If you want to determine how well a particular medicine works, what’s the worst possible type of study you can do?
Category: Science
The Trump Administration’s Fight To Fund Scientists
“If the universities truly believe that it takes 60-70% of a research grant to provide facilities, utilities, and other basic support, then that is easy to prove by opening the…
Why Molecular Biology Labs Are Almost Always Stocked With Salmon Sperm DNA
fun fact – DNA was originally isolated from salmon sperm. Swiss physician and biologist Friedrich Miescher accomplished the feat in 1869, dubbing his discovery “nuclein.” Salmon sperm was at the…
How a PNAS Study Confuses Institutional Authority with Truth
What the paper actually demonstrates—despite its intentions—is that institutional authority no longer guarantees attention. Users are selective. They are skeptical. They are increasingly uninterested in being told what is true…
Nature Has “Abandoned Science for Social Justice” Says Richard Dawkins
Top scientific journal Nature has “abandoned science for social justice”, Richard Dawkins has said as he backed a letter written by Chemistry Professor Anna Krylov which accused the journal of “social engineering”.…
Sugar is Sugar is Sugar — Part 2
Villainizing HFCS is an outgrowth of the more general War on Sugar. Acting under the pretense (or misunderstanding) that HFCS is “high” in fructose, a great deal of research has…
Sugar is Sugar is Sugar — Part 1
“High-fructose corn syrup ‘is just a formula for making you obese and diabetic,’ RFK Jr. has said.” [ source ] That’s the narrative in the Wild and Wacky World of…
The Pitfalls of Observational Studies
Does poverty cause crime? Or does crime cause poverty? Or do they feed off one other in a vicious cycle? Or does another factor or a combination of other factors…
Why Trump‘s ‘Gold Standard’ Executive Order is Essential to Restoring Truth in Science
The path forward is clear: federal agencies must adopt rigorous, transparent and falsifiable standards to ensure that science serves truth, not power. Critics may decry the order as political overreach,…
Defund The National Academy of Sciences!
“It is galling that the leadership of the institution makes that kind of money,” says one senior program officer with a decade of experience at the institution. I can’t think…
Trump’s Science Reform Sparks Outrage: Why Activists Cry ‘Hitler’ Over Rigorous Research Standards
There is nothing out of the ordinary in the order to those immersed in the traditional scientific process and without an ideological axe to grind. But in the climate sphere…
A New Era for American Science: The Gold Standard is Back
With this action, the United States reasserts itself as a leader not just in scientific capability, but in scientific integrity. The Gold Standard is more than a label. It is…
Science or Politics? Why We Can’t Tell Anymore
I wrote some time ago about how figures like Anthony Fauci, Michael Mann, Susan Michie, also Boris Johnson, Chris Whitty etc. etc., from 2020 onwards played cups-and-ball with science and…
STEVE MILLOY: What Exactly Have NIH Grants Got Us?
But the critical questions are: “What does NIH-funded research actually accomplish?” and “Are the accomplishments worth the money?” The answers, at least according to NIH itself, seem to be shockingly…
Narrative Based Evidence Making`
It is far easier for journalists, print or radio or television, to use a pre-determined storyline than to do real original journalism, easier when told by one’s editor to “write…
The Flawed ICAT Hurricane Loss Dataset: A Call for Scientific Integrity in Climate Research
Pielke’s study meticulously documents how the ICAT dataset, initially based on his team’s carefully curated hurricane loss data (Pielke et al. 2008; Weinkle et al. 2018), was altered by International…
NASA Jettisons Ex-DEI Chief After Failing to Rebrand Effort to Evade Trump Order
Meanwhile, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has some great projects lined up for 2025, which will likely be more successful without DEI interference.
Genetic Scientists Mix Dire Wolf and Grey Wolf Genes, Producing Ethics Debates
And while the puppies are certainly cute, the branding of this as a “de-exctinction” is questionable.
OOPS —UPFs are Not Addictive
The narrative that ultra-processed foods high in fat and sugar can be as addictive as drugs of abuse based on their potential to elicit an outsized dopamine response in brain…
The Crisis of Unreliable Science: A Pharmacologist’s Call for Radical Reform
In the end, Szabo’s message is clear: science is drowning in waste and fakery, and it’s time to stop pretending otherwise. His solutions may not be perfect, but they’re a…