Brent, Well said. In my astronomy class today we just finished watching excerpts from the Nova video "Galileo's Daughter". We tend to forget that despite Galileo's overly ambitious desire to advocate the Copernican system, he never, during his lifetime, had any scientific proof that the Earth moves around the Sun! -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces+wsumner=dsdmail.net@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces+wsumner=dsdmail.net@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Brent Watson Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 8:05 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Sciece editorial in the Chronicle Perhaps I missed the point of the article, but it seems to me like science has got to make the change fIrst.  What do I mean by that?   Current attitudes towards science and the funding of scientific endeavor are shaped by the integrity of those performing the work.  All too many times the public finds the motivation for reporting of scientific results is financial, or political.  The public does not like this .  Experimental results are too often tainted by the need to receive more funding, or to support the current political winds blowing through the air.    The current method for funding research needs to change in order to eliminate this posturing.  I am not sure what the answer is that will eliminate the improper motivation, but surely there is a better way.    I am not saying that all scienctific research results are this way, but there are too many shenanigans being pulled.  Certainly I would hope that the vast majority of discovery is honestly reported, and that those behind these results are honorable.  But there is too much tainted reporting to be able to eliminate the public skepticism.   The news media doesn't help this situation either.  Reports of scientific discovery are sensationalized to make them "more news worthy."  A great example of this is the reporting of Comet Ison - the Comet of the Century.  Now, comet Ison may well be just that, but we need to see the results before that name can be applied.  The news media in general has the cart before the horse.   Bottom line - if science wants the general public to trust them, then science needs to show more integrity, more facts, and less speculation.   Just my $.02   Brent From: Patrick Wiggins <paw@wirelessbeehive.com> To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 2:49 AM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Sciece editorial in the Chronicle Interesting editorial in today's Chronicle: Americans must drop anti-science ideals http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/?p=2587452 patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".