Science Journalism

I was listening to the Bald Scientist Podcast  and I was struck with a virtual epiphany moment. Professor Pagan is a researcher and instructor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, USA. He was interviewing a notable science communicator from Mumbai, India. The science journalist, Ms. Clarinda Cerejo, spoke passionately on the subject of bias in the media. The corrected terminology that she used was -- filter bubble . [A filter bubble is defined as that virtual space that people inadvertently fall into as they rely on ONE SOURCE or a FALSE SOURCE for their working knowledge -- it could be everyday knowledge of the world or specialized knowledge. Their views of the world become filtered by false information.] Ms. Cerejo is a trailblazer in the field of science journalism. She led the listeners on a tour de force explanation on how to escape toxic science. It begins with understanding toxic science is information that masquerades as the truth. It needs to be called out as a...

Many years ago I worked in the herbicide industry. I didn’t want to stay more than a year at ‘the company’ — however my wife, at the time, wanted me to stay longer. [An important object lesson: avoid anything that causes ambivalence when working in the sciences. Work in the sciences can be rewarding, allowing a good, living wage. If you are not happy with the job, find one that makes you happy. At that juncture of my fledgling science career, I wanted to teach chemistry and not be in the lab all day. However, processes of herbicide creation borrowed a lot from the medicinal chemistry creation of the past. It was an education I will never lose.] However to my benefit,  I learned the steps behind the creation of standard pharmaceuticals (circa 1986). As I labored to advance the corporate philosophy of creating herbicides that could out-perform standard pesticides of the mid-1980s, my mind wandered at times. I learned about a concept called QSAR— it was pioneered in part by scientist ...

Life, as we understand it, is complicated. One organism depends upon another. Bees need pollen. Plants must be pollinated to produce their fruit. Bacteria, in our gut, need to stay healthy with diets appropriate to our health. Moreover, bodies employ internal viruses and bacteria to maintain good health. Life on earth is closely inter-related.  However, viruses and bacteria have reputations as harmful to the lives of people, animals, and many living organisms. Viruses are known to make most people sick with colds. While the COVID-19 virus looks similar to the cold or the flu virus, at times the symptoms of the new virus can be deadly. At times, some of us appear indifferent or deny our culpability in the spread of the pandemic by not wearing a mask or refusing to be vaccinated. In many ways, this twisted nightmare where so many fail to believe or to trust science may become our ‘swan song.’ Earlier in the 20th century, technology and science enabled so many to leave behind the shac...

I do my best to keep up with the news by watching MSNBC-- I have many reasons for watching it rather than CNN or FOX-News. However my primary reason: I agree with much of what I hear. CNN is good source. However, FOX-News seems to dumb-down its viewers.  Anyhow, a couple of weeks ago I was listening to Rachel Maddow at her appointed time of 9pm EDT. She said something quite plain but profound-- there are other ways to treat COVID-19 infections. Prevention through vaccination may not be the only route. It struck me as strange-- so many unlucky souls have passed on but there are a lucky  few who have been given "mystery" treatments after infection. The former president (#45) happened to be one of them.  While I am unsure what the treatment cocktail consisted for the former president, I ran across an interesting post at the American Chemical Society-- an antibacterial that seems to be effective against COVID-19 (a virus). Anti-bacterials are normally ineffective against viru...

In late December of 2019, the world was forewarned that viral outbreaks took place in Wuhan, China earlier in 2019. While no one would believe that in 2021 millions would have lost their lives to this virus, it is ironic that the primary reasons are political. The USA, led by staunch Nationalists masquerading as Conservatives, could not respond to the world crisis. The USA, since the end of WWII, was known as the peacekeeper, the shimmering light on that glorious hill of democracy, the hope that was embodied at Ellis Island in New York harbor, and the defender of the defenseless. [The notions of America as the world leader came crashing in 2016.] It had elected a clownish person as president—he was elected as a result of  interferences in the US electoral processes by Vladimir Putin and the Russian KGB. For those who did vote for #45, much of what was true was they wanted change. They believed this conman who was utilized by Foreign Operatives to advance agendas that were counter t...

I live in Fresno—downtown Fresno to be more precise. It isn’t the safest area nor the prettiest area of Fresno. I live in an area near a stadium, Chukchansi stadium. Fresno is home to minor league baseball. While the significance of minor league baseball is that it brings an income base to the city.  Fresno, if anything, is in the heart of the agricultural boom-area of California. It is a shameful sight, however, the heart of the San Joaquin valley has a rather poor infrastructure. If anything, Fresno and the surrounding San Joaquin Valley host the most productive agricultural land anywhere in the world. However, downtown Fresno looks decrepit and somewhat slummy.   Truly, it isn’t the best area of Fresno—there are worse areas. Parts of Fresno host gangs that prey on the poor and the disadvantaged. The gangs are known to peddle drugs and similar mayhem. I do my utmost to stay as far from them as I can. However, their presence is a constant reminder why Black Lives Matter to me...

The first post is an Introduction-- I am the son of  European immigrants. I count myself as lucky to reside in the USA because life could be far worse.  Plagues (or pandemics) seemingly occur one time per century. A prior plague (or pandemic, if you will) was the Great Flu of 1917-1921. That pandemic occurred after WWI -- it is judged to be a result of poorly sanitized, rotting corpses, or the poisoned flesh from the Great War. No one (at that time) knew what potential harm would follow as decomposing tissue was subject to earthen microbes in the place of routine burials.  [The Great Flu wiped so many souls from earthly life, my suspicious nature started to ponder if  occurrences like this happened because (we humans) can't stand the sight of other more affluent souls.]  While my father 'weathered the storm' more than 100 years ago, his mother (my fraternal grandmother) lived barely past the era. She succumbed to complications from the pandemic and abject povert...