Domain: uwa.edu.au
Stories and comments across the archive that link to uwa.edu.au.
Stories · 8
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The Motivated Rejection of Science
Layzej writes "New research (PDF) to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science has found that those who subscribed to one or more conspiracy theories or who strongly supported a free market economy were more likely to reject the findings from climate science as well as other sciences. The researchers, led by UWA School of Psychology Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, found that free-market ideology was an overwhelmingly strong determinant of the rejection of climate science. It also predicted the rejection of the link between tobacco and lung cancer and between HIV and AIDS. Conspiratorial thinking was a lesser but still significant determinant of the rejection of all scientific propositions examined, from climate to lung cancer. Curiously, public response to the paper has provided a perfect real-life illustration of the very cognitive processes at the center of the research." -
The Motivated Rejection of Science
Layzej writes "New research (PDF) to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science has found that those who subscribed to one or more conspiracy theories or who strongly supported a free market economy were more likely to reject the findings from climate science as well as other sciences. The researchers, led by UWA School of Psychology Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, found that free-market ideology was an overwhelmingly strong determinant of the rejection of climate science. It also predicted the rejection of the link between tobacco and lung cancer and between HIV and AIDS. Conspiratorial thinking was a lesser but still significant determinant of the rejection of all scientific propositions examined, from climate to lung cancer. Curiously, public response to the paper has provided a perfect real-life illustration of the very cognitive processes at the center of the research." -
POV-Ray Short Code Animation Winners
Paul Bourke writes "Every year the POVRay rendering community run a short code competition. The challenge is create an image using a limited number of bytes, normally just 256. This year the competition required the artist to create an animation rather than just an image. The winning entries are now online where you can see what can be created for a meager 512 bytes." -
Drooling Over VA Tech's 1100-Node G5 Cluster
Mr. Slurpee writes "Virginia Tech's 1100-node dual 2 GHz Apple G5 Terascale Cluster is getting racked up and ready to roar. If you're a penniless geek like me, at least there's some tech pr0n for us to drool over. There's 1100 of them ... think they could part with one?" Update: 09/22 02:55 GMT by T : Matt submits a link to this full mirror of the photos, writing "The page owner's comment on the original mirror being taken down due to bandwidth? 'Bring it on!'" -
Linux.Conf.Au Registrations Closing RSN
TRS-80 writes "Hurry up! Linux.Conf.Au registrations close tomorrow. While you can register on the day, you're likely to miss out on a t-shirt and bag. Some of the speakers at the conference will be: Slashdot's Jeff 'Hemos' Bates, Alan Cox and Telsa Gwynne, Debian Project Leader Bdale Garbee, Syslinux author H. Peter Anvin, PHP's Rasmus Lerdorf and of course 'Rusty' Russell. Don't forget the educationaLinux, Debian, IPv6 and Linux Gaming mini-conferences before the main conference." -
Keeping Kids Interested in Math?
bcrowell asks: "As a geek, I always assumed my interest in math and science would just naturally rub off on my kids, and sure enough, my older daughter kept insisting that she wanted to be a physics teacher like me when she grew up. Now, starting first grade, she volunteers that math is 'ok,' but not as much fun as reading, and she no longer wants to be a physics teacher. Her math work at school apparently consists of 'addition packets.' What good stuff can I do to help her perceive math as fun and creative? Generations past had puzzles by Sam Lloyd. I learned a lot of science from science fiction books, but my old favorites are getting dated, and my daughter also rejects them because they have male protagonists -- she prefers Nancy Drew, although she'll read my Fantastic Four comics if Sue has a big enough part. What other things have Slashdotters found to do with their kids? Growing crystals? Baking together as a way to sneak in fractions?" -
New Ideas on Clearing Land Mines?
LaoK asks: "Afghanistan's millions of land mines continue to pose a threat to civilians, and a potential hazard for international forces mobilizing to strike the terrorist suspects and their Taliban protectors. After reading the recent comments brainstorming the idea of hydrogen fuel for jetliners, a discussion of practical (and hopefully inexpensive) ideas for clearing mines seems like another good topic for this technically-minded gathering. One of the most useful things the international community can do to aid the Afghan people in a post-Taliban era is to finish cleaning up this mess." Such techniques would find ready use all over the world. Has anyone heard of safer techniques in mine removal, or is it still a large and dangerous guessing game? -
The demise of Crack.com
Dan wrote to tell us of this interview with Jonathan Clark of crack.com. It reveals that Red Hat funded some of Golgotha's development with money in advance (as did AMD, Telestar and others). It's an interesting read, as it shows the difficulties game developers face in keeping up with new technology and making a fun game.