An ode to a troubled website — I first created a Twitter account in 2015. It was already a pretty big place to be, and I thought it would be good for my scientific career and my blog to have a presence on the website. …

Why peer-review is not the final word — When I was first getting into science, nearly two decades ago now, one of the first things I was told was about the importance of peer-review. The scientific literature, you see, was not filled with opinions it was filled with facts, which we could be assured of because whenever someone…

Why doughnuts are not nearly as much of a problem as cigarettes — Junk food has become the most reviled demon of the 21st century. Not just a fast and easy way to cram calories into your body, people now consider doughnuts, pizza, and other treats to be as bad for you as smoking and drugs. There are headlines regularly arguing that processed…

Applying basic common sense to ridiculous claims — It’s Halloween, and the internet is once again abuzz with candy-related discussion. People are hotly debating whether sugar is killing children, or what the best method is to keep sex offenders away from your kids. …

It may come as a surprise that for some countries, Covid-19 statistics may be entirely made up — Throughout the pandemic, there’s been a lot of debate and discussion about different countries’ reported Covid-19 statistics. Whether it’s explaining the difference in deaths between France and, say, Lithuania, or why Peru has a higher death count than other Latin American nations, or even just comparing places like the US…

Why you probably don’t need to worry about hair straighteners and uterine cancer — As a bald man, it is hard to wax lyrical about the wonders of chemical hair straighteners. While I once had a ponytail, in the days before male-pattern baldness made my dome shiny, I have long since lapsed into a general disinterest in hair products generally. That being said, a…

The complex answer to an important question — Since the start of the pandemic, there have been innumerable important questions. …

Why taking everything with a grain of salt is often a good idea — There’s a big issue that’s been bothering me all pandemic. It’s present in almost every scientific discussion we have, it’s important for every fact or factoid that you hear on TV or see online, and yet we almost never talk about it in a meaningful way. …

A very chilly question with important implications — Cold water exposure or immersion is an increasingly-popular health fad whereby people shuck the bonds of comfort and descend into the murky, freezing cold depths to improve their wellbeing. …