Category Archives: Science and the scientific method

Mortality, Medical Coding and the (Purported) Drop in Hospital Readmission Rates

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, patient mortality, and a medical coding debacle

Listening to Nature: How Sound Can Help Us Understand Environmental Change

Sound is a powerful indicator of environmental degradation and an effective tool for developing more sustainable ecosystems.

Jane Sanders: Climate Crisis Critical Issue in 2020 Elections

In this Real News Network interview, Jane Sanders discusses the climate crisis and tells Paul Jay that voters shouldn’t support candidates who claim to be progressive, but don’t prioritize the fight against fossil fuel interests.

Machine Learning and Economics

Some economists contend that machine learning and AI can improve economics.

Michael Mann: We’re Already On Our Way to “Blowing Past” 1.5 Degrees Global Warming

How global warming is increasing at a faster rate than most realize.

New Study Highlights Collapse of Insect Populations

Very sobering news on the insect front. Species die-off is progressing faster than you probably thought.

Gaius Publius: IPCC Releases Climate Report — First Thoughts

The latest IPCC report says we are cooking our collective goose, and hardly anyone seems to react.

Fighting Opioid and Painkiller Addiction

How the misapplication of an early study on opioid addiction risk help pave the way for overly-casual prescription of these drugs.

Social Activism and the Economics of Mental Health

Is the recent vogue for social activity as a remedy for mental distress well founded?

Reproducibility Crisis Reaches All Randomised Controlled Trials

Social and medical sciences depend on randomised controlled trials, even though they harbor more assumptions and biases than commonly understood.

Eyewitness Sketches Provide ‘Stormy’ Results, Can Lead to False Convictions

On the shortcomings of eyewitness memories, and in particular, forensic sketches based them.

Beware the So-Called Mental Health “De-Stigmatization” Campaigns such as Make It OK and NAMI, for They Are Front Groups for Big Pharma

On the unsavory role of mental health advocacy groups.

Why the Problem Is Economics, Not Economists

A critique of the monoculture in economics.

Plastic Watch: Great Pacific Garbage Patch Grows

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a major plastic accumulation zone located between California and Hawaii, is growing at a rate greater than previously believed, according to a new scientific paper published last week.

How Cuba Became a Biopharma Juggernaut

Cuba’s entirely state-owned biopharmaceutical industry has been remarkably successful, and can serve as a model for other nations.