Carnival barking: Tar Heel Tavern #62 is live

I just wanted readers of Terra Sigillata to know of our local-interest blog carnival, Tar Heel Tavern, whose issue #62 has gone live at my sister blog, Bull City Bully Pulpit.

I mention this to our sci/medblog readers here because Bora of Science & Politics has, as usual, submitted a thoughtful and insightful post on the need for supporting science education as a central necessity for a fully-functioning democratic society:

As I wrote:

"While we're on the topic of education, I'd be preaching to the choir when I say that the state education system of North Carolina has been a national leader for decades. However, even our great success has not been enough to protect our educational system from being victimized by the cost-cutting and short-sightedness all too common in this political climate. Keeper of the THT and prolific blogger, Bora Zivkovic (Coturnix), posted a very nice overview of an essay on Nurturing Success in the Sciences by new NC State president, James Oblinger. Bora closes the post with an important paragraph that argues persuasively why better science education, not necessarily more scientists, is essential to an educated, critical-thinking democracy."

Consistent with this great scientific tradition, I should add that North Carolina has been home to a number of Nobel Prize winners including Gertrude Elion, George Hitchings, Martin Rodbell, Peter Agre, and even the high-profile, surfer-dude developer of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Kary Mullis who spent a large part of his childhood in Lenoir.

Thanks for taking a look at our postcard from home.