“Trump Supporters Distrust Science. We Need Ways to Reach Them”
The elites, including those in science, seem to think that their loss of legitimacy can be solved by messaging. Good luck with that.
Read more...Category Archives: Science and the scientific method
Coffee Break: Science Update, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The Good, Part the First: Basic Science Has the Answer, Once Again. T cells of the immune system are responsible for the establishment of self-tolerance and adaptive immune function. T cells come from the thymus, which is mammals basically disappears early in life in a process called involution. Understanding how the thymus might regenerate has […]
Read more...Book Review: Harnessing the Power of Dreams and Nightmares
In “Nightmare Obscura,” scientist Michelle Carr argues that our dreams are essential pillars of who we are.
Read more...Coffee Break: American Science Shattered
American Science, Shattered. So says is the title of Part 1 of a ten part series in STAT News. Since STAT articles are usually paywalled, I will summarize them here as they appear. Unlike most accounts of the current state of science in the United States, the authors of this article have found scientists who […]
Read more...The Point of No Return for the Warm Water Atlantic Current Is Coming Up Fast
Just the way objects in your rear view mirror are closer than you think, so too are tipping points like the slowdown of the Gulf Stream.
Read more...Blockbuster San Francisco Lawsuit Targets Food Industry Giants Over Ultraprocessed Foods, with Extensive Documentation of Health Damage and Success in Producing Addiction
A case by the San Francisco attorney documents Big Food’s use of ultraprocessed food to create addicts in a repeat of the tobacco playbook.
Read more...Trump Administration Supporting Bayer at Supreme Court Over Monsanto/Roundup Deal, Savaged by Investors for Wealth Destruction in the Name of Executive Preservation
Bayer saddled itself with the Monsanto/Roundup garbage barge over fierce investor protest, and is now seeking Supremes relief.
Read more...Coffee Break: Science and Belief, Working AI, ADHD Update, and Research Support
Part the First: When Science Becomes a Matter of Belief Things Go Sideways. The current Secretary of Health and Human Services is getting his way. This is not a surprise. The President hired him to “go wild on health” and he is doing just that. Some have complained that as Secretary of HHS that RFKJr […]
Read more...Heavy Metals Contamination Fears Go Mainstream with Infant Formula and Protein Powders
Heavy metals are a legitimate food safety concern. That has created a mini-industry of conflicted measurement and certification players.
Read more...Even the Wall Street Journal’s Editors Have Had It With RFK, Jr.’s Anti-Vax Con Job
Even the Wall Street Journal has had it with RFK Jr. as he doubles down on lies to Congress , his campaign against vaccines, and corruption
Read more...Coffee Break: CDC – Vaccines – Autism, Oh, My!; Wellness; Prioritized Science; Very Ancient Art; and MAGA
Part the First: CDC Finally “Decides” that Vaccines Cause Autism. In news that will surprise absolute nobody, while pleasing some and causing despair in others, CDC says the mountains of data that show vaccines do NOT cause autism is not evidence-based: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday publicly reversed its stance that […]
Read more...Human Gene Editing and the CRISPR Revolution
An overview of recent progress with the gene-editing CRISPR technology, its promise and risks.
Read more...Public Money, Private Innovation: How Government Funding Built – and Sustains – America’s Technological Leadership
More evidence that publicly funded research is disproportionately productive and hence critical to innovation.
Read more...What the Air You Breathe May Be Doing to Your Brain
Why it behooves you to care about air quality, specifically PM2.5 pollution.
Read more...Coffee Break: Wither Sport, Unwellness, Chimpanzee Metacognition, The Sokal Hoax, and a Political Temblor
Part the First: Wither Sport in This Modern World? The World Series ended last week with two games for the ages. These were the only MLB baseball games I watched all season, and as a baseball man of the old school, I picked well. Both games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue […]
Read more...