2020 Science Archives
Here you’ll find all the currently existing posts on 2020 Science, in reverse date order. Feel free to browse through them, or if you’re looking for something specific, use the search box below.
This is Environmental Health Science
We've just posted a new video about the University of Michigan Environmental Health Science department that I'm quite pleased with. It's aimed at students who may be interested in pursuing a graduate degree in the environmental health sciences (and...
Building trust between academics and journalists
As an academic, speaking with reporters can be nerve wracking. The gut-wrench is palpable as you click on the article that follows, unsure of whether the person you spoke with has got it right, or created a train wreck with your name splattered...
Ebola virus: Insights from University of Michigan Experts
Over the past several weeks, we've been posting articles on the ebola outbreak from University of Michigan experts. As concern continues to grow over the outbreak, we've collected these together on the Risk Science Center Ebola Virus Topic Page,...
Could playing sports on artificial turf be bad for your health?
Most artificial turf these days incorporates rubber granules formed from recycled tires. They make an effective and environmentally friendly playing surface. But can the substances they contain also be bad for the health of players? A major report...
(Some of the) most engaged research scientists on Twitter
Science Magazine has just released an update of it's list of Twitter's most popular researchers - now expanded to "100 of the most followed scientists on the social media platform". Having played around with the data, here's an alternative...
Nano silver and ebola: Show us the data, or remove claims (FDA)
On September 23, the Food and Drug Administration sent Rima Laibow and Ralph Fucetola at the Natural Solutions Foundation a warning letter claiming that their allegedly nano (colloidal) silver based "Dr. Rima Recommends™ The Silver Solution"...
Info on ebola risks from the University of Michigan
The University of Michigan School of Public Health has posted a number of resources on the current ebola outbreak on its website, including a series of interviews with experts on risks and concerns. These are well worth checking out for clear and...
Color My Poop Beautiful – now on video
Back in August, I gave a talk on colored poop and other "tales of technological derring do" at the Ann Arbor We Make Health Fest. Videos and photos from the day are now available over on the Health By Design website. Here's my talk - it draws...
Interactively visualizing major health risks
Visualizing risk, NHS style It maybe because I hang out too much in the US these days, but I've only just come across this rather excellent Atlas of Risk from the UK National Health Service: Visualizing causes of death The Atlas uses a highly...
So you want to write better science blog posts …
Anyone can blog about science. But it takes effort and diligence to blog well. When I was teaching the Mind The Science Gap blogging course at the University of Michigan, it became clear early on that, no matter how enthusiastic or knowledgeable...
Linking press releases to papers: How do universities compare?
Following up on my previous analysis of university news releases and whether they link to the papers they highlight, I've extended extend the analysis to 30 of the top universities in the US as ranked by US News and World Report. Here are the...
Less than 60% of university news releases link to the papers they cover
In an analysis of recent news releases from the top ten US universities, only 59% of them provided links to the peer review paper they were written about. Over 30% did not cite the paper. And less than 10% of the releases used DOI links to the...
MMR Vaccines and Autism: Bringing clarity to the CDC Whistleblower Story
Anyone following the Twitter #vaccinesNOVA hashtag on the evening of Wednesday September 10 would have seen their stream seemingly overwhelmed by the #CDCWhistleblower hashtag. Wednesday was when NOVA's documentary Vaccines - Calling The...
Creating Poster Presentations that Tell Stories
This Friday my class of second year Environmental Health Science Master of Public Health students are going to get my admittedly quirky annual lecture on crating poster presentations. Quirky, because I'm a little obsessive about the importance of...
Why aren’t we more scared of measles?
Measles is one of the leading causes of death amongst children worldwide. In 2012, an estimated 122,000 people died of the disease according to the World Health Organization - equivalent to 14 deaths every hour. Yet talk to parents about this...
Using nano silver to treat Ebola – is it misguided?
Update Oct 2: With concern over ebola in the US growing, I'm seeing a number of websites advocating the use of colloidal or nano silver as an effective preventative or cure. Just to be clear - there is no research that suggests ingesting colloidal...
University of Michigan, polio, and NOVA’s new documentary on vaccines
On April 12 1955, the world was informed that the Salk polio vaccine was up to 90% effective in preventing paralytic polio. At the time, it was hailed as one of the most anticipated announcements in medical history, and led to the overcoming of...
Fumed silica: Another nano material we need to worry about?
Pick up a jar of chili powder, and the chances are it will contain a small amount of fumed silica - an engineered nanomaterial that's been around for over half a century. The material - which is formed from microscopically small particles of...
The human side of vaccines and risk
Leading up to the new NOVA Special on vaccines (Vaccines - Calling The Shots, airing September 10th, 9:00 PM on PBS), the University of Michigan Risk Science Center be reposting a series of pieces that tackle some of the issues around vaccination,...
World Economic Forum Technology Pioneers 2015 Announced
As a member of the selection committee for the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers, it's always exciting to see which companies made the bar each year. This year's Technology Pioneers have just been announced. They represent 24 of the...
To Engineer is Human
I've just had my attention drawn to this inspiring 2 minute video on engineering from University of Michigan PhD student Barry Belmont: The video's part of the National Academy of Engineering Engineering for You Video Contest. What I like...
While the world watches Ebola, Meningitis continues to kill in West Africa
"This year alone, there have been 17,000 cases of meningitis in Nigeria, with nearly 1,000 deaths". It's a statement that jumped out at me watching a video from this summer's Aspen Ideas Festival by my former University of Michigan Public Health...
Advanced Materials – What’s the big deal?
Why are materials important? How do they limit what we can achieve? And what can we do to change this? (Check out the videos below). Advanced Materials Materials and how we use them are inextricably linked to the development of human society. Yet...
Is early development exposure to lead linked to obesity later in life?
A few of my colleagues in the University of Michigan Environmental Health Sciences Department have just published an interesting paper linking lead exposure to obesity in mice (Faulk et al. Perinatal Lead (Pb) Exposure Results in Sex-Specific...
Confessions of a Scientist Communicator
I consider myself to be pretty self-aware. It’s an illusion of course, but one I am usually blissfully ignorant of. Until some insightful reporter shatters it! This was me a few days ago. I was talking with a journalist about...
How far should universities go in hyping research?
An article passed through my Twitter stream today from Gizmodo shouting out "Change Your Hair Color By Etching Nano-Patterns Into Each Strand". It pretty much mirrors a press release from the University of New Mexico claiming "New technology allows...
Hacking the world, public health style
What has the Maker Movement got to do with public health? Quite a lot as it turns out, as I explore in the latest Risk Bites video. This in turn was inspired by being invited to talk at the inaugural We Make Health Fest in Ann Arbor. ...
Q&A on Nanotech regulation in Europe
Chemistry World posted a good article yesterday on nanotech regulation in Europe (Europe mulls best way to handle nanotech by Andrew Williams). I have a couple of quotes in the piece, along with Risk Science Center colleague Diana Bowman). These...
Six years of nanoparticle sunscreen safety scribblings
I was going through the 2020 Science archives the other day looking for pieces on nanoparticles and sunscreens, and was rather shocked to see that the earliest article dates back to 2008! Here they are in chronological order - surprising how little...
The antibiotics challenge
Neil Hawkins at Dow Chemical tweeted me a link to this piece in the New York Times this morning: A Dearth in Innovation for Key Drugs (Eduardo Porter) There is clearly something wrong with pharmaceutical innovation. Antibiotic-resistant infections...