Tips For Evaluating Health News Stories

News stories that talk about health and medicine can offer valuable insights into our understanding of the human body, its failings, and emerging treatments related to our well-being. But health stories can also be confusing or misleading. That means that we should all be critical consumers of health news.

In This Struggle For the Long Haul: A Q&A with Sami Grover

It is easy to feel overwhelmed or powerless in the face of climate change. By the same token, it’s also easy to feel like you’re not doing enough, or that you should be overcome with guilt because of what you had for dinner or how you got to work. If you feel that way, you’re not alone.

A new book tackles these issues head on, and focuses on practical ways that people can figure out how they can make a difference. The book is We’re All Climate Hypocrites Now: How Embracing Our Limitations Can Unlock the Power of a Movement, by Sami Grover.

The Key Characteristics of Assholery: a Q&A with Melinda Wenner Moyer

Photo credit: Keren Fedida.

In many ways, being a parent is a truly wonderful experience. But it’s also scary. And one of the things that keeps many parents up at night is the fear that their kids might grow up to be jerks.

Well, parents, there is good news.

The Future of the Toilet: a Q&A with Chelsea Wald

Some of you might think that toilets, or the biological necessities that inspired them, are disgusting. Others might think they’re boring. But, oh, my friends – you are wrong.

Should a Science Magazine Endorse a Political Candidate? Why Not?

This is a seal of approval. (Photo credit: Craig Adderley. He is not responsible for my awful pun.)

Scientific American has, for the first time, endorsed a presidential candidate. I have seen some commentators bemoaning this decision. I, however, believe that SciAm made the right call. Here’s why…

Resources For Anyone With Questions About COVID-19

A lot of people have a lot of questions related to COVID-19. I shared a version of this note with friends and family, and some of them asked me to put it somewhere that would make it easier to share. I don’t have all the answers. But I can provide some basic background, and offer suggestions for places you can turn for additional information as we move forward. I’ll also provide what resources I can find that are relevant for both reporters and anyone interested in being a savvy consumer of news.

Questions to Ask When Interviewing a Scientist

Approximately one gazillion years ago, I wrote a piece including tips from reporters about how to prepare for interviews with scientists. While that post is useful, several people have recently asked me for more specific guidance on how to interview researchers. Specifically, they wanted to know not only how to prepare, but what sorts of questions to ask.

Why Reporters Don’t Let Scientists Review Their Stories

Many scientists don’t understand why reporters won’t let scientists review draft versions of news stories before the stories are published. Some scientists think this is unfair and leads to inaccuracies in news stories about scientific research – but there are reasons that news outlets discourage this sort of pre-publication review. Let’s dig in to that a little bit.

Outreach Is a Skill: a Q&A with David “WhySharksMatter” Shiffman

Photo credit: Ryan Espanto. Shared under a Creative Commons license. Click for more information.

If you are interested in sharks, and spend any time on social media, you have probably run across David Shiffman. Shiffman, a Liber Ero Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Simon Fraser University, has drawn thousands of followers on Twitter and Facebook by sharing facts (and correcting misconceptions) about sharks and other marine species.

But while his social media feeds can be entertaining, they are not simply a collection of amusing facts. Through social media, blogging, and freelance writing, Shiffman has been able to share information (and his own research) with a large audience – and to place that information in the proper context.

We recently had the opportunity to pick his brain about science communication, how he got started, and how social media can benefit the research community.