Tag Archives: COVID-19
The Wolfram singularity
I got to this article about Stephen Wolfram’s most recent attempt to “revolutionise” fundamental physics quite late, and sorry for it because I had no idea Wolfram was the kind of guy who could be a windbag. I haven’t ever … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm, Science
Tagged ambulance chasing, COVID-19, epidemiological modelling, epidemiology, infectious disease modelling, Katie Mack, lone genius myth, Reddit, Ronojoy Adhikari, Stephen Wolfram
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Good journalism is still around
This morning, a trusted scientist called my attention to a tweet thread by Jordan Fischer listing the many good stories journalists in the US had done that had improved the lives of people. The scientist then tagged me, presumably to … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged COVID-19, false balance, fourth estate, freedom of the press, Jordan Fischer, journalism
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Poor journalism is making it harder for preprints
There have been quite a few statements by various scientists on Twitter who, in pointing to some preprint paper’s untenable claims, point to the manuscript’s identity as a preprint paper as well. This is not fair, as I’ve argued many times before. … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Ars Technica, COVID-19, journalism, misinformation, peer review, preprint papers, preprint repositories, preprints, press release, science journalism, scientific literature, scientific publishing, The Lancet
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In conversation with Sree Srinivasan
On May 1, I was hosted on a webinar by the American journalist Sree Srinivasan, along with Anna Isaac of The News Minute and Arunabh Saikia of Scroll.in. As part of his daily show on the COVID-19 crisis, hosted by Scroll.in, Srinivasan hosts a … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged Anna Isaac, Arunabh Saikia, COVID-19, data journalism, Indian Council of Medical Research, Indian journalism, Irrfan Khan, mainstream media, novel coronavirus, pandemic, Rishi Kapoor, science journalism, Scroll.in, serological tests, Sree Srinivasan, The News Minute
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The journalist as expert
I recently turned down some requests for interviews because the topics of discussion in each case indicated that I would be treated as a scientist, not a science journalist (something that happened shortly after the Balakot airstrikes and the ASAT … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm, Science
Tagged COVID-19, expertise, experts, fourth estate, holism, journalism, science journalism, specialization, synthesis, temporary experts, virology
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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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‘Science alone triumphs’: A skeptic annotates
An article entitled ‘Science alone triumphs: Providing a true picture of the world, only science can help India against coronavirus’, penned by a Jayant Sinha, appeared on the Times of India‘s editorials page on April 8, 2020. My annotated reading … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged Bharatiya Janata Party, COVID-19, hydroxychloroquine, Indian Council of Medical Research, Jayant Sinha, novel coronavirus, virus
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The virus beyond biology
A perfectly agreeable suggestion on first glance, especially since it provides an opportunity for a quick rebuke when faced with such conspiratorial, often xenophobic claims. But on a second or third reading, you find the problem (apart from Harari’s habitual … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged biology, COVID-19, intellectualism, Laurie Penny, novel coronavirus, scientism, Yuval Noah Harari
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