C0nc0rdance reads Darwin

Yes I know Sunday was Darwin day sorry I am a few days late. As a treat here is a selection for Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, see my copy here, read by C0nc0rdance, see a previous reading by him here. The recording isn't great but he ends with one of my favorite lines:

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Circumcision and YouTube policy

So anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows that I post a lot of videos from a YouTube user known as C0nc0rdance, no seriously a lot of videos from him. I do this because he makes well informed well researched videos that summarize the scientific understanding right now. Most of these topics are also on more medical oriented topics which tend to be outside my area of expertise so I appreciate the effort he puts into the videos. A few months ago he posted a series on circumcision in baby boys. It was interesting and is worth checking out but it was really outside of my interests for this blog. When I got back from break I saw the video below and decided that I would put up the full series. Well since then the video has been restored but YouTube's earlier bad action will mean I will still post the series for all to see. Note that the circumcision series itself (2 videos) is below the fold.

Water Fluoridation

So C0nc0rdance does it again releasing another heavily researched medical video on a controversial medical topic. Yes this video has been out for a while but sorry I was busy traveling over the holidays. Anyway enjoy the video and I welcome any discussion that comes of it, or you could go join the one already in progress in the comment section of the video itself. On a related note you could, and in fact should check out his short 2 part series explaining how the dose makes the poison I posted a while ago.

A Vaccine Cover-up!

No! but C0nc0rdance breaks down a recent claim that says something very similar to that. It should be worth noting that my big post on vaccines and Autism has seen a lot of action recently not sure why just found it interesting.

Why We Must Vaccinate

Another great video by C0nc0rdance showing the importance of vaccination. I have covered this before, for some reason my prior post has been getting tons of hits recently, and just in the last few days a new report was released which showed, shockingly, that vaccines do not cause Autism (NPR article on the report). The report did show that vaccines have side effects, this is not surprising as almost all medicines do, but that the side effects were typically minor especially when compared to the harm the actual disease would have done.

Artifical Sweeteners

I have been moving across the country so I have obviously failed at finishing my Costa Rica series and I have yet another National Park series post to write, but while I finish unpacking enjoy yet another great video by C0nc0rdance this time discussing the actual science behind artificial sweeteners and do they really give you cancer, as a diabetic I found this a helpful video (note: this video is 24 minutes long).

Statistics are Important!

While his videos always take a more medical approach to science the practice is a science so I have always enjoyed C0nc0rdance's videos. This particular one shows why a scientist needs to have a basic understanding of statistics. It also shows why single studies, like the Wakefield MMR paper, don't prove anything and why I was so upset with the World Health Organization (WHO) when they issued their statement saying that cell phones might cause cancer, that was until I saw they had it in the same category as things like coffee aka if they do it will be hidden in the noise anyway (although they probably don't since as far as physics are concerned there is no mechanism, ok I will get off this topic now). Anyway enjoy!

Corn Syrup the Truth

C0nc0rdance as with all of his videos does an excellent job of showing exactly what the peer reviewed scientific literature actually says this time dealing with that all time demon, at least in some people's eyes, High Fructose Corn Syrup.

The Science of MSG

I knew a lot of people thought of MSG as bad for you but I really didn't know why until I watched this video by C0nc0rdance and from the looks of it the science doesn't support the claims probably another case of media hype. I want to point out that C0nc0rdance cites all of the studies he talks mentions in the information below the video so if you want to do your own fact checking make sure to check it out.

Modern Snake Oil

At the end of the 1800s and the start of the 1900s people pushed cure alls that are commonly called snake oils. Eventually as scientific rigor and testing became more important most of these were pushed out of the market by people not believing that these cure alls actually work because they had not been scientifically tested. This did not get rid of them all, however, and new ones pop up from time to time. C0nc0rdance has a great video up about one such snake oil, although he refers to it as Windex Syndrome (you do have to enjoy the My Big Fat Greek Wedding reference), that involves bleach.

C0nc0rdance reads Asimov

People often accuse science of taking the beauty out of everything and they accuse scientists of being cold and not being able to see the beauty in the universe. Isaac Asimov disagrees and can be seen in the video below (read by C0nc0rdance (prior posts on him here, here, and here)).



If you want to read what he had to say go here and see it written out.

I have to agree with Asimov on this. The more I learn about the universe or even just our planet the more beauty and intrigue I see. I can look at a road cut and see the past, I can see rivers flowing through, I can see animals that are no long alive interacting in ways that are similar to modern organisms and in ways that none of us can imagine. The beauty of the universe and this planet is not the momentary one we see now but spans back billions of years from a singularity through a molten earth to one crawling with organisms that we can barely imagine. The beauty and complexity amaze me and capture my attention everyday.

And all of this vision- far beyond the scale of human imaginings -was made possible by the works of hundreds of "learn'd" astronomers. All of it; all of it was discovered after the death of Whitman in 1892, and most of it in the past twenty-five years, so that the poor poet never knew what a stultified and limited beauty he observed when he 'look'd up in perfect silence at the stars-"
Nor can we know or imagine now the limitless beauty yet to be revealed in the future - by science.

More on the beauty of this picture after I am done with finals

Are GMOs Evil?

This is a question that C0nc0rdance (previous posts showing his videos, here and here) takes up in his newest YouTube video.



This is an important topic because I know plenty of people who are skeptical about many crazy claims but accept that GMOs are always bad. Yes they can be bad but they are not always bad and in the long run we as a moral species have a duty to our fellow humans and when millions of people go to bed hungry or die of starvation every year we have a problem that needs to be fixed.

Intelligent Design at SMU

Last Thursday night the Discovery Institute (DI) and their "research" wing known as the Biologic Institute sponsored an event entitled "4 Nails in Darwin's Coffin" on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas. The DI are obviously the main proponents of Intelligent Design (ID). Knowing people who had attended SMU I knew that there would be a fair sized group of people who don't think the same things as DI. It turns out I was right, yesterday the school paper, the Daily Campus, published an article signed by several of the faculty of SMU saying that what DI said was not what the science said. The article included a link to a page that, while still a work in progress, shows all of the errors in the ID idea. This webpage also links to a webpage that shows how SMU truly feels about Darwin's theory of evolution.

It also turns out that the event was recorded, I will embed the first video here but will include links to the others below, it looks like it was a long event.



Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

Thank you C0nc0rdance for putting all of these videos up

Next-Gen Tech

So normally I don't post anything about genetics but this video by C0nc0rdance (see a prior post about him here) is worth the watch to see how quickly our technology in genetics has grown.



The point he makes at the end is a good one and I agree with him completely. Part of the reason why I say stuff against creationists etc is because of the dangers that they pose to the real world.

The Dose Makes the Poison

So I have been subscribed to C0nc0rdance for some time now and while I appreciate his videos I normally don't feel the need to post them here. Then I saw this series today entitled The Dose Makes the Poison and in light of the current outrage over the new flu vaccine, and just vaccines in general, I figured I would pass it along. I want to say from the outset that his statements are based on real science and evidence unlike many of those who are against vaccination...anyway enjoy.

The Dose Makes the Poison Part 1


The Dose Makes the Poison Part 2


I recommend watching his other videos and subscribing to him, his channel can be found here.