Posts Tagged: science

Opinion

On BPA, California contradicts global health experts

Photo: Monticello, via Shutterstock

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued shocking assertions about the dangers of Bisphenol-A (BPA). In one sense they are right, their research findings are shocking – but only because they contradict the published scientific literature on BPA safety as well as the opinions of credible global health experts, including our own United State Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

News

Stem cell agency’s key meetings going live on the Internet

A simulated view through a microscope of bacterias in the shape of California. (Illustration: Pat Bengtsson, via Shutterstock)

With no fanfare, California’s $3 billion stem cell agency is making a significant step forward in openness and transparency regarding the dealings of its governing board, which operates outside of the control of the governor and Legislature. Tuesday’s meeting of the directors’ Science Subcommittee will be available live for the first time — for all practical purposes — on the Internet and as an audiocast, including access to presentations that are used at the meeting.

Opinion

New fracking rules: Too little, too late

Pumpjacks in a Kern County oil field, November 2013. (Photo: Christopher Halloran)

Oil and gas wells are deeply embedded in many California neighborhoods. Because we have no statewide limits on how close such wells can be to homes or schools, millions of Californians live within breathing distance of these polluting oil operations. That’s a huge concern — especially as hydraulic fracturing and other extreme oil extraction techniques spread across our state.

News

Democrats divided: The race for state schools superintendent

Tom Torlakson, left, and Marshall Tuck, candidates for state schools superintendent, debate the issues. (Photo: Frame capture, calchannel.granicus)

For an obscure elective office that is often ignored, unknown or regarded as superfluous in California’s convoluted education bureaucracy, the November election for state Superintendent of Public Instruction is shaping up as one of the most contentious — and costly — races among statewide candidates. It has become a lightning rod for widespread dissatisfaction with schools in California, which have consistently been ranked among the lowest-performing and poorly funded in the nation.

Opinion

Captive orcas: Proposed ban is ill-advised, anti-science

Orcas perform at SeaWorld in San Diego. Photo: Cunimedia Photography

OPINION: More than 9 million students and teachers have participated in SeaWorld’s formal education programs. SeaWorld scientists have published more than 30 studies specific to killer whales, and the park’s successful care and husbandry of its population of killer whales – supported by a three-year, $70-million investment in their habitat – allows them to manage a healthy population of animals, while keeping young calves with their mothers and respecting the whales’ social structure.

Opinion

At the Movies

Photo: Mateusz Kudła

Ender’s Game
Directed by Gavin Hood

A film that is “solid and entertaining,” but “humorless and overly serious.” (Photo:Mateusz Kudła)

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