Italy’s war on science and reason

Alex B. Berezow, 9:08 PM 10/28/2012

Italy is a country that, for good or for worse, was at or near the center of the world for much of the past 2,000 years. Home of the Roman Empire, wellspring of the Renaissance and birthplace of Christopher Columbus, what happened in Italy often didn’t stay in Italy.  Oh, how things have changed.  Europe appears to be in the grips of an Anti-Renaissance — an almost laughable rejection of technology and a revolt against reason itself. Italy is the poster child of this insanity….. Last week, a judge issued a six-year prison sentence and a fine of $10 million to six scientists for failing to predict an earthquake. The prosecution claims that it understands that scientists are neither prophets nor able to predict earthquakes; instead, it accuses the scientists of providing contradictory information and false assurances. It’s a distinction without a difference. Science was put on trial, and science lost.  Just a few days later, Italy’s supreme court ruled that cell phones can cause cancer. Let’s set aside the extremely flimsy epidemiological evidence upon which this link has been posited. There is also the rather pesky problem that it is physically impossible for cell phones to cause cancer because the electromagnetic radiation they emit is not strong enough to break chemical bonds, which is necessary to cause the mutations which lead to cancer…..To Read More….