My List of Science Facts all People Should Know

Inspired by the Science Cheerleader, here's a non-exhaustive list of science facts all people should know, loosely grouped in categories. I chose these because I've spoken to people who had seriously misguided understandings of one or more of them. Though I provide citation, these facts are those I've learned in school or college, or just by reading.

1. Science works by comparing theory to observation; anything that makes a physically observable change can be described by science.
2. There is no center of the universe.
3. The moon's phases come from our viewing angle of the 1/2 of the moon which is illuminated by the Sun, not the Earth's shadow on its surface (that's a lunar eclipse).
4. 99% of the solar system's mass  is in the Sun.
5. The Sun/Earth/Planets are about 4.5 billion years old, and the universe is about 13.75 billion years old.
6. Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to get to the Earth.
7. The Earth is 93,000,000 miles from the Sun.
8. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, and matter cannot be accelerated faster than that (or probably a significant portion of that speed).
9. Disease is caused by germs, not by magic, energy imbalance, or sin.
10. Medicine works by eliminating infection (or removing or controlling the germs), and repairing physical damage to the body.
11. Humans have been around for about 200,000 years, and our family of species have been around for about 2,000,000 years.
12. Humans evolved from lower order creatures, and, genetically speaking, all life on Earth shares a common ancestor.

I consider this stuff basic knowledge, akin to how to tie your shoe or feed yourself. Don't be duped into the student's conundrum: why do I need to know it if I'm not going to use it every day. You need to know it in order to build on it, in order to inform your day to day interactions. I've commented on that in previous posts.

[To come: examples of why each is important.]

My Skeptic Story in the JREF!

You can read about my path from crazy religion to skeptic at the JREF Blog. (FYI, its "Raman" not "Ramen" -- but not a biggie.)

Science Rules -- The Tenets you should know

According to the Science Cheerleader (thanks TWIT for the heads up), these are the 18 basic tenets of science you need to know to be a smartie pants. I bet there are more, and these are not all "fundamental," but they are a good start. I grouped them into easier-to-remember er...groups, paraphrased them somewhat, and provided little explanations to put each in context (I bet you can come up with other reasons why they are important to a lay-person):

1. Laws and Forces
1. The laws of physics apply everywhere. [ref.] (which means aliens can't travel faster than light, either)
2. Every observer sees the same laws of nature. [ref.] (which means there is no fluidic space)
3. Nuclear energy comes from the conversion of mass. [ref.] (which makes the sun shine brightly)
4. Everything comes in discrete units and you can’t measure anything without changing it. [ref.] (which means there is a smallest unit of something)
5. Electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same coin (electromagnetism). [ref.] (which means there is no magic)
2. Matter and Energy
1. All elements (those things on the periodic table) are made of atoms. [ref.] (the smallest subunit of an element -- you just gotta know this stuff)
2. Atoms [are composed of protons and neutrons and] are bound by electron glue. [ref.] (meaning atoms are made of something more fundamental still)
3. The way a material behaves depends on how its atoms are arranged. [ref.] (molecules are made of atoms; and matter is made of molecules)
4. [Protons and neutrons] are constructed with quarks and leptons. [ref.] (kinda like stem cells for atoms?)
5. Energy (the ability to do work) is conserved and always moves from more useful to less useful forms. [ref.] (which means that the energy you use has to be transformed into an equal but less useful state and can never be reformed -- so don't waste gasoline)
3. Universe
1. Stars live and stars die. [ref.] (even our Sun, which will, some day, expand and engulf the Earth)
2. The universe was born at a specific time and had been expanding ever since. [ref.] (its about 13 billion years old)
3. The surface of the Earth is constantly changing. [ref.] (which means gay sex did not cause the earthquake on the east coast of the United States in 2011)
4. The Earth operates in many cycles. [ref.] (which means you can use science to divine the tides, location of mineral deposits, and how to solve global warming, and can leave your magic behind)
4. Life
1. All living things are made from cells, the chemical factories of life. [ref.] (the basic unit of life)
2. All life is based on the same genetic code. [ref.] (so far that we've found)
3. All forms of life evolved by natural selection. [ref.] (c'mon, evolution has had billions of years to do it, a creation myth is not required)
4. All life is connected. [ref.] (which means you should get out of your car and onto your bicycle as much as possible)

[Next up: My list of science you need to know.]