Everyone who has been paying attention knows that there is a strong anti-science movement in this country -- driven partly by populist anti-intellectualism, but increasingly by corporate interests that just don't like what science has to say. It's an old problem -- tobacco companies succeeded for years in sowing doubt about the health effects of smoking -- but it's become significantly worse in recent years. Nina Fedoroff is the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which is holding its annual meeting right now. She is not holding back about the problem, but tackling it directly. From a weekend article in the Guardian (h/t Dan Gillmor):
"We are sliding back into a dark era," she said. "And there seems little we can do about it. I am profoundly depressed at just how difficult it has become merely to get a realistic conversation started on issues such ...
