Cutting NSF Is Like Liquidating Your Finest Investment
Look closely at your mobile phone or tablet. Touch-screen technology, speech recognition, digital sound recording and the internet were all developed using […]
(Belated) New Year Thoughts on the Barriers to Ending the Pandemic
A year ago, we in the UK were approaching Christmas and New Year with quiet optimism as the first COVID vaccines rolled […]
Zeynep Pamuk and the Case for Creating Science Courts
In her new book, “Politics and Expertise: How to Use Science in a Democratic Society,” Zeynep Pamuk outlines new directions that she believes the relationship between science and politics might take, rooted in the understanding that scientific knowledge is tentative and uncertain.
COVID-19, Face Masks and Research Integrity
Robert Dingwall asks if claims about the effectiveness of face masks in stopping COVID consistent with current standards of research integrity.
Is Scientific Atheism Automatically the Same as Being Anti-Religious?
Distrust of atheists is strong in the United States. The General Social Survey consistently demonstrates that as a group, Americans dislike atheists […]
COVID-19, Masks and Magical Thinking
The state of the face mask debate is rather as if Galileo had published his account of the heliocentric universe and then included a paragraph at the end telling the reader to ignore all the evidence because the Church had declared that everything revolved around the Earth.
On Taking Long COVID Seriously
Examining how long COVID is viewed by some doctors as psychosomatic, Steven Lubet argues that condescension in the name of compassion is no way to build trust.
Traditional Chinese Medicine and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Studies of medicine in China must not neglect Chinese medicine, writes medical sociologist Robert Dingwall..
With COVID and Climate Change Showing Social Science’s Value, Why Cut it Now?
What are the three biggest challenges Australia faces in the next five to ten years? What role will the social sciences play in resolving these challenges? The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia asked these questions in a discussion paper earlier this year. The backdrop to this review is cuts to social science disciplines around the country, with teaching taking priority over research.
