On the literary menu this time: The disturbing past of statistics ... the intriguing past of textiles ... the hidden cost of flour ... and how we view dining out.
Other Science News
Polling is more art than science. Once again, American pollsters have shown that they aren't as good as we thought.
For your consideration this time 'round: An American woodworker ... the neurology of being in "the flow" ... a guide to reading in the tsunami of information and misinformation ... and a consideration of whether cells "think."
The first known death from a cyberattack raises the prospect that malware could be more than just a financial crime.
What do the firebombing of Dresden and the fires on the West Coast have in common? Embedded science, the Fall as a tonic, and a different history of packing the Supreme Court
I have long been a fan of Danny Meyer's restaurants, including Shake Shack and the Union Square Café. He's a man who understands food, organization, and hospitality. One of the great lessons the restauranteur teaches involves “service recovery” – fixing mistakes with food and food service. The take-away message remains that a customer's bad experience is often corrected and rewarded by how things conclude; in other words, the end counts more than the blip in the middle. And, turns out, that Meyer's observations reflect the way our brain is wired.
Natural vs artificial, John Brown's smoldering memory, and school is not a super-spreader event.
In this month's round-up, you'll find that we've been writing about and discussing a range of topics, from the ever-present dangers and complexities of the coronavirus to the need for accurate scientific journalism. And not only are we laser-focused on the deadly force of the tiny microbe, we've also got our eye on that big, wandering moose. What do we mean by that? Read on.
Is this the worst product ever, or what? A male "chastity belt" made of hardened steel. It's controlled by Bluetooth (only). No latch. No lock. There is no other way to get it off, except one, which is beyond ghoulish. Worse still, it can be hacked. All you never wanted to know about "The Cellmate."
For your review: COVID-19's second wave ... a history lesson about Presidential illness (spoiler alert: it's not Garfield, Wilson, or FDR) ... the unintended consequences of defending Darwin ... and different thinking about parenting.
Social science describes several views of the hierarchy of our societies. There's the near-Darwinian dog-eat-dog concept of dominance. Then there are the more leadership-driven ones, where individuals respect and defer to those in charge. Leadership hierarchies can evolve from election, regulation or prestige – where influence flows from the leader's eminence. The truth is that social hierarchies are a bit of all these abstractions.
Here’s a song about living in the time of COVID. Sing along. Laugh, Throw things. Whatever.