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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We Can't Even Prove Secondhand Smoke Kills, Now A Study Says Particles Left Behind Will Damage Cells

We Can't Even Prove Secondhand Smoke Kills, Now A Study Says Particles Left Behind Will Damage Cells

Smoking kills, there is no question on that, but as the smoking rate began to drop and the settlement with cigarette companies due to expire, trial lawyers turned to secondhand smoke as a new target. But they needed real evidence, not statistical correlation. Though asthmatics and people with respiratory issues suffer during any air quality change, from wildfires to heavy perfumes, the most authoritative study of secondhand smoke ever done couldn't document a greater risk of death.Though the effort failed (you still shouldn't smoke around kids, for other reasons) that didn't prevent the migration a few years later to thirdhand smoke - the belief that particulate matter left behind from smoke could cause cancer. 

Psychology Paper Says Soldiers Being Stressed Is Worse Than Being Shot At

Psychology Paper Says Soldiers Being Stressed Is Worse Than Being Shot At

If you are a soldier, you may believe the worst thing that can happen is being shot. There is no upside to it, you are wounded or die.A new psychology paper says soldiers who've actually been shot are not as traumatized as other soldiers who either saw it or heard about it. They contend that soldiers who experience suffering and death without being in any danger report more post-traumatic stress symptoms  than soldiers who were actually in life-threatening situations.

Gut Microbiome Statistically Linked To Fibromyalgia

Gut Microbiome Statistically Linked To Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is an ill-defined chronic pain condition and claims around the gut microbiome are the latest craze in science-y sounding speculation about lots of health issues, following the fad of linking everything to what your grandparents ate at dinner, epigenetics. While in severe cases, microbiota are obviously important, last week the FDA warned the public about fecal transplants when a person died. The agency suspended clinical trials.Chronic pain sufferers who can't get a specific diagnosis have dealt with woo promises from corporate marketing for a lot longer.

Climate Change Implicated In World War II?

Climate Change Implicated In World War II?

"Lebensraum" said German Chancellor Adolf Hitler when he appealed to citizens for why they needed to expand. A new computer simulation says climate change may have been a factor, and it could get even worse this century. The authors of the numerical model estimate between 3 percent and 20 percent of armed conflict risk during the last hundred years was caused by climate and that its influence will increase dramatically in the 21st century.

American Academics Have Been Indoctrinated Against Industry Peers - They Shouldn't Be

American Academics Have Been Indoctrinated Against Industry Peers - They Shouldn't Be

https://www.sciencecodex.com/study-finds-collaborating-business-contribu...

nteraction between universities and companies in Brazil has societal, economic and environmental impacts, as well as positive effects on academic productivity. Researchers and research groups who collaborate with business organizations are scientifically more productive. The intellectual and scientific impacts of the partnership are positive.

This is the main finding of a study conducted by Renato de Castro Garcia, a professor at the University of Campinas Economics Institute (IE-UNICAMP), and presented to the 8th Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC).

The GRC summit was attended by heads of research funding agencies from dozens of countries around the world.

Obamacare Led To A Surge In Unnecessary Ambulance Rides, But Academics Say Medicare For All Won't Increase Usage

Obamacare Led To A Surge In Unnecessary Ambulance Rides, But Academics Say Medicare For All Won't Increase Usage

A paper from academics says that the final goal of the Affordable Care Act - Medicare For All - won't lead to more hospital stays. This is in defiance of data during ACA, where it led to higher costs for minor injuries because Obamacare made ambulances cheaper than Uber.How will more free medical treatment not lead to more medical treatment? The British NHS is an example. Though it is free, doctors are underpaid, morale is low, and wait times are high. They are not putting you in the hospital unless it is beyond necessary and end-of-life care may be...accelerated. 

To Help Promote Controversial Science, Start With Things Everyone Accepts

To Help Promote Controversial Science, Start With Things Everyone Accepts

A new survey took a premise that is casually accepted by the university sector - that conservatives' trust in science has eroded - and goes beyond the usual claim that trust has eroded because American conservatives are less scientific.Trust in science has eroded among conservatives...but it has also eroded among progressives. Only a narrow band of self-identifying liberals maintains the same level of confidence in science as they did 40 years ago. And 40 years ago conservatives had the most trust of all.(1) 

97% Of Parents Think They Help Teens Be More Independent - Results Show Otherwise

97% Of Parents Think They Help Teens Be More Independent - Results Show Otherwise

On surveys, parents believe they are doing a great job helping teens be more independent, but today's kids are just too immature.That last part is probably not true. It was overwhelmingly people in their mid-20s who won World War II and put man on the moon, we're the ones who've now decided that age is not mature enough to buy health insurance. If we want to do the dishes it is the nature of other human beings to let us do the dishes, because other people think that makes us happy. Believing that someone else will eventually want to do the dishes when they mature is wishful thinking.

Bernie Sanders Says He'll Release Info On Aliens If Elected - Which Party Is More Likely To Believe The Truth Is Out There?

Bernie Sanders Says He'll Release Info On Aliens If Elected - Which Party Is More Likely To Believe The Truth Is Out There?

On The Joe Rogan Experience podcast (which you can view a video of below, because podcast doesn't mean what it used to mean) Senator Bernie Sanders pledged to release government information about aliens. He says it's an issue for his wife.It's also an issue for Democrats. When I wrote Science Left Behind with Dr. Alex Berezow in 2011 there was a lot we had to leave out. Why, I had wondered in articles in 2008-9, did our Scientist In Chief in President Obama surround himself with UFO believers, a vaccine denier, and a guy who thought girls couldn't do math?

Gateway Belief Model: The Consensus On Using The Consensus To Convince People About Science

Gateway Belief Model: The Consensus On Using The Consensus To Convince People About Science

Does it work to communicate the scientific consensus to the public?If anti-science beliefs about energy, medicine, and agriculture are any indication, sure.  We don't get bans on science in the U.S. the way Europe aggressively denies the consensus precisely because the American science community does a great job at talking with the public about data, exporting critical thinking is a big reason we are creating Science 2.0 Europe. European scientists have been impressed at how well we have beaten back ban-happy activists. They want to make positive changes there as well.