I read scientific articles for a living. They are frequently needlessly complex and have a stilted style about them. Evidently, communication through the written word is not part of scientists’ training. It should be.
science literacy
TV medical dramas tell compelling, heartfelt stories about doctors and their patients. They're also chock-full of inaccuracies that distort our understanding of science and medicine.
Large segments of the science community have endorsed outright absurdities in recent years—biological sex is a "spectrum," obesity is a social construct, men can get pregnant. The list goes on. I make the case at BigThink that science is rapidly destroying its credibility by genuflecting on progressive political activists.
We've all seen the ads for genetic testing. They seem to come in two forms. In one, testing tells me more about the ancestors I expected to find; in the other, I have to exchange my kilt for lederhosen. A new study looks at one way in which people respond to these findings.
A new study reveals that nearly 40% of Europeans want to "live in a world where chemical substances don't exist." Another 82% didn't know that table salt is table salt, whether it is extracted from the ocean or made synthetically.
At one time, "The Three R's" (reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic) were considered the marks of a person who possessed at least a rudimentary education. How about as part of national education reform, we bring back that concept – and update it to include civics, economics, science, and technology? We could call it CRRREST.
Genetically engineered crops (GMOs) are never far from the news these days, what with groups like EWG and NRDC, the organic lobby, and environmentalists of all stripes inveighing against them for a host of implausible reasons.