Medicare For All

Website Wednesday

I spend a lot of time researching my choices for Website Wednesday because I don’t like to disseminate wrong information. And, as we all know, there is sooooo much wrong information on the Internet. But I also think that wrong information is not always detrimental to learning since it’s important to pick through mental dross to understand mental gems. Logic classes must love it.

Unfortunately in the U.S. there are so many people who seem to believe in delusional ideas. Or perhaps there are not that many people but we get to see that type over and over again because our media sure seems to love the tin-foil hat wearing crowd.

(That’s why it was so refreshing to see the video where Barney Frank (D-VT) rebuts a woman who compared Obama to the Nazis with: On what planet do you Spend Most Of Your Time?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/19/barney-frank-confronts-wo_n_262682.html

So I hemmed and hawed before I decided to post my pick this week. Almost all of my sites are fun or fact. This one blends both in the area of science:

http://www.zmescience.com/

ZME Science is a science site with a twist. This is a science site written by non-scientists and, well, even high school kids.

It says about itself: ZME Science was established in the summer of 2007. It’s not just another science blog, as one might believe at a first glance. It’s a place for those who know little to nothing about science related issues to start learning; it;s a place for those who know quite a lot and want to find out about the latest studies, developments and inventions. It keeps you informed and gets you involved in the processes that define our planet.

And it goes on: These are crucial times for everybody, and we feel that there are two important things that you can do to make a difference: stay informed and get involved. Guess what: you can do both these things; and we’re here to help you. You can help us too, by sending us your news or studies or even essays (if they’re related) by using the contact page; just think about something that really means a lot to you, and think that by sending it to us, you’ll be making sure it gets seen by tens of thousands of people.

And that was my dilemma. Here’s a site that admits it's presenting popularized science. Not a good idea, I thought. But then I thought: Isn’t that where science should start? Throwing out ideas out for study and confirmation or refutation? OK, scientists call it peer review but there’s obviously an audience of reviewers (commenters) out there for this site. Just read the comments for “8 totally awesome natural phenomena you probably didn’t know about.” (Great photos.)

http://www.zmescience.com/totally-awesome-natural-phenomena-you-probably-didnt-know-about-000033

The author (the founder of ZME Science) gets accused of photo-shopping by some commenters; defended by others. There are 84 comments for this article alone. The readers are “on their toes.”

Then there’s the Mermaid sightings in Israel lead to 1.000.000$ reward:

http://www.zmescience.com/mermaid-sightings-in-israel-lead-to-1000000-reward

with the gorgeous back view of the red-headed mermaid (wearing, I might add, a lovely conch shell in her hair and a most attractive blue, green tail - your typical mermaid.)

Phony-baloney you say? Well, OK, I’ll give you the picture but google “Mermaid in Israel” and you’ll see this is hot current news.

Or take a look at: http://www.zmescience.com/komodo-dragons-are-venomous What a great shot of the inside of the mouth of a Komodo dragons. My dentist would love him.

So while you won’t get pure science on this site you will get the interest. And really that’s what science is all about? I can imagine this site getting school kids really interested in the world of science. I can imagine a bright kid going from a topic here to primary source material. (Ask a group of scientists and you’ll find most of them started their interest in the field with popularized science material.) I can imagine any age kids or adults being interested.

They may be science-lite here, but they are also science-passion. Kudos to Andrei for starting ZME Science.

Go take a look and bring your kids.