The Suicide of Science?

Science is a philosophy that's improved the lives of millions of humans. Human health/survival, transport, communications etc. have all benefitted from the approach. Science was formerly carried out largely by technocrats, operating in scientific communities. Science has never been perfect, as it's always been impacted by human foibles like greed, ambition, personal bias etc. It has, however, until recently, been kept relatively honest by self-policing. Two of science's own creations are now changing this.The world wide web was supposed to make information more generally and quickly available.  It has done this but it's also amplified conspiracy hypotheses and weird ideas. Wholly unqualified folk have leapt into the frey. Another creation, Artificial Intelligence, also has beneficial applications but has the disadvantage of being largely based on current or most prominent 'knowledge'. New thinking may not be able to 'evolve' as in days of yore. Biases can also be inappropriately pushed by self interests. One can argue that, with recent developments, science may have "cut its own throat".

 

Sandwich Island Saga 49. Depopulation

As with many other remote human populations, that of the Hawaiian islands showed a marked decline after its first contacts with the external world. Hawaiians were very susceptible to introduced diseases, including leprosy. 

 

Sandwich Island Saga 48. Moon children

Polynesian folk in Hawaii didn't have annual birthdays. They linked their birth to the phases of the moon. The phases were also said be predictors of appropriate times to plant certain crops, go fishing etc.

Sandwich Island Saga 47 Red letter day?

The former Hawaiian royalty had a major impact on bird species with red feathers. Their ceremonial helmets and capes required many, many feathers. There was a price on their donors heads!

A Bum Steer?

Ultraprocessed foods may be the tobacco of the 21st Century. The evidence isn't yet definitive but there seems to be a link between their intake and the currently growing incidence of early onset colonorectal cancer. These cancers can occur in folk with normal BMIs. So it may be what is eaten even if their lifestyle is otherwise healthy.

Flowers of Oahu 85. Jaggery palm (Caryota urens)