AuthorACN IBO, Aspiring Author, App Dev, Checkout Dude, and Science and Tech Enthusiast. ArchivesCategoriesNic is an ACN Independent Business Operator. His posts are his own and do not represent any organisation.
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DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!!8/12/2021 I hear this quite a lot when people want to argue their point of view. “Do Your Own Research”. Well I though I’d let you know exactly how I do my own research when it comes to popular scientific issues and topics.
Scroll to the end for a quick summary. I regularly listen to several science based programs through the podcast app on my computer/phone/smart speakers and read many easily understandable and accessible publications. These programs and publications have regular professional guests. These guests are people who are highly qualified by going to university, spending at least 3 years studying a bachelors qualification, then 2-3 more years completing a doctorate in their chosen field of specialised study. That doctorate is supervised (an exiting doctor that helps the candidate research and format their doctorate) and reviewed by a panel of existing qualified ‘doctors’ in that field. That panel generally consists of reviewers that are chosen from the university itself, plus a balancing number of reviewers outside the university and any other institution related to that university (a panel of 3 will typically have the supervisor, a doctor from the university and an unrelated external doctor). This is however only my first step in ‘doing my own research’. After this, I look for the information that I have just received to be repeated elsewhere. Not on blogs or in opinion columns, I look for it to be repeated in scientific publications and other scientific media to be repeated by others who are equally or similarly qualified. This is not the same as the peer review process as it would take me many hours to find challenging research and to understand it only on an elementary level. Instead, I look to other people who have gone through the same qualification level. If they are willing to repeat the information that I have heard then they are willing to endorse that information. They have gone through the process of challenging that is being stated and they are willing to publicly repeat the information if it is accurate. Another part of ‘doing my own research’ is to be critical of what I’ve heard and ask the challenging questions myself. A recent example of this in my local area was to take a look at research conducted by scientists at my local university on emissions from coal seam gas industry. In looking at their published findings, I asked the question “If this field research was conducted by taking air samples from the road over a period of two weeks, would the findings be repeated over the period of an entire year?”. I asked this question because one of the gases that was being monitored, methane, is a gas that is commonly created by the decomposition of organic matter. Something which might affect that could be the time of year. Typically, organic decomposition will occur faster in a warmer and moist environments. Could the different times of year, different temperatures, different weather patterns, different flora and fauna activities influence the amount of methane in the air? This wasn’t discussed in the research which then made me question IF it could have had an influence. There were many other challenging questions I had about that research but when I have those challenging questions, I don’t just sit back and stop, I seek answers for those questions. This process isn’t something I sit down and do in a single session. It takes days or weeks for me to begin to have that elementary understanding of a scientific issue. I might spend half an hour a day listening to programs and another half an hour looking for validation. I might spend a couple of hours over a week looking at this information but by the end, when some information had been stated by a qualified expert, repeated by many other qualified experts and has little to no genuine challenge against it, there is a pretty good chance that information is accurate. I’m also well aware that over time scientific information can change. That’s because of the challenge process. Sometimes it takes the right person asking the right question in the right way to begin to make other experts think about that challenge and see if there is a basis for it. When I receive scientific information, at the time it is generally considered reasonable accurate. I don’t keep a file of information and resources that I constantly and actively monitor and watch to see if something has changed. I leave that to the qualified experts. They will then find a way to communicate that if it is critical information. For example, when the blood clotting started to happen with the astrazenica covid-19 vaccine, the initial treatments to clear the blood clots were the same as blood clotting in strokes and heart attacks. Overtime it was found to be less effective that they thought and other injectable medication was used to clear the clots. The same process was used but the specific treatment changed. I found this out about two months after becoming aware of the initial treatment. It wasn’t absolutely critical to know the exact specific treatment, but the treatments existed and were very similar. When I offer to help you understand information and issues, I’m not trying to force you to change your mind. I’m trying to provide you with an understanding (very elementary) of an issue and with some more information to help you make up your own mind. I’m not flooding your mind with propaganda. I’m not pressuring you to do something you don’t want. I’m trying to help you understand an issue or information. I ‘Do My Own Research’ by listening to qualified experts, look for that information to be repeated by other qualified experts, ask challenging questions then seek answers to those questions by listening to those qualified experts.
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Lower Your Energy Bills - Summer12/18/2018 With summer around the corner, it’s one of the times of year where your electricity bill can sky rocket.
While we use our heaters, dryers and even hot water less, our cooling bills increase and for a country like Australia, there are a few things you can do to limit your electricity bill. Be Smart With Your Air Con Almost certainly the largest power guzzling appliance in a modern home during summer is the Air Conditioner. But there are ways you can limit the energy cost. First is to regularly clean all parts of your air conditioning system, not just the filter inside your home. Make sure any part of the system, including the outside unit and any piping is regularly inspected and maintained to ensure your air conditioning system is operating at maximum efficiency. All air conditioners will work more efficiently within a certain temperature range compared to the outside temperature. This varies from system to system, but a good temperature to keep your air conditioner no more than 7-8 degrees to the outside temperature. This means if the outside temperature is 32 degrees, you should limit your air conditioner to a temperature no less than 25 degrees. Using a setting below that range will cause your system to use more energy, increase your power bills and may even shorten the lifespan of your system. If you are installing a new air conditioning system, choose a smart system connected to a thermostat. This will enable your system to accurately measure the temperature of you room and reduce or even stop cooling for a period of time, reducing your energy bill. Installing a cloud connected smart thermostat can even allow you to access your system remotely, allowing your system to cool down your home while you are on the way home from work. |