Upon initiating the design of my Yal
e College Residential seminar class, Biomedical Science in the Media, I scoured the interwebs for good and bad science reporting. One of the notable sites I came across, which later served as an inspiration for this blog, was Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science website. In his blog, Dr. Goldacre discusses and discredits science that is inappropriately reported and often misconstrued in the news. Along the way he presents the facts, if they are known, and highly educated conjecture if they aren’t. Goldacre is also an active broadcaster, campaigner, medical doctor, and academic that still manages to find the time to update his blog and write books. His first book, Bad Science, has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide and just happened to be on my personal summer reading list.
Category Archives: Cloudy Media
The Ebola Frenzy
Earlier this month, Facebook and Twitter were loaded with posts like this one from Donald Trump:
There was immediate and wide-spread panic among U.S. citizens, perpetuated by reports like this, and this.
At first, I too, was alarmed at the thought of bringing such a deadly disease to America. Then I thought about the virus life cycle, how it infects humans, and how it spreads and I was, at least somewhat, relieved. Continue reading The Ebola Frenzy