US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

This bias in science journalism seems not to be due only to pragmatic concerns about time zones or the language spoken in the country where the scientist is based.

Hao Peng, Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational Social Science, Northwestern University • conversation
April 8, 2024 ~9 min

China’s universities just grabbed 6 of the top 10 spots in one worldwide science ranking – without changing a thing

Science rankings rely on papers in academic journals. Broadening the view to include many more open-access journals will upend the usual order – thanks to China’s vast number of publications.

Caroline Wagner, Professor of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University • conversation
April 2, 2024 ~8 min


China’s universities just grabbed 8 of the top 10 spots in one worldwide science ranking – without changing a thing

Science rankings rely on papers in academic journals. Broadening the view to include many more open-access journals will upend the usual order – thanks to China’s vast number of publications.

Caroline Wagner, Professor of Public Affairs, The Ohio State University • conversation
April 2, 2024 ~8 min

Early COVID-19 research is riddled with poor methods and low-quality results − a problem for science the pandemic worsened but didn’t create

Pressure to ‘publish or perish’ and get results out as quickly as possible has led to weak study designs and shortened peer-review processes.

Dennis M. Gorman, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A&M University • conversation
Feb. 23, 2024 ~10 min

What Rochelle Walensky learned

Sees major progress in science since 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, but says complications of politics have plagued every epidemic since.

Alvin Powell • harvard
Dec. 21, 2023 ~7 min

When authoritative sources hold onto bad data: A legal scholar explains the need for government databases to retract information

Theranos was dissolved years ago, and its CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, is in prison, but the company’s patents based on bad science live on – a stark example of the persistence of faulty information.

Janet Freilich, Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University • conversation
Dec. 14, 2023 ~8 min

Should the media tell you when they use AI to report the news? What consumers should know

Media companies should set up guidelines for how they are using AI.

François Nel, Reader in Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Central Lancashire • conversation
Nov. 14, 2023 ~6 min

Workplace flexibility linked to lower risk of cardiovascular disease

Harvard study is among the first to assess whether changes in work environment can hold cardiometabolic risk at bay.

Maya Brownstein • harvard
Nov. 8, 2023 ~5 min


When science showed in the 1970s that gas stoves produced harmful indoor air pollution, the industry reached for tobacco's PR playbook

The natural gas industry has spent years trying to undermine scientific findings about gas stoves and health. If this sounds familiar, that’s no accident.

Jonathan Levy, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University • conversation
Nov. 3, 2023 ~8 min

Let the community work it out: Throwback to early internet days could fix social media's crisis of legitimacy

In the days of online bulletin board systems, community members decided what was acceptable. Reviving that approach to content moderation offers Big Tech a path to legitimacy as public spaces.

Chand Rajendra-Nicolucci, Research Fellow, Initiative for Digital Public Infrastructure, UMass Amherst • conversation
Oct. 24, 2023 ~10 min

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