Science & Society

The Agriculture Department is supposed to promote agriculture, including meat, but it seems someone in there once read a flawed metric that claims it takes a gallon of gas to produce a pound of beef…

Null results are important in science, but that doesn't mean scientists want other people to see theirs. The reason is obvious: competition.  If one group has a null result and another group is…

Do you care about children?   If so, says Arianna Huffington, you'd better ask for more regulations that augment helicopter parenting with nanny government - and you'd better be part of the 1%…

In the last 2 years, ever since my daughter was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy, I have done a lot of personal research on diets and the effects of food on our bodies. I think that what you eat…

Today, scientists are extremely careful in making sure they cite others’ works, if not for ethical reasons because plagiarism destroys reputations and is potentially a career ender. However, in the…

Have you noticed a huge increase in the price of pork chops or bacon or hot dogs? Neither have I, despite the fact that sow gestation stalls, or crates or whatever you may call them in your…

The Los Angeles Times got a little Huffington Post-ish in an article July 17th about Oxitec's genetically modified mosquito to control dengue outbreaks in various poor countries - and perhaps even in…

Data visualization is gaining increased importance. Unlike arcane statistics (damned lies), visualizing data can provide context for a very big story - even enormous datasets like the heating and…

If you believe that disparity between male and female salaries is sexism or at least gender bias, well, you may have a point.   There's no doubt that, outside single women and men, there is a…

Organic food has terrific marketing. Despite being mega-corporations in a multi-billion dollar business, they have convinced their customers they are all small and unique and wholesome; kind of like…