…and the corruption of scholarship.
I’ve been surprised to see criticism of this from academics in the hard sciences, like Sean Carroll.
Category Archives: Science And Society
Sputnik
It’s been 61 years now since that event upended U.S. space policy. It’s worth (re)reading a piece I wrote a few years ago at The New Atlantis, while we’re waiting for my most recent one to come on line. Sadly, it holds up pretty well, and I would make the same policy recommendations today.
A New Space-Radiation Issue
It will affect our innards.
I’d note that the main technology we need to deal with this is affordable transportation to allow adequate shielding.
Nutrition “Science”
A fraud is exposed, but it’s a much larger problem:
Data dredging is fairly common in health research, and especially in studies involving food. It is one reason contradictory nutrition headlines seem to be the norm: One week coffee, cheese and red wine are found to be protective against heart disease and cancer, and the next week a new crop of studies pronounce that they cause it. Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said that many researchers are under enormous pressure to churn out papers. One recent analysis found that thousands of scientists publish a paper every five days.
I liked this:
“P-hacking is a really serious problem,” said Dr. Ivan Oransky, a co-founder of Retraction Watch, who teaches medical journalism at New York University. “Not to be overly dramatic, but in some ways it throws into question the very statistical basis of what we’re reading as science journalists and as the public.”
You don’t say.
It goes far beyond nutrition. A lot of drug research is based on this sort of thing as well, including the statin scam.
Government Nutritional Advice
Maybe it should just stop giving it.
To paraphrase Inigo Montoya: It killed my father. It should prepare to die.
Hospital Food
There’s no doubt it could use a lot of improvement, but I think this is bogus:
Dr. Eisenberg says the jury is no longer out on the benefits of eating a more plant-based diet with less refined foods, sugar and red meat. A study published last year in JAMA estimated that nearly half of the deaths from heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes are caused by poor diet.
They are, but there’s zero evidence that red meant causes any of them. Patricia had to spend a night in the hospital for a procedure a few weeks ago, and her breakfast was terrible, nutritionally.
[Update a few minutes later]
Related: Incorrect diagnoses kill 80,000 people per year.
The medical profession gets far too much respect.
Senescent Cells
The evidence continues to accumulate that clearing them is very beneficial to health.
Timekeeping
This is an interesting history, but it makes me wonder how Huygens knew how long a second was to adjust the pendulum length.
The Greening Of The Earth
Few, if any, dispute that atmospheric CO2 levels have been increasing since the industrial revolution. What is in dispute is the effects of this. The prevailing media narrative is that “OMG we’re all gonna die!” but this is an interesting post.
A Sea Change In Dietary Advice
Low-carb should be the first approach in treating diabetes and obesity.
[Update a few minutes later]
Meanwhile, “Big Pasta” Barilla has been meddling in nutrition science.
[Sunday-morning update]
No, despite the headline, there is zero scientific evidence that listing calories on menus is helping people lose weight, and this article provides none. This “study” is nonsense. First, it’s self reporting. Second, it’s premised on the assumption, for which there is zero evidence, that counting calories is helpful, when calorie counting is a scientifically bogus concept, that assumes all calories are equal in their effects on metabolism. The kind of calories matter, and the way they measure calories, by literally burning food, is not how your body metabolizes calories, so it doesn’t even make sense thermodynamically.