Interview: James Poskett on Reframing the History of Science
In “Horizons,” a historian of science highlights the crucial achievements of non-Western scientists and thinkers.
Read more...Category Archives: Science and the scientific method
How Do Painkillers Actually Kill Pain? From Ibuprofen to Fentanyl, It’s About Meeting the Pain Where It’s At
A layperson’s overview of pain channels and how painkillers interefere with them.
Read more...Growing Revolt Among Medical Practitioners Against Vaccinating Toddlers for Covid
The campaign to admnister Covid vaccines to under five year olds is not going over well with quite a few medical professionals.
Read more...Why Won’t Academia Let Go of ‘Publish or Perish’?
From new PhDs to full professors, the pressure to publish entrenches scientists in the current system, making it resistant to change.
Read more...Global Supply Chains Rattled by Winds of War
An analysis of the concentration of key commodities in supply chains shows why the Russia sanctions are having some outsized effects.
Read more...Attention Deficit Disorder, The Anticapitalist Condition
Is this hyperbole: “Attention deficit disorder is the neurological condition of late capitalism.”
Read more...Plastic Watch: Nanoplastics and Coffee Cups
Yet another reason to dispense with disposable coffee cups: nanoplastics, which are ingested when the coffee is drunk. The health implications of their ubiquity is unknown and has not yet been well-studied.
Read more...Abortion Drugs Fundamental to Ancient Economies, Argues Historian
Ancient and medieval herbal abortifacients were effective and important to those economies.
Read more...California Attorney General Rob Bonta Launches Investigation into Role Played by Fossil Fuel and Petrochemicals Companies in Causing Global Plastics Pollution Crisis
California AG Rob Bonta launches investigation into the plastics industry’s half-century campaign to promote recycling myths.
Read more...Various Covid Updates
Some Covid news, not encouraging but not yet alarming.
Read more...Book Review: An Urgent Plea for Mental Health Care Reform
In “Healing,” psychiatrist and former NIMH head Thomas Insel argues for a more nuanced plan to fight mental illness.
Read more...Financial Times Screeches at China’s “Propaganda” for Sticking to Zero Covid Policy
A new article on how China is sticking to its zero Covid guns is revealing, and not in a good way.
Read more...Thawing Permafrost Is Roiling the Arctic Landscape, Driven by a Hidden World of Changes Beneath the Surface as the Climate Warms
Not only is permafrost releasing methane, but when it melts, it removes a key support, leading to collapsing soil and loss of lake drainage.
Read more...IPCC Adaptation Report: It’s Later Than You Think
“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5C,” IPCC Working Group III co-chair Jim Skea announced.
Read more...Arctic Greening Won’t Save the Climate – Here’s Why
Why arctic greening is yet another feel-good idea that does not pan out in practice.
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