Notes from a rare planet: The problem with science and PR

A DNA database has been established that uses cat fur as forensic evidence.
Cat hair found on a jacket has already helped to convict an individual of second-degree murder.
Dog and other animal fur may also be useful in forensic applications.
“The increasing popularity of the domestic cat as a household pet has unknowingly fostered the distribution of potential crime scene evidence across millions of households,” according to Robert Grahn, lead author of the paper that has been accepted for publication in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. “Cat fur obtained from a crime scene has the potential to link perpetrators, accomplices, witnesses and victims.”

“Guardian columnist George Monbiot recently did the written-word equivalent of throwing his hands up in the air over the growing chasm between actual climate science and the public’s understanding of it. One of his key points is that science has grown so specialized that scientists in different disciplines are rarely even able to fully grasp one another’s work–much less us laymen. As a result, their findings can seem so complicated that it essentially amounts to a form of gibberish to the public–and whether or not you accept their findings comes down to an issue of trust.”
“Would you know the difference between a “manipulated” ice-core data set and an authentic one anyways? Of course not. I wouldn’t. But when a group of respected scientists, whose work has been reviewed by their peers, work to make available to the public hard data and findings on climate, I’m inclined to think they’ve got better things to do than make it up. Monbiot is right that the key issue is trust–either you trust that the thousands of climate scientists who collect data and review one another’s findings are providing the sound data, or you don’t.”

“The discovery of Homo floresiensis shocked and divided scientists. Here apparently was a band of distant relatives that exhibited features not seen for millions of years but were living at the same time as much more modern humans. Almost overnight, the find threatened to change our understanding of human evolution.”
“It would mean contemplating the possibility that not all the answers to human evolution lie in Africa, and that our development was more complex than previously thought.”

They would protect crops from weather-related failures due to floods, droughts, and pests.
They would help combat climate change.
They would create the resources needed to feed people on a mass scale.

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