November 22, 2025 — A rupture of public trust occured this week. Information on the CDC website changed overnight, without input from scientists, to espouse the anti-vaccine agenda of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Specifically, the website now says “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the […]
January 21, 2025 — In case you missed it, we are going through a transition in American government. Unlike four years ago, this one is peaceful and we can look forward to four years of a different approach to government in the United States. One of the most unusual facets of this turning point was an eminent scientist, Anthony […]
January 13, 2021 — Mistakes can be hard to admit. We see vivid examples. Someone makes a grievous error and yet claims their actions were “totally appropriate.” Even though they’re obviously wrong. Likewise, when a journal makes a mistake by publishing a flawed paper, a retraction can be quite difficult. But that’s precisely what Scientific Reports did yesterday. The […]
December 21, 2020 — We started this new decade “pretty sure” about stories that would grab headlines this year. But we also said we should be “ready for surprises.” That was probably our most accurate prediction. Little did we know then, a new coronavirus was already at work. Thus it turned out that, more than anything, a pandemic made […]
November 15, 2020 — Perhaps you have noticed that people will believe what they want. Objective truth often seems to be a scarce commodity. Right now, arguments about misinformation and disinformation are dominating much of our political discourse. So this seems like a good time to consider that sometimes lies are quite appealing. Because we face daily decisions about […]
September 27, 2020 — The coronavirus pandemic has brought many surprising developments. Who knew that face masks could become a weird type of political brand? But even odder is the intersection of wellness, conspiracy theories, and new age spirituality – or conspirituality. You thought QAnon was a alt-right thing? Well, it’s time to catch up with current events. QAnon […]
August 29, 2020 — It seems today the mistrust of official health advice and spread of “alternative” treatments for COVID-19 are as frightening as the virus itself. How is it that so many people are ill-informed (and seemingly choose to be so) about the pandemic, despite decades of compulsory science education? Of course we are entering a post-truth era […]
