Category: Science and the Media

SARS-CoV-2 delta variant

Are vaccines driving the emergence of “escape mutant” variants of COVID-19?

Geert Vanden Bossche is back, and this time he's blaming COVID-19 vaccines for driving the evolution of more dangerous "escape variants" of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease, that are capable of evading vaccine-induced immunity. As antivaxxers making this argument always do, unfortunately, he ignores the much larger problem in which free circulation of the virus is a far more powerful...

/ August 16, 2021
Ivermectin repurposing

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 3: Conspiracy theories vs. science

Last month, I discussed why ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine:, basically a “miracle cure” that isn’t. Since then, conspiracy theories about its being "suppressed" have continued to bump heads with the science showing that, at the very best, evidence for its efficacy is very weak and, at the worst, the drug is useless.

/ July 5, 2021

The Science of Transgender Treatment

This is part I in what will be a short series of articles reviewing the science of transgender care and how it has been distorted by critics.

, / June 30, 2021

A New Covid-19 Myth?

A correspondent suggested I should have known that the pandemic was over months ago. That's obviously a myth. But where did that idea come from?

/ June 29, 2021
Ivermectin repurposing

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 2

A few months ago, Scott Gavura wrote about how the veterinary deworming drug ivermectin has become the new hydroxychloroquine in that it is being promoted as a highly effective treatment against COVID-19—and by many of the same people who previously promoted HCQ—despite evidence that is, at best very weak and at worst completely negative. Unfortunately, with the publication of two new and...

/ June 21, 2021

Bad Documentary Review: The Great Culling

The Great Culling is a mess of an anti-fluoridation documentary trying to scare you into...something. I watched it so you don't have to, and you shouldn't.

/ June 19, 2021

“What Exactly Did the Virus do to All These People?” Reflections on Ted Nugent, Mel Q, Kelly Brogan, and John Ioannidis

The notion that many people are dying with SARS-CoV-2 not from SARS-CoV-2 has hindered our ability to contain to the virus. Whether the source is QAnon influencers or a highly credentialed scientists, we must push back on narratives that are used to minimize the danger of COVID-19.

/ June 18, 2021

The Causes of Bad Science Reporting

A discussion of reasons why science reporting so often gives the wrong impression about various scientific studies.

/ June 16, 2021

Nuance in Science Reporting

A study explores the pitfalls of following simple narratives in science reporting.

/ June 2, 2021
COVID-19 vs. FDA and CDC

“The vaccinated are a danger to the unvaccinated because of shedding!”: The latest COVID-19 antivaccine disinformation

Antivaxxers are masters of projection, which is why the latest antivaccine disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines is that they lead the recipient to "shed" spike protein, which can can cause menstrual irregularities or even miscarriages in women who come into contact with the vaccinated and even make people very sick. This trope is nothing more than a clever repackaging of the old antivaccine...

/ May 3, 2021