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What is science? Is it reserved only for scientists? How does science work? While commonly perceived as just a "subject," in reality, it extends far beyond that and can be practiced by anyone, including you. Moreover, science is ingrained in every aspect of our lives. It's responsible for the smartphones and computers we use daily, the cars, trains, and buses we depend on for our commutes, the vaccines that have safeguarded us from diseases since childhood, and the electricity powering our homes and heating our showers. I bet you could hardly imagine life without electricity, but just 300 years ago, that was the reality for the world. Thanks to science, our lives have been transformed tremendously, and this transformation continues, with its influence on our world ever increasing. Therefore, this means that now is ever more so important for every single one of us to understand what science is about, how it knows what it knows, and why it works.

 

However, based on both anecdotal and empirical evidence, it has come to my attention that despite Singapore having one of the most educated population in the world, scientific literacy still appears to be lacking even among its undergraduates and especially more so, among its general population. Furthermore, across the world, science is frequently doubted by the public as evidenced by the prevalence of denialists of climate change, that is caused by human activity, anti-vaxxers, space exploration denialists,  evolution-denialists, young-earth creationists, superstition and supernaturalism, and pseudosciences such as astrology, MBTI, alternative medicine, energy healing, faith healing, law of attraction and numerous others. Moreover, in this current digital age where misinformation is rampant, many struggle to evaluate evidence of claims. Therefore, in a world where it becomes seemingly difficult to discern what's true or false, there lies a critical need to intensify efforts to educate and cultivate a scientifically literate Singapore society. Hence, this platform was created in December 2023 to serve as a digital space for me to write about various science topics as a pastime. Apart from just being my hobby, my goal is also to enhance readers' understanding of science, emphasise the necessity for everyone to adopt scientific thinking, enabling them to critically evaluate and discern accurate information from misinformation, and distinguish science from pseudoscience. Additionally, I aspire to achieve these goals while sharing the wonder and beauty that science offers, making the exploration of science a captivating and enriching experience for readers.

 

Returning to the question of what science is? Science is (1) a method of inquiry to understand the world; (2) an ever-changing collective body of knowledge and understanding acquired through systematic inquiry, observation, experimentation, and analysis; (3) a cultural and social activity that shapes society; (4) a fundamental human endeavor driven by curiosity and the innate desire to understand the world and our place in it; (5) not based on authority, tradition, faith, or personal recounts; and (6) based only on evidence that is empirical, reproducible, public, and falsifiable. With these definitions, I hope you have realised that science is also "a way of thinking", which is why I mentioned at the start that science can be practiced by anyone in their everyday life. I hope my writings will help improve your understanding of science while enabling you to learn new fascinating knowledge as we will be exploring deep and interesting topics such as how the universe came to be, how did life originated, where humans came from, and the large body of independent evidences that support these claims.

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To pique your interest, the background behind this text that you're seeing, is an image captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It was launched into space on Christmas 2021. Our solar system consists of eight planets orbiting a single star that we call the 'Sun,' nestled within a minuscule portion of a single galaxy, called the Milky Way galaxy. Keeping that in mind, each dot in this background image that you're seeing represents a single galaxy. It is estimated that our observable universe comprises a staggering 2 trillion galaxies, equivalent to 2 thousand billion (represented as a 2 followed by 12 zeroes). Within each of these galaxies, there are approximately 100 billion stars. I invite you to do the math to find out how many stars there are in the observable universe, while noting that our massive 'Sun' is just ONE of those stars. Here's another fascinating fact: about 97% of the atoms in your body are composed of elements such as carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, all of which have been formed through stellar nucleosynthesis—nuclear fusion inside stars. We, alongside all other forms of life on Earth, are made up of atoms that originated from ancient stars that underwent supernova explosions, making us literally composed of stardust. Take a moment to contemplate the massive expanse of the universe and our ancient connectedness with the stars, and all life forms—it's a remarkable demonstration of the awe-inspiring wonders that science unveils to humanity. What's even more spectacular and important is that these facts are true and based on scientific evidence, not on any kind of superstitious myths. I find these facts to be deeply poetic, and I hope it evokes the same sense of awe in you as they did for me when I first learned about them. Now, isn't science wonderful?