Science 2.0

Hank Campbell

Hank Campbell

I founded Science 2.0® in 2006 and since then it has become the world's largest independent science communications site, with over 300,000,000 direct readers and reach approaching one billion. Revolutionizing the way scientists Communicate, Part…
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Like Junk Food? Blame The Mouse Amygdala

Like Junk Food? Blame The Mouse Amygdala

Neuroscience is still in its infancy, despite claims by people using fMRI to suggest links between lots of things, but a few things are established, like that fear 'resides' in the amygdala.Linking that same part of the brain to obesity in mice, and therefore humans, in a new paper warrants more skepticism. Mice are, as famously stated when science was science, not tiny people. We do have things in common with mice, just like we share 60% of our DNA with bananas, but no one suggests their study on bananas has 'implications' for humans the way every trial lawyer running a grift and wanting to sue an agriculture company suggests about mouse models.

What May Decide The Election May Not Be Abortion Or Inflation - It May Be Runaway Health Insurance Costs

What May Decide The Election May Not Be Abortion Or Inflation - It May Be Runaway Health Insurance Costs

When the federal government took over health care during the Obama years, a lot of promises were made while the concern when legislation was passed without knowing which parts of three competing plans would be implemented boiled down to high cost to get a million people insured who couldn't get insurance.It ended up being worse than projected. Individual plans shot up 300% in just a few years and may never be affordable again. There are two big reasons the system is flawed, and they are why up to 40% of people will abandon their political party if a candidate on the other side says they want to fix the high cost of health care.(1)

Kids And Gun Deaths: Fact Checking American Academy Of Pediatrics Claims

Kids And Gun Deaths: Fact Checking American Academy Of Pediatrics Claims

In a recent paper calling to add even more regulations to legal gun owners, the American Academy of Pediatrics wrote "Each day, 28 U.S. children and teens -- the equivalent of a high school classroom -- die from gun violence, making it the No. 1 killer of youth through age 24."
How did they get their number, and why are they claiming a 24-year-old is a child?
(1)

The Big Oil Company Behind Those Lithium Mines Being Stripped For Electric Cars

The Big Oil Company Behind Those Lithium Mines Being Stripped For Electric Cars

When French and German intelligence agencies passed along to the U.S. CIA that Iraq was acquiring components to build weapons of mass destruction, they did it assuming President Bush was like President Clinton and such information would send America to the negotiating table to loosen restrictions on the Iraq embargo that France and Germany were violating on the black market anyway. 'Promise not to build bombs and we'll let you buy more stuff' tactics that had worked for North Korea.

Marin County, An Anti-Vax Nexus Of California, Has Flipped To Team Science

Marin County, An Anti-Vax Nexus Of California, Has Flipped To Team Science

In "Science Left Behind", Dr. Alex Berezow and I recounted the numerous ways that science denial and acceptance solidly came down along political lines. With minor exceptions, if you found someone who denied climate change, you were going to find a Republican. If you found an anti-vaccine type, or anti-nuclear, or anti-GMO, you were going to find a Democrat.

To Embrace Alternative Energy, Europe Made Itself Reliant On Russian Conventional - Now Farmers Are Out Of Business

To Embrace Alternative Energy, Europe Made Itself Reliant On Russian Conventional - Now Farmers Are Out Of Business

European governments will tell you they have shown 'leadership' in combating CO2 emissions. What they leave out of media briefings is that they are lying, and always have been.The original climate treaty, the Kyoto accord, was written by Germany and France and used a target date after West and East Germany unified, so by closing a few Soviet-era power plants Germany met its target, while France had increased nuclear so their emissions easily met the old date target as well. It did nothing for emissions, it was political theater.

'What Hath God Wrought' - Today, Luddites Are Concerned About Weedkillers Like They Once Were The Telegraph

'What Hath God Wrought' - Today, Luddites Are Concerned About Weedkillers Like They Once Were The Telegraph

Do you believe the telegraph was giving telegraph operators cancer? If not, it's only because there was no Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or US Right To Know group promoting fear and doubt about it the way they do vaccines, food, and cell phones.On May 24th, 1844 a telegram was sent from the Capitol because Samuel Morse, the inventor, wanted a government contract. Because he was diplomatic, he let the daughter of Henry Ellsworth, first Commissioner of the U.S. Patent Office, draft the message. And because young people need to Live In Important Times, the message proposed by young Annie was "What Hath God Wrought.” (1)

Disease Spillover Risk Was Oversimplified During The COVID-19 Pandemic - And It's A Chronic Problem In Science Journalism

Disease Spillover Risk Was Oversimplified During The COVID-19 Pandemic - And It's A Chronic Problem In Science Journalism

SAR, R0, these are all terms that became part of the pop culture lexicon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, because they were used in simplistic fashion they were more helpful for those engaged in wedge politics than the public.Part of the problem can be laid at the feet of social media. COVID-19 was the third coronavirus pandemic of the last 17 years but it was the first to truly spread worldwide and have so much concern that the country where it originated created a campaign of disinformation, and even got the World Health Organisation to be complicit. And it all happened in real time on social media.

Detecting Seafood Fraud Using Chemical Maps

Detecting Seafood Fraud Using Chemical Maps

Food fraud is common. Probably 25 percent of imported food with an "organic" label is just conventional food and even in America some organic farmers are just selling regular food. In Europe, everyone knew that Russia was not magically producing all of the organic food they were selling to France and Germany so those companies could pretend it works to feed the world.

Monsanto Gets 5th Victory Over Predatory Lawyers In Roundup Case

Monsanto Gets 5th Victory Over Predatory Lawyers In Roundup Case

Roundup, and its important ingredient glyphosate, act on a biological pathway only found in plants. In the American legal system, science is basically irrelevant in a jury trial, though, so anyone can sue over anything. Only in an appeal will science in science and health lawsuits be important.Yet sometimes the science is so clear no jury outside California is so opposed to evidence that they will find harm. That is why Monsanto has prevailed for a fifth time against claims that a compound that only acts in plants magically caused someone's cancer. And the only financial victory anti-science activists and their predatory lawyers got was gutted on appeal, because judges looked at the science rather than emotion.