Do all readers of spoofs realise that they are reading a spoof?
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/dhmo.htm
and
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/solar.htm
Objectively speaking, I might have been fooled by these articles if I did not know some science. It is very amusing for a person who does know some science, but assuming I did not recognise dihydrogen monoxide, I might have been convinced that it is a dangerous substance (as it of course is, in the contexts the article mentions)

Many of us are easily fooled  by versions of history, by news, by advertisements. Many times we do not know what the truth is.
So how do we recognise truth? Do we, on many occasions, believe in untruths and not know it?
Many times, I hear people stating something confidently as the truth, and if I do not have any alternate source of information, will believe them.

One context in which this can happen is when doctors misdiagnose confidently.
"I said that we think it is a Bamboo Pit Viper to which he says that there are none in India, that he is on some UN panel on toxicology etc. He says that it must be a krait viper. This blows my mind. His arrogance and ignorance is mind-blowing in the extreme; but … Look at our position."
 This story had a happy outcome, but  often, that does not happen.

Self organised learning

The power of group learning and self driven learning has been illustrated by Sugata Mitra.   He has been awarded the  TED prize  to carry on his work. 

A warning to college professors

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/09/a-warning-to-college-profs-from-a-high-school-teacher/
The situation in India is worse at least it is in Andhra Pradesh.

CII 's Project Pragnya

The initiative by the CII hyderabad - project Pragnya- is a start.
More such initiatives may help improve the employment prospects of students who opt to study biological sciences.
Of the students pursuing their MSc, who I have met or taught, most are not very professional in their approach. They have assignment deadlines, they don't even think of meeting it. They submit it (if at all) at  the end of the semester. They are not aware of what is expected of a person in a professional or official setup. This is the main reason why they are unemployable even in routine jobs. 

A sign of getting older is that I am now unable to pipette out 25 mL each into 15 standard flasks at a time,  for the lab exam.... Something I did every year for batches of students, twice a year. I now use a burette or a pipette pump making the process a lot slower and tedious.
With a lot of effort, we organise a pre-final practical examination for our students -- exactly like the final practical examination in order to familiarise our students with the exam pattern and point out their mistakes. The students however, do not study for it and simply cheat, copy each other's titre values and ask each other how to calculate the result. Why do they not understand the purpose of a pre final exam? what purpose does the copying achieve?
I had organised a short course in bioinformatics, taught by one of our guest faculty. We asked for a feedback. I got the papers back today and the students have copied the response from one another. Why?
If I ask them to write an answer to "which flavour ice cream do you like?", they may need to look at their neighbour's paper and copy the answer....

Learning outcome

Every year, Pratham conducts a survey of the learning outcomes of children in schools in rural India.
Surprisngly, this year there has been a decline in the learning outcomes as compared to the years preceding 2010, where the learning outcomes had been showing a small, but regular improvement.
The test is to see if a V class child can read a II class textbook and subtract 2 digit numbers.
Only 47% children have achieved this level of reading ability.
However, the enrollment in schools is quite high-- about 96%.
Pratham feels this drop in learning outcomes is due to the continuous evaluation system introduced with the RTE.
I think it is the lack of training for teachers that is to blame. Exam or no exam, if a teacher is trained in pedagogy, most children can be taught to read. However, the empirical evidence points to Pratham's conclusion. Since the RTE was introduced, the learning outcome has dropped from around 53% to about 47%.

Our policies in education are all geared towards quantity not quality.
In primary education, it does make sense to say 'at least get them to school, we will talk about quality later', but this argument is very dangerous when it is applied to higher education.
The policy of most states is to produce more and more  graduates and post-graduates.
The large number of uninterested students enrolling for an MSc or MA,  protest if they are not passed. (they even assaulted a prof for not being admitted to a PhD program.)
To enable them to pass, the syllabi and examinations are 'dumbed down' considerably.
This may make short term political sense, but should they not stop to think what these hordes of unemployable people with big degree will do later on?   

car headlights

As I get older, it is becoming more and more difficult to drive at night. The bright, high-beam headlights of the oncoming cars are totally blinding and force me to practically stop till the car passes me.
Is there no way to design cars that do not blind the drivers of cars in the opposite lane?
Cars are getting fancier headlamps that are more blinding than the ones before. These high intensity headlamps are deadly, since the blinding effect continues after the car has passed by.
No one seems to be bothered by this. Am I the only one affected by this? Or are others used to driving blind?
It looks like people in other countries are at least aware this problem.
http://www.racq.com.au/motoring/cars/car_advice/car_fact_sheets/headlights
and
http://www.designnews.com/document.asp?doc_id=215906&dfpPParams=industry_auto,aid_215906&dfpLayout=article