A moment of science, please

July 4, 2024

There's a new organisation in town, and its objective is to raise the profile and awareness of science. It's Oberon Citizen Science Network and its mission statement says:

"The Oberon Citizen Science Network (OCSN) exists to promote both interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) amongst residents of Oberon Local Government Area, and active participation in local STEM projects and other scientific endeavours."

It has been said that science is the greatest intellectual achievement in the history of humanity, because it is the only reliable way to understand the way things are. That hasn't stopped people over the centuries from rejecting science and you don't have to go very far today to find resistance to science in the media and across social media sites. As well as rejection of science there are activities that look like science but aren't (See "What science isn't" from the February 2013 edition of Australasian Science magazine for some examples). Both rejection and pseudoscience are dangerous in several ways because as the famous quote attributed to many people goes "It ain't so much the things we know that get us into trouble. It's the things we know that just ain't so".

You can find out more about OCSN from their web site or Facebook page.

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