research

long view of a research lab with all sorts of lab stuff on a long counter and on high shelved with three scientists at work

Upsides of 2021

Overall, 2021 will be remembered as mostly a suckfest. It was the year that deprived Betty White of her 100th birthday, just a few days away. We lived in a terrible tug of war with personal freedoms. One day we’ve got them, one day we don’t, as we attempt to stay out of the coronavirus’s way. But some good things did happen last year.

pile of newspapers

Reading Words and Naming Names

Anecdotal evidence used as fact only causes trouble. I like dark roast coffee. My husband likes dark roast coffee, as do a couple of our friends. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that most people like dark roast coffee. However, that’s the kind of weak country-club polling that some people draw their steadfast conclusions from.  …

Studying the Studies

Not all scientific studies are created equal. Having been a radio broadcaster for a long time, I also know how they can get distilled down to a couple of sentences of highlights, potentially making a worldwide study of thousands of people sound as credible as a small study of twenty. It rests on the public to look deeper into the data, but only three out of ten will bother in a stat I just made up.

What the #*&%?

It looks like I have several friends who are near-geniuses. Let me explain. New research shows we’re wrong when we assume that someone who swears a lot has a small vocabulary and equally small brain.  …

Yesterday Was What Day?

**This blog post originally appeared on the Blackburn News website:

Sepsis. It doesn’t have a wristband or a colour of its own. There are no runs or telethons for it. And yet statistically it’s deadlier than heart disease, stroke and many other well-known illnesses. Every 3-4 seconds someone in the world dies from sepsis. And 3 years ago, I was almost one of them.  …