geekosystem

When most folks think about starting a Mars colony, they usually only concern themselves with the scientists that would be involved with founding such an endeavor. Not Richard Branson, however. Though he admits that it would be scientists at first, he says that a colony on Mars would require all types. Fat folks, skinny folks, folks that climb on rocks -- all would be a welcome addition on Mars.

Science sure is neat when it is either presented in a way that doesn't put you to sleep, or is so mind-blowingly interesting that you couldn't possibly fall asleep. Unfortunately, within the scientific community, scientists may be manipulating their facts and numbers in such a way that molds their findings to whatever they're trying to prove. This, of course, isn't science, it's just misrepresentation. It may be more rampant than you think.

Fermilab's science education website has the results of an interesting little social experiment in which a class of seventh graders drew pictures of what they thought the typical scientist looks like before their class visited the lab, followed by their impressions of what a scientist looks like thereafter. As the example above shows, students tended to moderate their views and represent scientists are "normal people with a not so normal job." The students' "after" pictures showed a lot more women, too -- or at least the girls' did: