Sometimes, even we are surprised by some of the new anti-vaccine ideas that make the rounds. But this one, which was hatched on Twitter, maybe the nuttiest one to date. Thankfully, the pro-science community on this social media site won't let the person who started this imbecilic idea to get away with anything.
Other Science News
Shingles develops in one out of every three adults who've previously had chickenpox. Luckily there's not one, but two vaccines, against the painful rash. So why aren't adults getting the shot?
With so many well-respected medical schools in Boston, you just might assume that physicians there are likely among the best paid in the nation. But that isn't nearly the case. In 2017, the Boston metro area produced the ninth-lowest average pay for physicians in the U.S., according to a recently-released salary analysis.
Theranos had been staying afloat on the waves of Elizabeth's Holmes' smoke-and-mirrors act. But what its famed CEO lacked was evidence to support the technology upon which the would-be, blood-test innovator was founded. Unfortunately for Holmes – some, like the SEC – call that fraud. And that's something even Holmes couldn't talk her way out of.
More than 2/3 of animals are transported on just four airlines: Alaska, Delta, American, and United. United was responsible for transporting a plurality (27%) of all animals in 2017, so we would expect -- from sheer volume alone -- for more pets to die on United flights. So, the question is, "Do a statistically disproportionate number of animals die on United?" In 2017, sadly, the answer is yes.
A complete hoax was circulated among Russian state-controlled media as legitimate news, and then the Western media fell for it. Sure, some of them provided "caveats." But the point is that Russian propaganda has so infiltrated the public discourse that it appears regularly in mainstream Western media outlets. And that's shocking.
What better time to learn more about shuteye than "sleep awareness week"? A new study found that not only are humans sleeping less than other primates, but we're also not getting the sleep that we should be getting. Ugh. Sleep awareness week is exhausting! It might be best to take a nap before reading this one.
There are millions of people receiving information about their DNA, as it pertains to their ancestry and/or health. A new test, for three mutations in two genes associated with higher rates of certain cancers, recently received FDA approval. But when it comes to the "information provided," what does that really mean?
Dr. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, a Nobelist. started a foundation in Germany to give female grad students and postdocs, who are also mothers, extra money for housekeeping and/or extra childcare. What an amazing idea! Now, we just need to do it everywhere else.
This summer, a new mosquito emoji will be available for use in your texts and tweets. Global health advocates hope that it'll be used to raise awareness about mosquito-borne diseases. Get ready to give your messages about malaria, Zika, dengue, and yellow fever a little more buzz.
Wheat is one of our most important crops. Unlike corn and soy, GMO versions are not sold. There are several reasons for that, but one is the complexity of the wheat genome and challenges of altering it. Now, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing may have created a bigger, better wheat.
Pollsters have taken a beating the last few years. Getting Brexit and the 2016 U.S. presidential election wrong were spectacular failures that shook the public's faith in prediction models.
The media is largely to blame. People like Nate Silver are often portrayed as oracles and polls as divinely inspired. Anyone who questions their accuracy is attacked for rejecting science. But polls aren't science. Instead, they are some combination of fancy math (statistics) and art. If the underlying assumptions are wrong, or if the sampling methods are biased, then polls will be inaccurate.