Humans are natural-born storytellers, but with science, connecting the dots is storytelling too, and that causes a lot of confusion. The Malthusians report dwindling food and rising population, can seaweed be an answer? Finally, here is a story connecting the following dots: the Cold War, Supermarkets, market distortions, Walmart, and Amazon.
Other Science News
Here's what's on tap this week: Why are seatbelts and airbags designed based on male morphology? Banning plastics is gaining traction, so are unintended consequences. Mosquitos can impact us culturally, as you need to look no further than a gin and tonic. Finally, a bit of eye candy: What those tiny holes in medicine capsules really do.
Just like airplanes, surgeons' on-time performance can improve patient outcomes. Can scheduling by algorithm make the operating room more efficient?
Surgical care has been compared (at least metaphorically) to airline cockpit crews. But can we learn more about how doctors function from musical ensembles?
We are officially in the midst of Summer's Dog Days. Here at ACSH, we have been howling with joy due to the media coverage we have garnered in our tireless effort to promote good science. Here's where we appeared in recent days.
Here's what's in store this time: A bit of beautiful writing (really a meditation) on working with your hands. A possible explanation for why some objects become tainted, i.e. wrapped in the shadows of its origins, like "blood diamonds." Wealth work in the gig economy. And finally, another rapidly diminishing resource: sand.
Here's what's on tap: a video on the Top 5 poisons from the American Chemical Society; a look at how Darwin's theory keeps evolving; and Boeing's 737Max is a safety problem that's now becoming a big economic issue (and who do you think will be picking up that tab?) And finally, the Cosmic Crisp (pictured) coming to your grocery this fall.
There's more tree cover on Earth now than there was 35 years ago. Why? Because of technology and wealth. If we want to save the planet we should encourage more of both.
Much of the country is experiencing a nasty summer heat wave. So, be sure to stay cool and hydrated -- and take comfort in the fact that Americans are more likely to die in winter than in summer. From the relative safety of our air-conditioned offices, we have been toiling away, ensuring that evidence-based science gets into the hands of the media. Here's where we appeared in recent days.
A weekly look at what the Internet has to offer us. This week, it's our friend mitochondria and anti-oxidants; how science "news" jumps from harm to harm; Siddhartha Mukherjee on CAR-T therapies; and a very interesting fact out of the European Union that we bet you didn't hear about.
A reader's comment led me to a very human picture of a scientist conflicted with the research he had done on GMOs. I ran across a whole different approach to debunking, specifically Netflix's "What the Health." And finally, an article describing how our foods have changed so dramatically. Not from "industrialization" but the gentle nudges of farmers for millennia who've domesticated our crops.
A weekly look at what's also interesting, even though it didn't make it into Dispatch or onto our website.