When it comes to science, Neil deGrasse Tyson is there to defend its good name no matter who is attacking. That’s why things got a little testy on Real Time on Friday after Tyson opened up about liberals who deny science, namely the anti-vaccine group and those who tout alternative medicines.
There’s also the unscientific aversion to GMOs and their place in society, earning some support from Maher’s panel. Just not too much. Eddie Huang and Bill Maher both teamed up to disagree, noting that plenty of natural medicines from different cultures have worked and that you can’t compare the size of science denying liberals with the massive group of republicans out there. This may be true, but it’s also alarming that there has to be some sort of line where one side can’t do it but the other can.
There was also some discussion about the Zika virus that tied in with the science discussion, including how genetically modified mosquitoes could be used to combat the Zika carriers out there. There’s also the question of how much climate change will increase the range and effect of the mosquitoes that carry the disease. That’s something that could go horribly wrong, probably, but you never really know until you try it. Bring on the heavily mutated mosquitoes.
(Via Real Time)
