For content related to science

Diversity in academia

admin
17 May 2025
There is no doubt that the political views seen in academia do not represent the full spectrum of American politics. Academia leans left. Conservatives respond by complaining that academia is 'ideologically homogenous' (sic) because they have been excluded based on their political views. If conservatives want to assign blame for their low numbers in academia, perhaps they should start by looking in the mirror.
 

An updated Covid risk calculus

admin
17 Dec 2023

Covid is still very much with us, and will remain a significant public health problem for the foreseeable future. However, the Covid landscape has changed substantially over the nearly 4 years since it arrived. I recently spent some time reviewing and updating my assessment of my risk and my process for deciding what I am comfortable doing.  

I will start with my understanding of my personal risks, which I divide into three categories: acute or short-term risks, chronic risk related to long Covid (PASC), and long-term risks from Covid’s impact on other disease processes.

Using the CRAP test

admin
28 Apr 2021
I spend a great deal of time these days keeping up with the tsunami of information about SARS-CoV-2 (the virus) and COVID-19 (the illness), with a goal of sharing valid and useful information with others. I've taken to suggesting that people identify crap with the CRAP test:
 
Currency - the timeliness of the information:
● When was the information published or last updated?
● Have newer articles been published on your topic?

Responding to the 'but 99% survive' argument

admin
3 Feb 2021
Among the many candidates for arguments against taking action to protect our families, friends, colleagues, neighbors, communities and country from COVID, none make me angrier than the "but 99% survive" gambit. This argument is numerically illiterate (Mark Twain said “It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so”), racist, ableist, and inhumane. Let me explain.
 

The snowflake man

PeterElias
1 Dec 2012

Winter is coming, and with it – snow. Some of us love it and some of us hate it. And some study it. Read this story about the life and work of Wilson Bentley, a self-educated farmer from a small American town who, by combining a bellows camera with a microscope, managed to photograph the dizzyingly intricate and diverse structures of the snow crystal.

 

 

Subscribe to Science