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Call for a Presidential Debate on Science

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the platitudes-and-geralizations-wont-cut-it dept.

Writer Matthew Chapman recently wrote a piece for the Washington Post calling for a science-only Presidential debate. While I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the candidates to embrace such a potentially difficult series of questions, a bit more emphasis on modern science and technology certainly couldn't hurt. "None of the candidates should know in advance what questions they might face. Not knowing the questions in advance would force them to study as much science as possible, and this in itself would be a marvelous thing. However, a statement would be read at the start stating that no one expects politicians to understand every aspect of the many scientific disciplines. The debate's tone would try not to be adversarial, but cordial and educational. It could even be fun."

2 of 610 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Here's an idea by Convector · · Score: 5, Informative

    A temperature of around 10^8 K should suffice, such that the hydrogen not only fuses into helium, but the triple-alpha process becomes efficient, fusing helium into carbon. The oxygen is largely irrelevant, unless T approaches ~10^9 K, when the C-N-O cycle can happen. The pressures are not so important as the relative abundance of He to H which determines whether triple-alpha takes place. Stars much smaller than the Sun are unlikely to undergo He burning, so a pressure of at least 10^15 dyne cm^-2 is recommended. Vote Robot Nixon!

  2. Yes, and no by Nexus7 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Maybe sooner (than pigs will fly), because the candidates are already being asked questions that need scientific knowledge, such as global warming, or analytical skills, such as terrorism. But I don't know if anything useful can be determined from their answers, because the answers are about attracting voters, not about showing knowledge or grasp. Consider the following answer from Mike Huckabee...

    "Oh, I believe in science. I certainly do," he said. "In fact, what I believe in is, I believe in God. I don't think there's a conflict between the two. But if there's going to be a conflict, science changes with every generation and with new discoveries and God doesn't. So I'll stick with God if the two are in conflict."