UPDATE added 9 June 2010. It now seems established that the NSF award was a hoax. However, the merits of this school project remain, and so I am leaving most of the original post here in place. I have now deleted references to the hoax award.
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UPDATE added 12 June 2010. The father of the child has confessed to being the fraudster!. See: http://www.mysoutex.com/view/full_story/7901678/article-Father-says-he-is-sorry-for-science-fair-hoax?
Several commenters to this blog have referred to youngsters being smart enough to think for themselves, e.g. TG O'Donnell on the 3rd of June wrote:
'Brainwashing in direct contradiction of the empirical evidence does not have a good track record in any society and there is little reason to assume that it will be more effective in our culture than it has been in others.
Pactum serva! '
Here is a report of a science fair project by a young schoolgirl in the States, in which she checked the temperature records for her own bit of the planet:
'She researched online data basis of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, the National Weather Service, and checked out books on climate change at the Joe Barnhart Bee County Library.
Her findings:
• temperatures rose and fell from 1900 to 1950.
• temperatures in Beeville cooled down over a 20-year period beginning in 1955 and ending in 1975.
• Since 2001, temperatures in Beeville have grown cooler year after year.'
Only one point on the planet. Only one girl. But her spirit is encouraging.
She concluded:
'There is not enough evidence to prove global warming is occurring.'
Now that's a big leap from one point on the planet, but her approach of actually checking some data ought to be an inspiration for other schools, and indeed for some Fellows of the Royal Society who seem to prefer arguing from authority.
More details at: http://www.mysoutex.com/pages/full_story_landing/push?article-Conclusion-+%E2%80%98pretty+creative%E2%80%99%20&id=5061446
Well done her! And, given that Al Gore was on the panel of judges, the fact that she won her division of the Science Fair indicates that a lot of scientists are unhappy with the prevailing AGW orthodoxy.
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ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard of "The Story of Stuff"? Just Google it, it's very similar to the climate change theme of child indoctrination.
ReplyDeleteI have posted a message on the site of the local paper in Texas where this hoax award was first announced. I suspect alarmists have stooped to a new low with this one.
ReplyDeletehttp://mysoutex.com/view/full_story/7801690/article-R-A--Hall-fourth-grader-is-science-national-champion?
To be fair - whoever did this stooped far too low. I fail to see how an Alarmist, a Denialist or a Sceptic would benefit from this?
ReplyDeleteIt seems unbelievably cruel.
Only common thread is that extremists on both side of the fence can be daft.
But to go to the trouble of fooling just one 14 year old girl? And then we have the idiotic moron above from the States saying that because of a particular word use - the hoax probably came from the UK!
Unbelievable.
See Update added to the posting. The hoaxer turned out to be the girl's father.
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