We're entering spooky season. I've always been of two minds about Halloween: I love the communal experience of trick-or-treating, but I'm not big on all the horror and gore and occult. I'm happy to see neighbors getting out and about, practicing generosities big and small, and celebrating the opportunity for kids to experiment with expressing different sides of themselves. And enjoying some leftover chocolate-y or peanut-butter-y treats is hardly a hardship. I'd just rather do all that without the bloody corpses, serial … [Read more...] about Science Corner: SIR, May I Have Another?
epidemiology
Science Corner: A “Have-Done” Attitude
I've had the chance to watch more baseball this season than usual, specifically New York Mets games. Baseball lends itself to extensive data collection and precise situational adjustments. For example, teams can record where each individual hitter tends to hit the ball when thrown different types of pitches. When a given hitter has strong tendencies in one direction, the other team can shift their defense to that side and possibly adjust their pitching to favor that tendency. Opposing teams were making those kinds of … [Read more...] about Science Corner: A “Have-Done” Attitude
Science Corner: Silent Science
This week, I'm (virtually) attending the annual meeting of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), one of the largest gatherings of folks doing the day-to-day work of public health in the United States. Yes, there is plenty of COVID-19 discussion, but that is far from the only topic. Each day there are hundreds of talks and posters about investigations, research, and applied science that will never make headlines. We are all probably more aware than we'd like to be about public health activities … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Silent Science
Science Corner: What If We Could Experience Counterfactuals?
Twenty years on, apparently the Y2K bug has gotten a reputation in some circles as much ado about nothing. At least to the point that articles have been commissioned to explain that, no, really, actual problems existed that needed to be solved. For those who didn't live through it, the year 2000 represented a challenge for computer systems programmed to use only two digits to store the year to save space; turns out that knowing whether it is 1900 or 2000 can be pretty important. Billions of dollars were spent hunting … [Read more...] about Science Corner: What If We Could Experience Counterfactuals?
Science Corner: Loving One’s Neighborhood
Since my job is in the public health sphere, and since I have training on the biology of infectious diseases, it seemed like I should comment on the coronavirus outbreak. At the same time, I wasn't sure I had anything to add. I don't have special access to case counts the rest of you don't; my recommendations aren't any different than what you'd find on the CDC website or in reporting like this segment from CBS Sunday Morning. What I do have, I suppose, is a little insight into our public health system which I thought … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Loving One’s Neighborhood