Articles written by David Shane

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About me - David Shane

I'm a physics graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. To make a living I study potential hydrogen storage materials.

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Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Do people have absolute rights that all governments should protect?: 1 of 61
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men..." The 56 men who signed the Declaration of I... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory What's so bad about socialism: 2 of 17
What is socialism? To determine just what might be wrong with it, we first must determine what it is. In contemporary parlance, the word can mean anything from safety nets like Social Security, to wealth redistribution projects like progressive taxation, to full government control of the means of production. Some of these ... More..
Religion & Spirituality > Religion & Spirituality (Other) Can intelligent design be considered a science: 5 of 30
To decide whether or not intelligent design can be considered a science, two rather bigger questions must be answered. Namely first, what is science, and second, what is intelligent design? There are hundreds of definitions of science floating around, but we can capture the essential differences between them that matter for ... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Politics, News & Issues (Other) Water shortage: Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink: 1 of 6
"U.S. faces era of water scarcity," proclaims an article published by Circle of Blue. "Water Scarcity: The Real Food Crisis," says an article by Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360. Meanwhile, governments around the United States and world pass laws to force water conservation, mandating low-flow faucets and showers, restr... More..
Education > Colleges & Universities (Other) Is professor bias a problem in our public colleges and universities?: 6 of 24
Is professor bias a problem is our universities? The answer is a definite yes, but how much that problem affects you depends on your field of study. Every professor you meet will have some philosophy of life guiding them, some sort of religion, some sort of political persuasion. But will it affect their teaching? Someti... More..
Politics, News & Issues > US Law & Justice (Other) Should college campuses be gun-free zones?: 3 of 12
Two salient facts should guide our discussion. First, it is easy for most Americans to obtain a gun. It is legal for most, and we have many examples that show that for the sufficiently determined, even those who cannot obtain a gun legally can probably find a way. Second, college campuses are open environments. Anyone can... More..
Sciences > Physics How electricity is generated: 2 of 8
Nearly all the electricity on the planet, with the exception of batteries and photovoltaic solar cells, is generated by taking advantage of a single physical law: magnetic fields produce a force on moving charges. So how can we produce an electrical current? Make a loop of conducting copper wire. Place that loop in between... More..
Health & Fitness > Diet (Other) Emergency food supplies: What you need: 5 of 18
None of us really knows our future, so it makes sense to be prepared, including having an emergency food supply at home. The disasters that could have us tapping into our food storage range from a sudden job loss that has us struggling to pay for groceries to something like an EMP attack that destroys critical electronic inf... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Constitutional & Contract Law Should a woman have the right to choose abortion?: 96 of 311
Women should not have the right to choose an abortion, and the argument to show that rests on a single premise: the killing of innocent human life is wrong. If you accept that premise, then the only question you need consider is whether the fetus is a human life or not. One place you could get an answer is religion. Chri... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Politics, News & Issues (Other) Should the state of Connecticut tax plastic bags at the grocery store?: 3 of 9
If certain state legislators have their way, Connecticut will become the first state to enact a tax on all disposable grocery bags, paper and plastic, at 5 cents a bag. Money raised by the tax would go to support recycling initiatives. Proponents say the state would be helped by the additional funds, and that the tax would ... More..