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Tony Romo out as NFL analyst for CBS Sports following July DUI arrest
The network said it was a mutual decision to part ways.
CBS announces Tony Romo's permanent exit following arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated
CBS Sports and Tony Romo have officially parted ways one month after the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback pleaded no contest to charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated | KYW Newsradio
Show-Me-State Politics: SNAP changes impacting Missouri; November’s busy ballot
KY3’s Tyler Wayne and KY3 Missouri Capitol Bureau Chief Hannah Falcon look at this week in Missouri politics.
Tony Romo parting ways with CBS Sports following DWI arrest
Broadcaster and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is no longer employed at CBS Sports following his DWI arrest in July.
Tony Romo parting ways with CBS Sports following DWI arrest
Broadcaster and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is no longer employed at CBS Sports following his DWI arrest in July.
Tony Romo parting ways with CBS Sports following DWI arrest
Broadcaster and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is no longer employed at CBS Sports following his DWI arrest in July.
CBS, Tony Romo mutually agree to part ways
CBS and Tony Romo have officially agreed to part ways.
CBS Sports and Tony Romo ‘Mutually’ Part Ways After His July OWI Arrest in Wisconsin
Tony Romo and CBS Sports are officially parting ways after nine years together. The network announced the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback’s departure on Friday, October 2, and confirmed that J.J. Watt will remain in his place on its lead NFL broadcast team. “CBS Sports and Tony Romo have mutually agreed to part ways. We thank […]
CBS and Tony Romo mutually part ways more than two months after Romo's OWI arrest
Romo was pulled over and charged with OWI on July 23.
How Boston College football matches up with SMU
Collecting a combined eight takeaways through four games this season, Boston College football (2-2) has gotten great short-field opportunities from these turnovers, and will aim to continue to make the opposing offense pay as it travels to take on 21st-ranked SMU (3-1), one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country. Although they have […]
Jennifer Lopez and golden glamour dazzle at Paris Fashion Week
PARIS (AP) — Saint Laurent sent out a river of gold, as giant chandeliers bathed a glossy black outdoor runway in golden light and the Eiffel Tower shimmered in the
Tony Romo, CBS Sports part ways after July OWI arrest
Romo was placed on indefinite leave shortly after the arrest, and his place on CBS' No. 1 NFL broadcast team was taken by J.J. Watt.
Coffins receive 2026 United Way Tocqueville Society Award
Don and Mary Coffin have received the United Way of Central Iowa’s 2026 Tocqueville Society Award, recognizing individuals whose sustained leadership, philanthropic commitment and service have created lasting impact across Central Iowa. For more than 20 years, the Coffins have been longtime advocates of United Way supporting the organization through campaign leadership, volunteer service, board…
Flurry of Lawsuits Shows Both Parties Preparing for Post-Election Challenges
Republicans are using the courts to hunt for noncitizen voters. Democrats worry the G.O.P. is trying make it harder for eligible voters to cast ballots — and paving the way to try to toss valid election results.
Paris fashion defies a bruised luxury industry with J.Lo, golden glamour and skimpy outfits
Saint Laurent dazzles with a river of gold at Paris Fashion Week, featuring a glossy black runway and a shimmering Eiffel Tower in the background | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
From Rwanda to ACU, Jabo pursues science and service
Before coming to Abilene, Quentin Jabo had a different future in mind. Growing up in Kigali, Rwanda, Jabo attended a minor seminary and once planned to become a priest. His family supported the path, and he saw it as a way to serve others. But during high school, Jabo began questioning whether the priesthood was […]
Pink light helps broccoli grow
Magenta solar panels offer a new way for farmers to harvest renewable energy along with their crops.
Top Senate GOP group puts pause on spending in North Carolina
National Republicans are starting to make major moves to divert resources away from the North Carolina Senate race where GOP candidate Michael Whatley has long been trailing in polls.
Area Events & Entertainment Community Calendar
Oct. 1 - Veterans Coffee & Conversation at the Eagles Club - begins at 10 a.m. Oct. 1 - Karaoke at Hy-Da Way at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 1 - Bingo at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School Oct. 2 - Merrill’s …
‘Verity’ review: This Anne Hathaway movie’s inert from the get-go
The inert erotic thriller “Verity” begins almost with a rom-com meet-cute, except it’s a meet-horrible. Lowen (Dakota Johnson), a struggling New York writer, is on her way to a publishing
Oscar-winning actress ordered to stay away from 12-year-old son
Halle Berry was ordered to stay away from ex Olivier Martinez and their 12-year-old son after Martinez made a disputed abuse allegation.
Are hypernovas real?
Uneven supernova explosions may explain the unusual mix of elements in Milky Way stars once thought to be evidence of hypernovas.
Cristante to miss Como match, at risk vs Real Madrid
Confirmation has arrived regarding Bryan Cristante’s condition, following previous rumors. The Roma midfielder will miss the away match against Como due to serious knee inflammation. Sky Sport repor...
Domestic violence research highlights overlooked links between head injuries and mental health
Domestic violence can leave a lasting injury that cannot always be seen: damage to the brain. Strangulation or choking and blows to the skull—some of the most common forms of this abuse—can cause physical ...
Is science journalism dying? Comparing a 'science crash' 40 years ago to today
In science media, many efforts fail. They always have.
How Phillies' finish-line stumble set up their latest October demise
Don Mattingly always preached “better baseball,” but the Phillies couldn’t close out September — and carried the consequences into October.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard's partner Ken Urker dead at 34
Gypsy Rose Blanchard's partner, Ken Urker, has died. He passed away on his 34th birthday. Blanchard confirmed Urker's death in a statement to TMZ late Thursday, Oct. 2.
iOS 27 adds four new ways to customize your iPhone’s Lock Screen
iOS 27 adds four new Lock Screen customization options, including AI wallpapers and a movable clock. Here's how they work.
Science Central brings science and spirits together for Mixology 2026
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) — Science Central is bringing together science, spirits and a Wild West theme for its Mixology 2026 fundraiser on Friday, Nov. 6. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at Science...
The Mindsets Leaders Need as AI Accelerates the Pace of Business
AI is changing not only what leaders need to know, but how they need to think. Yet many are struggling to adapt to the speed, uncertainty, and emotional complexity of an AI-driven workplace. To keep pace, you need to shift the mindsets that shape your behavior in three important ways: from certainty to clarity, from expertise to exploration, and from emotional control to emotional insight. A simple four-step practice—pause, perceive, pivot, and practice—can help you start to recognize and change automatic reactions. By deliberately reshaping the assumptions and patterns that guide your behavior, you can become more adaptable, curious, and effective as the nature of work continues to change.
What Do We Know So Far?
We’re a quarter of the way through the season, and this year’s team is just starting to come into focus.
Do dying people know the end is near? This is what science has discovered
People who work around death often describe an unsettling phenomenon: some dying patients seem to know the end is approaching before anyone explicitly tells them. They may start saying goodbye, giving instructions, withdrawing from ordinary routines or talking about deceased relatives. Research suggests that awareness of approaching death does occur in many patients—but it is far from universal, and scientists still cannot explain every way that awareness appears. Some people remain mentally cle
Rock Hill students run real businesses, build skills and fund scholarships
For students at Rock Hill High School, learning about the real world doesn’t always happen inside a traditional classroom.Two student-run businesses are giving
How to watch Pike Road vs Away high school football
You can watch Pike Road football all season long with NFHS Network, including this week’s game against Away.
Proposition 134
Colorado voters will decide whether to designate athletic teams and sports from elementary all the way to college as male-only or female-only and require schools to ensure athletes are assigned to teams based on their biological sex.
Drake: Let’s thank the politician who helped drive the Freedom Caucus out of power
I know it’s way too early for a Thanksgiving column. Halloween is still more than a month away.
Was long-awaited win a turning point for Craig Bellamy?
Has the impressive 2-1 victory over Norway changed the mood music for Wales and restored fans confidence in head coach Craig Bellamy?
Swindon's Holloway labels himself dead man walking
Swindon manager Ian Holloway calls himself a "dead man walking" if the team's form does not turn around.
Girls challenge away force
Hosting Vienna before two-week breakTo wrap up the first half of the ADMIRAL Women's Bundesliga regular season, our team faces another home match before heading into the international break. First Vie...
Why boxing is still a box office smash hit even as the sport’s popularity wanes
Fighters have always provided rich material for stories on stage and screen and the appeal to audiences has not wavered
Former CDC director on politics of measles: ‘A death is a death’
Dr. Tom Frieden, former CDC director, appeared on “The Final 5” to discuss the nation’s growing measles outbreak. Frieden said the measles vaccine is safe and effective and remains the only way to stop the spread, while criticizing political arguments over how to classify measles-related deaths. Frieden also discussed the growing role of artificial intelligence in medicine, saying AI can be a powerful tool for doctors and patients but cannot replace trained medical professionals.
Needlepoint shops see surge as Gen Z seeks creative escape
Crafts like knitting and quilting used to be pastimes for gray-haired ladies wiling away the hours, crocheting sweaters for grandchildren or embroidering lacy handkerchiefs. But today, traditional “Granny Crafts” are
Week 5: Thursday Louisiana high school football scores
Haughton 55, Parkway 36 Bossier 34, Southwood 12 Northwood Lena 28, Ringgold 50 West Point (MS) 2, Ruston 29 Haynesville 48, Union Parish 27
Are The Browns For Real? 3 Takeaways From Browns' Dramatic Win vs. Steelers
The Browns are now in first place in the AFC North after their win over the Steelers. Here are three takeaways from Thursday's game.
What is Torey Lovullo's message to Diamondbacks fans?
The Diamondbacks' season didn't end the way anyone wanted it to, and Torey Lovullo knows that. It only adds to his motivation for success.
3 Major Takeaways From Start of Phoenix Suns Training Camp
Devin Booker embraces a positionless offensive shift as the Suns prioritize continuity and recalibrated aggression, blending veteran playmaking with fresh faces to spark a pursuit for a higher ceiling.
‘I Was Dealing With a Lot,’ ‘It Was Hard’ — Browns QB Deshaun Watson Opens Up About Bouncing Back From Mental Health Struggles
Deshaun Watson worked his way back from tearing his right Achilles twice to earn his starting quarterback job and lead the Browns to a surprising 2-1 start in 2026. Watson spoke with Taylor Rooks about how he overcame these obstacles mentally and bounced back from potentially career-altering injuries.
Business Briefs: Oct. 2, 2026
Coats for Kids drive underway GREENFIELD — Greenfield Cooperative Bank is once again partnering with The Salvation Army for its annual Coats for Kids drive, a community initiative that helps ensure local children have access to warm winter essentials. All 10 bank branches will serve as collection sites, inviting residents to donate new or gently […]
Scientists just pushed superconductors beyond their usual current limit
Ultrashort electrical pulses allowed scientists to push superconductors closer than ever to the point where their electron pairs actually break apart. The method revealed hidden differences between superconducting materials and could open new ways to probe and control their quantum behavior.
Reince Priebus: Minnesota is always a little quirky when it comes to politics
Fox News political analyst Reince Priebus outlines the paths to victory in a tight Minnesota U.S. Senate race on ‘America’s Newsroom.’
Evan McPherson Earns Recognition for Red-Hot Start to 2026
Perfect accuracy from distance and a historic 20-kick streak have secured September honors for Cincinnati’s specialist, placing him one swing away from etching his name into franchise history.
Military Leaders Will Examine Ways to Limit Civilian Deaths in War
U.S. Central Command will hold a daylong conference at its Tampa headquarters after seven months of war in Iran.
How to watch the Hurricanes on Fubo: Prices, plans, features for new Carolina NHL streaming home
There's a new way to watch the Stanley Cup champs this season. Here's all you need to know.
Suspicious death investigation underway after body found behind Portland area business
Authorities launched a suspicious death investigation in Multnomah County after discovering a body believed to belong to a man in his 40s or 50s behind a business in a Fairview shopping center.
Digital life doesn’t have to be this way
The writer and activist Cory Doctorow wants you to be mad about tech monopoly — but not blindly terrified of AI.
New Breast Cancer Survey Shows Concern not Always Leading to Screening in Women 40 and Over, According to MedStar Health
/PRNewswire/ -- A new national survey from MedStar Health reveals that three in four women are concerned about developing breast cancer in their lifetime, yet...
‘Verity’ review: This Anne Hathaway movie’s inert from the get-go
Anne Hathaway does her best to liven up this inert movie based on a Colleen Hoover bestseller.
WATCH: NASA launches Crew-13 to International Space Station
Four astronauts rocketed into orbit Thursday on a space station mission that will stretch until spring, among them a Canadian whose wife will give birth while he’s away.
Online holiday sales expected to top $275 billion in 2026
With the Christmas holidays approaching and the shopping season underway, Adobe Analytics predicts more consumers will shop online, especially during the aggressive promotional period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. Adobe...
Can dancing improve brain health?
One doctor is challenging us to rethink the way we think about healing by combining modern medicine and ancestral wisdom.
Macklemore announces his ‘Free Palestine’ tour dates sold out
Rapper Macklemore is thrilled that the “Free Palestine” tour he launched after being booted from Ed Sheeran’s lineup has sold out its upcoming shows overseas. “I’m honestly blown away. We
Healey asks Trump administration to speed up review of planned gas expansion in latest sign of shifting energy politics
As Healey hunts for ways to bring down soaring costs and campaigns for reelection in a race defined by the affordability crisis gripping the state, the governor sees an opportunity to appeal to the Trump administration to bring more gas into the state.
Using comic books to get serious about science
Nuclear engineer-turned-librarian Jim Ottaviani found his niche as a writer of nonfiction comic books about scientific superheroes. Move over, Marvel. Step aside, DC Comics: Einstein, Pasteur, and more, have muscled their way into the best-seller stratosphere.
Politics doesn't always 'reward what it should': Brian Brenberg
'The Big Money Show' panelists analyze economic data, GDP growth and President Donald Trump's manufacturing push in Texas.
Can ‘Outstanding Practices’ Turn into Victory for Seminoles?
Florida State coach Mike Norvell is happy with the way his team has practiced this week ahead of their ACC game with Virginia. But the Seminoles must learn how to turn those good practices into wins on game day.
Can a wealth tax solve our political and fiscal problems? The math says no.
Economists have advocated for wealth taxation as a way to reduce political power resulting from wealth concentration. Here’s why that won’t work.
Michigan high school football rankings: Top 20 ahead of Week 6 (Sept. 29)
We’re midway through the Michigan high school football season, and the Week 5 edition of the Power Poll arrives with plenty to sort through.
Lawyer for Cornell accuser says university doctor was 'yet another failure'
Jane Doe told the school's doctor that she had contracted an infection "in a traumatic way", but they "didn't really follow up", according to the New York Times.
NFL Expert Picks for Week 4
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Week 3 was an absolute mess for NFL picks. We had been feeling pretty good about ourselves until Sunday rolled around and slapped us upside the head with the Commanders upsetting the Seahawks, the Steelers beating the Bengals, and Carolina falling to Cleveland. We roll on nonetheless, with a […]
Science Lab: Joey Porter Jr. trade to Cowboys — the Great, the Good, the Hmm...
Welcome to "The Science Lab", a place where football facts and in-depth analysis always triumph over feelings.
The 5 absolute best space images of 2026 (so far)
A dark, shark-shaped nebula 650 light-years away has won Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2026. See the overall winner and the best category images.
Google’s new Android sideloading rules are live — and here are all the ways to already bypass them
Google’s developer verification rules are now live, but users can bypass new APK sideloading blocks using ADB, Shizuku, and Advanced Flow.
4 takeaways from Trump’s Time magazine interview
Just over a month before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump addressed the top issues confronting his administration in a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine.
One Feature Makes The Switch 2 The Best Way To Play These New 10/10 'Lord of the Rings' Games
The best LotR games ever made have have been missing a key component of the Nemesis System for years until the new Switch 2 ports came along
Yes, A Shark Can Hear You Scream. Scientists Just Proved They Can Hear Up To 70 Meters Away
That’s the length of the Bayeux Tapestry if you'd like a topical comparison.
Colorado’s 2027 Teacher of the Year is Strasburg science teacher Merci Ames
“Mrs. Ames stands out because she consistently does the right thing, the right way, and gives of herself without expectation, and all for the benefit of her students,” the superintendent said.
Guide to New Orleans theater shows in October 2026
From uplifting musicals like "Come From Away" to compelling dramas like "Something Cloudy, Something Clear," the New Orleans and northshore stages are set for a diverse and captivating fall season!
At Age 15, He Started Selling a Sweet Product for $2. His Business Broke $25,000 Last Summer: ‘Smooth Sailing, No Pun Intended.’
Brian Troupe came up with a creative way to earn some extra cash.
Joey Porter Jr. Trade Gives Steelers Fresh Start
Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin always said he wanted volunteers and not hostages. It turns out general manager Omar Khan and current head coach Mike McCarthy feel the same way with the Joey Porter Jr. trade news that broke just after 11:30 P.M. Wednesday. The Steelers acquired a 2028 2nd-round pick and a …
Kennedy to roll out $10 million challenge to encourage Presidential Fitness Test in schools
Since President Trump revived the test last year, the administration has looked for ways to boost participation.
Ready, set, quit - School of Medicine and Public Health
Jessica Cook, PhD, pioneered motivation-phase treatment to help veterans not ready to quit smoking make their way towards cessation treatment.
How Washington Funded the Politicization of Science
Over the last half-decade, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on projects designed to influence academic policies, both in the sciences and other disciplines. The aim was to foster a progressive conception of social justice in these fields. In pursuit of this end, the foundation earmarked nearly a million dollars for a project titled “Creating Inclusive Scientific Societies through Policies and Practices,” over a million for a project on “Faculty Online Learning Communities for Gender Equity,” and over $2 million to foster “racial equity focused departmental change.” Through a public records request, I’ve obtained the proposals and progress reports for dozens of NSF grants designed to promote social justice. Although funding for these grants was eventually halted by the Trump administration, the projects illustrate an important facet of recent higher-education policy. Many of the university policies that promised “social transformation” didn’t arise in a vacuum. They were actively encouraged by outside funders—often by the federal government itself. Subscribe Accreditation—the peer-review process which enables universities to receive federal grants and student loans—has recently become a policy battleground, with accreditors wielding significant power over both universities and academic disciplines. In 2020, when Oregon Health and Science University’s medical school issued an extensive diversity action plan—which promised “consequences” for employees who failed to support “DEI, anti-racism and social justice”—it specifically pointed to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the medical-school accrediting body, to justify the overhaul. The NSF actively promoted DEI-focused accreditation policies. The proposal for a $1.2 million program on promoting “community engagement” in STEM, which I obtained through a records request, notes that the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology was exploring changes to its criteria “that would incorporate JEDI [justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion].” The proposal promised to “support broader JEDI efforts in the general criteria for engineering.” Another grant funded a conference designed to “identify and share best practices and strategies to integrate IDEA principles in accreditation criteria”—referring to an acronym that stands for “inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.” Scholarly societies have become another flashpoint in debates over higher education. Critics argue that many of these societies, which have the power to shape entire disciplines, have become increasingly politicized. Again, through its giving, the NSF played a role in promoting this politicization. In one million-dollar grant that received funding in 2024, a group of psychologists proposed a series of social-justice reforms to the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The proposal, which I obtained via a records request, asserts that “[r]edistributing resources (such as moving different people into leadership roles) is not enough” and that the society’s “governance structures do not yet reflect its stated values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Its solution: review and rework the society’s criteria for leadership development, academic awards, conferences, and publications. Adjusting review criteria informed by “intersectionality” designed to fight “epistemic exclusion” is an easy way to introduce de facto ideological litmus tests into the peer-review process. For many of the grants I obtained, such litmus tests seem to be the point. “Academic departments are racialized social systems that produce and sustain the byproducts of systemic racism,” a proposal for a $2.7 million project funded in 2024 asserts, promising to develop “departmentally-focused change efforts that cultivate values, assumptions, and behaviors that advance racial equity.” The University of Illinois Urbana Champaign’s million-dollar “I-ADVANCE” project, which effectively created a small DEI bureaucracy on campus, promised to Embed 28 ADVANCE faculty fellows in STEM departments” to amplify its equity goals. Another $1.2 million project promised to create “faculty online learning communities,” made up of scientists at universities around the country, that would eventually build department-level diversity action plans. “Ultimately,” the proposal asserts, perhaps more perceptively than its authors realized, “both organizational change and intersectionality frameworks deal with power.” Indeed, such grants confer a great deal of power to administrators and scholar-activists, who can even use the mere availability of funding as a tool to advance their causes. That history is worth remembering amid today’s debate over federal involvement in higher education: Washington has been shaping university priorities for years, including by financing efforts to instill progressive ideas about race, gender, and equity into academic institutions—and many of the policies those grants encouraged remain embedded within universities long after the federal money has stopped flowing. John D. Sailer is the director of higher education policy and a senior fellow at Manhattan Institute. Share
Afternoon Explorations at Roper Mountain Science Center: Your Thursday & Friday Ticket to Dinosaurs, Stingrays, and the Rainforest (2026–2027)
Have you always wondered how you can visit Roper Mountain Science Center? Afternoon Explorations! From September to May, explore on select Thursdays and Fridays.
How will Packers construct offensive line after making vet additions?
The Packers suddenly have options along the offensive line. How will the starting five look the rest of the way?
Human Health Sciences Degree Prepared Alumna for Physical Therapy School
Fatima Pena-Torres, a 2025 UNC Greensboro graduate, did not always picture herself becoming a physical therapist.
Human Health Sciences Degree Prepared Alumna for Physical Therapy School
Fatima Pena-Torres, a 2025 UNC Greensboro graduate, did not always picture herself becoming a physical therapist.
Could Mavs Rookie Force His Way Into Dusty May's Rotation?
The Athletic believes Sergio de Larrea could crack Dallas' rotation immediately and become one of the NBA's most entertaining rookies.
NFL Week 4 Survivor/Eliminator Picks
So this season is off to a terrible start for teams like the Chargers, Texans and Buccaneers. And also for me, because I’m now 1-2 (and only a couple minutes away from 0-3) in NFL Survivor, a contest that famously…
Proposed 2027 Amherst budget includes 6.9% tax levy increase
Town Supervisor Shawn Lavin said this increase is a way to keep essential services funded through the $188 million budget.
Good science requires much more than evidence
Empiricists believe that scientific theories are true only if they make correct empirical predictions: if we can't verify these predictions, then there is no reason to expect that they tell us anything about reality. However, Professor of Philosophy at King's College David Kyle Johnson argues that this is mistaken. In response to Bas van Fraassen, who has written on this subject for the IAI, he argues that we have many reasons for believing a theory to be true, such as it being parsimonious and having large scope — qualities which have been used throughout the history of science as criteria for judging theories. In 2024, Princeton philosopher Bas van Fraassen wrote a short article for IAI News entitled “Science Does not Describe Reality: The Limits and Benefits of Explanation.” At the time, I was working on two projects (a science book and a Great Course) that, when completed, would (among other things) defend science’s ability to describe reality. I wanted to write a response to van Fraassen, but the projects demanded too much of my attention. But now that those projects are complete, I am in a position to explain the objections to van Fraassen’s thesis. Summarizing van Fraassen’s argumentIn a nutshell, his argument is this: What scientists do is make predictions based on theories and then invite others to test to see whether those predictions are borne out. “If theory T is right, result R should happen in experimental condition C.” Many think that running an experiment that shows that R happens in condition C is proof that theory T is true (and should be believed). But, van Fraassen argues, that R happened in condition C is only a reason to think that R happens in condition C. That’s the only observable, or empirical, result we can actually see, so that is all that we are really justified in believing. (The underlying theory that made that prediction still may or may not be true.) That is why he calls those who accept his position “empiricists.”Before I explain what is wrong with this position, let me explain what it gets right. What van Fraassen Gets RightFirst, a theory correctly predicting the results of an experiment is not, strictly speaking, “proof” that the theory is correct. The basic line of reasoning is this:If the theory T is true, result R should happen. Result R did happen. Thus, theory T is true.In other words:“If T then R. R. Thus, T.”This is a deductively invalid, fallacious mode of reasoning, called “affirming the consequent.” Those premises do not guarantee that the conclusion follows. “If I am in Pennsylvania, then I am in the USA. I am in the USA. Thus, I am in Pennsylvania.” Clearly that argument doesn’t guarantee its conclusion; neither does the above argument.However, science is not a deductive method of reasoning; it is an inductive one. And inductive arguments merely try to raise the probability of their conclusion, not “prove” them for certain. Thus, the fact that an experimental result doesn’t prove a theory is true is irrelevant; it’s not supposed to. That is not what scientific reasoning is about.___If the hypothesis that something exists clearly provides the best explanation for what we can observe, then the belief that it exists is what is rational.___Second, it’s also true that a single experimental result doesn’t provide enough justification to believe that a theory is true. Scientists do not come to a consensus about whether a theory is true by looking at a single experiment; they look at all the evidence to determine where the preponderance of evidence points. The mere fact that I am in the USA raises the probability that I am in Pennsylvania, but not nearly enough to conclude that I am in Pennsylvania. However, if I am also regularly encountering people wearing Eagles and Phillies hats and seeing advertisements for Founding Father tours, I probably am. In the same way, a theory successfully predicting the outcome of one experiment is not enough to conclude that it is true; but if a theory makes a wide variety of predictions that are all vindicated by multiple experiments, performed by many different groups and people, all actively trying to prove the theory false (which is what good scientific experiments are designed to do)—that is a good reason to conclude that the theory is true. In other words, if you repeatedly try to prove something false but can’t, that is a very good indication that it isn’t. The problem of underdeterminationIn reply, those whom van Fraassen calls “empiricists” often point to the “problem of underdetermination.” For any given theory that makes successful predictions about what happens in experimental conditions, there are countless other possible theories that make exactly the same predictions—and since they do, the experimental evidence in question is just as much reason to accept any of those theories as it is to accept our original one. Thus, the argument goes, we have no way of knowing whether our original theory is true, or one of the other “predictively equivalent” theories is true. SUGGESTED VIEWING How Occam's Razor changed the world With Johnjoe McFadden As an example of underdetermination, philosophers often offer this example. The evidence of fossils seems to provide reason to conclude that the universe is quite old; ancient fossils are what the “ancient universe” hypothesis predicts. But it’s also possible that God created an ancient-looking universe 200 years ago, complete with a “fake” fossil record for us to find, to make it look old. The existence of fossils is what that theory predicts too. So, the argument goes, the fossil record can’t be used as evidence that the universe is ancient; the fossil record supports the “200-year-old ancient-looking universe” theory just as much. The problem of underdetermination points out that, for any theory with supporting evidence, we could invent another completely different theory that predicts exactly the same evidence, and thus undermine that evidence’s ability to support the original theory.But this “argument from underdetermination” betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what scientific reasoning is and how it works. To explain, let me use another rather strange (but very real and commonly discussed) philosophical thought experiment called “The Grue Problem.” The “Grue” ProblemSuppose I want to know what color emeralds are, so I observe a few, see that they all appear green, and form the theory that “all emeralds are green.” I thus predict that the next 100 emeralds I find will also appear to be green. And let’s say that happens, and so I thus conclude that my theory that all emeralds are green is true. Now, one might rightly point out that I don’t know for sure that all emeralds are green—I have not seen them all. Maybe some I haven’t found yet are blue. Fair enough. After all, we used to think that all swans were white, until we found some black ones. But let’s say that I go on a quest and collect every emerald in the universe—and, for the sake of the argument, let’s say I can do this, and can even know that I have every one of them. So, I collect them all, look at them all, and verify that they all appear green. Can’t I now rightly conclude that all emeralds are green?Inspired by the problem of underdetermination, a friend might argue that I cannot.Sure, they all appear green now—but there could be another kind of color called “grue.” Something is grue if it is green up to a certain point in time, but then spontaneously turns blue. And there could be an infinite number of “shades” of grue. Something that is one shade of grue will turn blue at noon today, but something that is another shade of grue will turn blue at noon tomorrow, etc. So yes, the emeralds appear green now; and since they haven’t turned blue yet, they are not some “past” shade of grue. But they might be some “future” shade of grue (e.g., they may turn blue at noon tomorrow). And since all future shades of grue are consistent with “being green up to this point in time,” the evidence you have is completely consistent with the notion that all emeralds are some future shade of grue, rather than green. Indeed, that they would appear green until now is what the “some future shade of grue” hypothesis predicts. So, we have just as much reason to conclude that all emeralds are some shade of grue as we do to conclude that they are green.You’re probably thinking “It’s not equally possible that the emeralds are grue; they are obviously green.” You are right! But explaining why your instinctive reaction to my friend’s argument is correct will help inform why van Fraassen’s “empiricist” is wrong and science actually does describe reality.The main mistake my friend makes is in thinking that the “empirical evidence” (of all the emeralds appearing green) is (or even should be) all I am using to draw the conclusion that all emeralds are green. It is not. I am also considering known facts about how colors typically work; things don’t usually change color, and when they do, they don’t do so suddenly, without cause, and all at once. So, even though the simple evidence of the emeralds all appearing green up to this point is consistent with them being some future shade of grue—that is even what the grue hypothesis “predicts”—it is still exceedingly unlikely that they are. The hypothesis that they are green is much more likely. Understanding science refutes the problem of underdetermination The misunderstanding about science that the “empiricist” pointing to “the problem of underdetermination” makes is similar to the one that my friend made. Science is not just about considering experimental evidence; in fact, it’s not even just about considering empirical evidence. As Ernan McMullin and many other philosophers of science have pointed out, the inference that makes science is “inference to the best explanation” (sometimes called “abduction” or “retroduction” by McMullin). While, depending on the circumstances, scientists use many different kinds of reasoning, science as a whole is, simply put, the process of considering multiple competing explanations and comparing them to certain criteria—explanatory criteria (the kinds of things explanations must be and do, by definition, to be a good explanation)—to see which explanation is the best.And these criteria do not deal only with empirical results. Yes, successful predictions raise the probability of a hypothesis, but it’s also the case that the more new assumptions a theory makes, the less likely it is to be true; every new assumption presents an opportunity for the theory to be false. (The fewer assumptions a theory makes, the simpler or “more parsimonious” it is said to be.) Likewise, the more existing evidence a theory contradicts, the less likely it is, because in order for a theory to be true, every piece of evidence it contradicts has to be somehow faulty. (The fewer established theories a new theory contradicts, the more “conservative” it is said to be.) And, obviously, the more something explains, the better explanation it is. (This is called having “scope.”) If a theory raises unanswerable questions, it’s not expanding our understanding, and thus is not wide-scoping. Scientists consider all these things when deciding which theory to accept, because the theory that adheres best to these explanatory criteria is most likely to be true.___the mere fact that a theory’s predictive success is why it “sticks around” or “becomes accepted” in the scientific community is not a reason to be skeptical about its truth.___The reason the grue hypothesis is no good is because it invents an entirely new kind of color—not just a new shade, but an entirely different category of color (a different way colors work)—and thus is not parsimonious. It raises unanswerable questions about how and why emeralds would just spontaneously change from green to blue (and thus does not have wide scope). And it contradicts what is already well established about how color works (and thus is unconservative).The theories that the problem of underdetermination points to do the same thing. Yes, the theory that God created an “ancient-looking universe” (complete with an ancient-looking fossil record) two hundred years ago is also consistent with the empirical evidence (of a fossil record) that presently exists; but that theory is monumentally unparsimonious (it requires many extra assumptions about infinite entities) and not wide-scoping (it raises unanswerable questions about why God would do such a thing). So, I can rationally conclude that it is false.Indeed, the history of science includes many examples of theories that were rejected because they lacked parsimony and/or scope, even before their falsity (and the truth of their competing theory) was confirmed by observation. As I point out in my book, geocentrism was rejected by the scientific community because it lacked parsimony, almost 200 years before the observation of parallax confirmed that the Earth moves around the sun. And the continuum theory of matter was completely rejected by 1860, because it couldn’t explain chemical reactions or organize matter into a periodic table, even though the experiments that eventually confirmed atomic theory weren’t even proposed until the 1870s. Solving the best of a bad lot problemIn response, the “empiricists” are likely to object, this time pointing to the “best of a bad lot” problem. “We have no reason to conclude that an explanation that has been shown to be better than others is true because we have no guarantee that the true theory was among those that we were considering.” If you have a “lot” (a collection) of poor explanations, even the best one is not true.The responses to this problem, however, are numerous. Peter Lipton argues that the set of hypotheses that scientists consider are not just randomly selected and thus unlikely to contain a theory that is true; they use existing knowledge to home in on what is most likely to be true. A doctor trying to explain abdominal pain is not going to bother wondering whether demons are causing it; they are going to stick with things like appendicitis and kidney stones, because they are most likely. Further, despite its name, inference to the best explanation is not just the process of comparing hypotheses and accepting the best one; we also want one that is a good explanation in its own right. If it’s not, we are going to keep looking until we find an explanation that is. And while that process does not guarantee that we will come across the exact truth, it’s very likely that the theory that emerges as the best will be at least approximately true, and thus we will be justified in believing it. And lastly, as I point out in my book, although many theories not based in scientific evidence (like geocentrism and continuum theory) have been completely overturned, science almost always progresses by the refinement of scientifically established theories—not their replacement. (Although our sun is not the center of the universe, heliocentrism was our first step in understanding the Earth’s true place in the universe.) So even if a theory we accept today may not be completely right, accepting it is a step on the journey toward the complete truth. The example of atomic theoryNow, it’s worth pointing out that most empiricists are not skeptical of all scientific theories; they are only skeptical of the ones that hypothesize the existence of “unobservables.” It’s not like they think that round Earth, heliocentrism, and germ theory are just useful (but untrue) “instruments” for making predictions about how to most efficiently navigate the seas, predict planetary motion, and treat diseases. They admit that the Earth actually is round, that the planets revolve around the sun, and that germs exist and cause disease. These facts and entities can be observed; the theories that suggest they exist are true. It’s only when theories start hypothesizing the existence of unobservables—like electrons, or quantum fields—that can’t be observed directly, that we should start doubting the theories’ truth. And to be fair to van Fraassen, in this published work, he doesn’t really say that we should doubt the truth of such theories. Only that scientific reasoning does not rationally force us to accept them as true. Skepticism, or agnosticism, he argues, is warranted. SUGGESTED READING Science is based in metaphor By Andrew Reynolds But the history of atomic theory throws a monkey wrench into that argument. Atoms used to be unobservable; again, scientists first accepted the theory that they exist because it had such grandiose explanatory power. But then atoms were seen with electron microscopes. They thus moved into the category of the observable. But this didn’t substantially change anything about what scientists were justified in believing; it certainly didn’t change any “atomic skeptics’” minds. It just confirmed what everyone already knew! If the hypothesis that something exists clearly provides the best explanation for what we can observe, then the belief that it exists is what is rational. The fact that the thing itself is not technically observable does not make doubting its existence rational.What’s more, the atoms were seen with an electron microscope. But electrons are themselves unobservable. How can an electron microscope reveal an atom if electrons are not real? This leads us to what is famously known as Hilary Putnam’s “miracle argument.” It’s (not) a miraclePhilosopher Hilary Putnam’s miracle argument is somewhat famous. Basically, he argued that a scientific theory being able to repeatedly make successful predictions—even about unobservables—without being at least approximately true would require a “miracle.” In other words, it would be such an improbable occurrence that it could not rationally be believed—the better explanation for why scientific theories about unobservables make the right predictions is because the unobservable entities and structures they hypothesize exist.Van Fraassen has addressed this argument. Indeed, in his original article, where he references Alison Gopnik’s point about orgasms not being “necessary for procreation” even though the desire for orgasm “drives the creation of progeny,” he is pointing to his own argument about how organisms are not naturally selected by evolution to get true beliefs; to the extent that belief-forming processes are selected for, the ones that are selected are the ones that are useful for survival—not the ones that produce true beliefs. In the same way, van Fraassen argues, scientific theories are accepted, not because they are true, but because they aren’t falsified; they make successful predictions; that’s what makes them “stick around.” So, the fact that they make successful predictions (and thus became accepted) is not a reason to think they are true.This argument is similar to C. S. Lewis’s “argument from reason,” which he used to argue against evolution: “The truth of evolution undercuts our ability to know that it is true.” Lewis’ argument famously failed; Elizabeth Anscombe, by Lewis’s own admission, demolished Lewis in a debate on the topic, and I have explained elsewhere why modified versions of the argument fail as well. In short, it’s because it fails to recognize that a belief-forming process can make an organism more likely to survive because it reliably produces true beliefs. It is therefore not the case that beliefs generated by naturally selected belief-forming processes are automatically false or unjustified.In the same way, the reason a theory “sticks around” could be because it’s not falsified, because it “makes correct predictions.” But the reason it makes correct predictions is most likely because it is true. (In pointing this out, I am echoing the arguments of Musgrave, Lipton, Psillos, and Kitcher, who refuted van Fraassen’s argument and analogy long before his 2024 article.) It would be a huge coincidence that it could do so without being true. And that is the point of Putnam’s miracle argument. Thus, contrary to van Fraassen’s suggestion, the mere fact that a theory’s predictive success is why it “sticks around” or “becomes accepted” in the scientific community is not a reason to be skeptical about its truth. ConclusionLet me close by saying something about the fact that empiricists don’t doubt the truth of all scientific theories, just the ones that hypothesize unobservables. In today’s society, this theory is dangerous to espouse publicly. The nuance between being skeptical about all of science, and just the highly technical theories about unobservables, is guaranteed to be lost to the average reader. And there is so much unjustified skepticism and doubt about the findings of science and experts that a headline like “Science Does Not Describe Reality” could easily fuel the anti-science movement, worsen climate change denial and cause the next pandemic.This is why I believe it was important to still respond to van Fraassen’s article, a full two years after he wrote it. Not only, as I have argued, does it represent a philosophically inaccurate view of how scientific reasoning works and what scientific reasoning can do, but it is a dangerous view to boot. It should thus be rejected.
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