encounter with the icy system:
New color images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft show two very different faces of the mysterious dwarf planet, one with a series of intriguing spots along the equator that are evenly spaced. Each of the spots is about 300 miles in diameter, with a surface area that's roughly the size of the state of Missouri.