12 DEC 2017 by ideonexus

 Wheat Domesticated Homo Sapiens

Think for a moment about the Agricultural Revolution from the viewpoint of wheat. Ten thousand years ago wheat was just a wild grass, one of many, con
Folksonomies: artificial selection
Folksonomies: artificial selection
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18 MAR 2012 by ideonexus

 Call for Nitrogen Fixation

England and all civilised nations stand in deadly peril of not having enough to eat. As mouths multiply, food resources dwindle. Land is a limited quantity, and the land that will grow wheat is absolutely dependent on difficult and capricious natural phenomena... I hope to point a way out of the colossal dilemma. It is the chemist who must come to the rescue of the threatened communities. It is through the laboratory that starvation may ultimately be turned into plenty... The fixation of atmo...
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Crookes predicts the failure of farming to support a growing population and calls on chemists to work on improving production.

08 MAY 2011 by ideonexus

 Science is an Equal-Opportunity Critic

Again, the reason science works so well is partly that built-in error-correcting machinery. There are no forbidden questions in science, no matters too sensitive or delicate to be probed, no sacred truths. That openness to new ideas, combined with the most rigorous, sceptical scrutiny of all ideas, sifts the wheat from the chaff. It makes no difference how smart, august or beloved you are. You must prove your case in the face of determined, expert criticism. Diversity and debate are valued. O...
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Science's error-correcting mechanisms hit everyone equally, but all ideas are welcome for scrutiny.