Tag Archives: coronavirus pandemic
Clarity and soundness
I feel a lot of non-science editors just switch off when they read science stuff. A friend told me this earlier today, during yet another conversation about how many of the editorial issues that assail science and health journalism have … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged clarity of thought, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, editing, editorial decisions, health journalism, newsroom, science communication, science journalism, sound argument
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Journalistic entropy
Say you need to store a square image 1,000 pixels wide to a side with the smallest filesize (setting aside compression techniques). The image begins with the colour #009900 on the left side and, as you move towards the right, … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged conspiracy theories, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, entropy, fact-checking, false balance, health journalism, image compression, Indian Council of Medical Research, information theory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Priyanka Pulla, pseudoscience, science journalism, thermodynamics, Washington Post
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Nitin Gadkari, tomato chutney and blood
There is a famous comedy scene in Tamil cinema, starring the actors Vadivelu and ‘Bonda’ Mani. Those who understand Tamil should skip this awkward retelling – intended for non-Tamil speakers, to the video below and the post after. Vadivelu has … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm, Science
Tagged Bertrand Russell, Bonda Mani, coronavirus pandemic, false balance, journalism, nationalism, NDTV, Nitin Gadkari, novel coronavirus, Prakash Javadekar, press freedom, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pseudoscience, scientism, tomato chutney, Vadivelu, Western science
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Avoiding ‘muddled science’ in the newsroom
On April 23, I was part of a webinar called ProtoCall, organised by Pro.to with the support of International Centre for Journalists and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. It happens once a week and is hosted by Ameya Nagarajan and … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm, Science
Tagged coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, International Centre for Journalists, new coronavirus, novel coronavirus, ProtoCall, science journalism, scientific research, Shahid jameel
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Time and the pandemic
There is this idea in physics that the fundamental laws of nature apply the same way for processes moving both forwards and backwards in time. So you can’t actually measure the passage of time by studying these processes. Where does … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Science
Tagged arrow of time, climate change, clock time, coronavirus, coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, entropy, eternity, herd immunity, new coronavirus, novel coronavirus, second law of thermodynamics, time, time symmetry
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There is more than one thunder
Sunny Kung, a resident in internal medicine at a teaching hospital in the US, has authored a piece in STAT News about her experience dealing with people with COVID-19, and with other people who deal with people with COVID-19. I … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes
Tagged coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, health journalism, infodemic, intensive care unit, journalists, new coronavirus, novel coronavirus, science journalism, Sisyphus, socio-medical crisis, STAT News, uncertainty
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