This is a great story. It’s about a former New Orleans Saints cheerleader who also happens to be an analytical chemist at DuPont. Surprised? We shouldn’t be. She said:

I danced with several girls who had their PhD’s, Masters etc and it’s our obligation to share this duality with the public in an effort to help young girls feel comfortable following all of their dreams (and to help them understand how important education is and frankly how much fun science can be).

I couldn’t agree more.

Many people are shocked when sexy women are also smart. In fact, the woman in the article said she almost didn’t get hired at a science job because of the NFL cheerleader line on her resume.

It’s a pervasive stereotype in our country. Admit it–you laughed at the idea of Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist in The World is Not Enough. (Well, her character’s name of “Dr. Christmas Jones” didn’t help.) So it’s nice to see some non-Hollywood examples of real brains and beauty.

[Via BlagHag]

We recently installed this cool feature on the blog that lets us see how many people are visiting and tracks how they arrived.  It looks like many people find us via Google searches for accurate information, which I now have uppermost in my mind as I’m writing this.  I keep thinking, “Stop stalling, get to the links!  If you go on and on and try to demonstrate your skill with prose, you’re gonna lose your reader!”  So if you are, like myself, a compulsive Googler looking for facts beyond the fear mongering surrounding the H1N1 vaccine, let’s get some accurate sources up front before I start ranting and raving about the power of the internet to spread dangerous lies. » Continue reading “H1N1 Vaccine Information Resources”

duncan @ five minutes

By Dean Cameron

This past August 1, 2009 at 10:45am, my son, Duncan Huxley Cameron was born.

Not only is he quite a bit bigger now than he is in that photo, his ability to melt me with a look, has increased.

We are raising him as rationally as possible. Obviously, he’ll make his own decisions about how to interact with his world, but we’ll tell the truth as we see it and let it go. There’s plenty of woo out there for him to encounter and deal with on his own, so we don’t need to burden him with more at home. It’s going to be intersting as, even before he was born, people I consider rational were saying really weird and irrational things.

» Continue reading “Guest Dad Post – HAVIN’ MY BABAY”

If you are new to skepticism, or have only been a lurker in skeptical cyberspace up to now, you may be wondering what you can do to become involved in, or even contribute to, the skeptical community. It might seem like skepticism is something you are interested in, but only other people actually participate in. Sure, not all of us can be Genie Scott, Phil Plait, Kylie Sturgess, Joe Nickell, Ben Radford, or Derek and Swoopy,  just to name a few of the world’s skeptical superstars. But, I’m convinced you can easily become involved in, and even contribute to, skepticism. » Continue reading “I’m not a skeptical celebrity, how can I be involved?”

http://skepticdad.wordpress.com

The cartoon network is currently testing out three new live action shows. One of the shows is called The Othersiders which is best explained as Teen Ghosthunters and is aimed at kids.

I’ve seen the first episode and some of the promotional material online and my main issues with this show are 1) that it assumes the existence of the paranormal as fact and 2) passes off sloppy thinking, “weird feelings”, and logical fallacies as critical thinking and true investigation.

This show claims to be “skeptical”, “scientific” and to conduct “thorough” investigations but in reality is credulous and obviously pro paranormal. Critical thinking is practically non existent. It wouldn’t bother me so much if they didn’t claim to be skeptical critical thinkers. If kids are watching this as an example of critical thinking they will be misinformed.

They say they do extensive research on the internet to find the most “credible” locations to investigate. KC, the team’s case manager, explains their decision to investigate the Lincoln Heights Jail in Los Angeles on their first episode, “The jail seemed credible because, so much stuff went on in that place there has to be paranormal stuff left over.”

Sam, the web master, explains why they use thermal cameras, “Paranormal energy is heat and our thermal detectors will pick that up.”

In the research they did about the location the kids read that when people entered a particular part of the jail they started to feel claustrophobic and dizzy. When two members of the team enter that part of the jail, surprise surprise, they also start to feel claustrophobic and dizzy. They consider this evidence of the paranormal. There is no mention that they may have fallen prey to the power of suggestion, that there may be a gas leak or that there may be any other explanation.

Check out the show and see what you think. If you, like me are not happy about this sort of stuff being marketed to kids, please write to the Cartoon Network and let them know what you think.  

Because this show is so new and they are still testing is out we can make a difference. 

Rational parents of the world unite!

One short year ago

My son turned one June 10th!  He is walking like a pro and can say six words:  mommy, daddy, ball, bubble, water, and, “Wow.”  (I don’t think he really understands what he’s saying with that last one, but it’s adorable.)

I have looked forward to this milestone for many reasons, and I can’t deny that one big reason was the promised end of nursing, as the AAP recommends breast feeding for one year.  I don’t know if I 100% buy this recommendation, but hey, I made it a year, which is something of an accomplishment.  So I’d like my certificate and my prize money, please, and then I’d like my old bras back. » Continue reading “To wean or not to wean?”

I thought it would be cool to have a Rational Dad post here every now and then. I asked SkepticDad to do one, and got back to us about the Facebook group he just created for us.

I’d love to do something with a bit more substance in the future when I have more time, but for now, I’ve taken the liberty of creating a Facebook group for us….Here’s the group description that you can publish on your blog if you wish…. » Continue reading “Rational Dad guest post.”

Skepdad compiled a fantastic list of blogs, book recommendations, and other links:

These are sites I read, books I reference, documents I consult, or information I find otherwise useful and interesting. I’ve put it here specifically to be a central hub of information (hopefully useful for others) for all things skeptical, science, parenting, educational, or otherwise tangential to that.

Check it out.  You will be reading for days and days.

This has been all over the skeptic blogosphere, but I just had to get in on the fun. Newsweek published this article with lots of negative things to say about woo, Oprah, Jenny McCarthy, Suzanne Somers, and The Secret.  The article is refreshingly critical of Oprah and her pushing of woo “experts” on her show.  Since we’ve been discussing vaccines so much, here’s a nice, juicy quote about Jenny McCarthy’s guest appearance on Oprah: » Continue reading “Newsweek Criticizes Oprah and Woo”