Science & Society

Sarah Green Carmichael, in a Bloomberg News item titled “You don’t need more resilience, you need friends, and money” debunks the business gurus who tell us all resilience comes from inside us. Sarah’s thesis is that our environments determine our resilience, or at least can shield us from the traumas that necessitate resilience. Don’t put yourself in high-stress situations, she advises, especially if it means moving to a city where you have no support structure. Take a less stressful job, in a town where you have help from family and friends, and where the cost of living is cheaper. Then all…

From tomorrow onwards (once or twice a week until February 5), I will be giving an online course on the topic of "Statistical Methods for Fundamental Science" for the INSTATS organization. This is a 5-day, 15-hour set of lectures that I put together to suit the needs of students and researchers who work in any scientific discipline, who wish to improve their understanding and practice of statistical methods for data analysis.Until tomorrow (January 15) at 16 CET you can still register to the course at the seminar page of the INSTATS site, but I have to forewarn you - unlike the introductory…

A job interview, some years back, at No Name University (NNU). I was the candidate. The diversity question, pitched right on schedule. The surprise was who asked it. Of the seven search committee members (plus the search firm rep) only one was a person of color, and guess who they stuck with asking the diversity question? A clear signal I would not want to work at their institution, but I gave it my best game anyway. “I’ve lived in six countries, worked in several more, on all continents, and visited 55 countries,” I replied. “I’ve learned to respect all kinds of people, though unlike Will…

The online discourse of our time has come to the issue of plagiarism. Now Claudine Gay and Neri Oxman of Harvard and MIT have been accused of plagiarism for what are basically political reasons. Gay was president of Harvard and did not condemn students who protest against Israels actions in Gaza in ways that may cross a line into anti-semitism. A man named Bill Ackman a billionaire donor to Harvard is the husband of Neri Oxman so others have gone after her. In both of these cases what is being called Plagiarism is not plagiarism. Both of them are innocent of that and are at worst guilty of…

Though every medical school and residency program has sexual harassment training and methods for reporting, over half of medical interns surveyed from June 2016 to June 2017 data in the Intern Health Study say they have experienced sexual harassment. Self-reported demographic characteristics and survey were from June 2016 to June 2017 data in the Intern Health Study, an ongoing National Institutes of Health–funded repeated cohort study of postgraduate year 1 residents (interns) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Participants completed the shortened Sexual Experiences…

Jobs. Gates. Berners-Lee. They opened our worlds to wonders: Graphical user interfaces, PCs, the World Wide Web. They were my heroes, and probably yours, deservedly so. Then thirty years passed, and the tech overlords transformed our data privacy into their astonishing wealth. Fair enough, perhaps, but what have they done with their billions? A few have turned to space exploration, though what they’ve achieved there has been more performative art than specific benefit to humanity. Some have given away money, creating a “new philanthropy” that’s so meddlesome it does no good at all. Others…

The federal government now mandates and subsidizes electric cars. Like with similar solar panels, ethanol, and compact fluorescent light bulb schemes, science shows it isn't helping anything except the companies getting taxpayer money. With government providing corporate welfare, companies can cut lower-profit lines, including of electric cars, and focus on the fattest margins. Government funding is so lucrative that Buick dealerships are...plummeting? Yes they are, they have declined 47 percent this year. The reason is because General Motors is buying out anyone who does not want to 'play…

Christopher F Rufo has accused the president of Harvard of plagiarism in an effort so clumsy that his own case provides proof that he has no idea what plagiarism even is.   To use someone's ideas and build on them one must quote or paraphrase them, cite them in the text, and the citation should be accompanied with a reference that points to the original source.   In natural science it is quite often the case that people come up with the same basic idea independently.   In social science this can happen as well.  It is also the case that when describing the…

Cosmetics have been used for millennia, and in every family, there are mythical beauty treatments, and all over social media, there are skincare routines that belong in a dystopian science fiction novel, and not on your skin. Dr. Michelle Wong, of the Lab Muffin Beauty Science blog, has made it her mission to debunk the many myths we have been subjected to, and to promote evidence-based beauty treatments. Her latest interview, with Wired magazine, highlights just how important science communication is in the cosmetics industry. Cosmetics, Unregulated and Unscientific for Most of Its History…

In the United States, 40 percent of births are to unmarried women, and there are nearly 13.6 million single parents raising over 21 million children. In 84 percent of cases, the single-parent homes are women. They are often low income. That doesn't mean the fathers aren't involved. Over than half of unmarried low-income couples with children have positive co-parenting relationships and those supportive relationships were linked to their children showing more empathy, less emotional insecurity and fewer behavior problems. There are certainly challenges. Having low income means the cost of…