On Plagiarism and Related Issues
Better tools make it easier to detect most types of plagiarism than in even the recent past. But where should gatekeepers go with that?
Read more...Category Archives: Science and the scientific method
Book Review: The Secrets of Earth’s ‘Silvery Sister’
Earth may orbit the sun, but Rebecca Boyle argues that our planet cannot be understood without considering the moon.
Read more...When Science Meets Power: A Review
A look at what Covid-19 revealed was wrong about science (or more accurately, “the science”, and what might be done.
Read more...Where Do Living Creatures Get Their Sense of Rhythm?
Weighing the evidence for the idea that humans are not alone in having rhythm.
Read more...Regulatory Fight Over Ultraprocessed Foods Starting in the US
There’s controversy over how good a proxy the degree of food processing is for the nutritional value of food. Nevertheless, there is also substantial evidence that the category of ultraprocessed, which includes some arguably not-bad offerings like whole grain bread,1 contribute in a big way to bad health outcomes. The US, with its large food […]
Read more...Advances in Mind-Decoding Technologies Raise Hopes (and Worries)
If you are worried about spying on your devices, consider that mind-reading technology is already showing meaningful results.
Read more...Science on Trial, Part 2: An Immodest Proposal
In a variant of “follow the money,” some recommendations of how to lead with money, as in reform science research by reforming funding.
Read more...The Curious Joy of Being Wrong – Intellectual Humility Means Being Open to New Information and Willing to Change Your Mind
On the value of cultivating intellectual humility.
Read more...Science on Trial, Part 1
A new paper dissects how the Covid crisis demonstrated the failings in how science is practiced now. But are its suggestions for improvement bold enough?
Read more...Both the Flu and RSV Are Airborne Aerosols, Just Like Covid (So CDC and “Droplet Dogma” Are Wrong Yet Again)
A survey of the literature on how RSV and the flu are transmitted, show that, like Covid, they too are tranmitted as airborne aerosols.
Read more...Plastic Is Here to Stay. Can It Be Made More Sustainably?
Redesigning plastic requires making trade-offs between cost, scalability, emissions, toxicity, and more. But how about using less?
Read more...‘A Sick Joke’: Six Ways of Looking at a COP
Making sense of this COP means looking at optics and interests, and sadly not outcomes.
Read more...Patents and Intellectual Property in Biomedical Science: A History in Two Tales
How the US licensing of NIH and other government funded drug and biomedical research became a grift for Big Pharma.
Read more...Do Masks Work During the Pandemic? Scientists Say “Yes.” Secondary Reviews of Clinical Trials Say “No.” So, Which Is It?
Four authors with top statistical chops, including Yaneer Bar-Yam and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, stomp all over the anti-mask Cochrane Report.
Read more...Book Review: Tackling the Riddle of Free Will
Two provocative books explore whether humans have “freee will,” as in control over their personalities, actions, and fates.
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