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
public health
Science Corner: A Measure of Health
Last week we looked at the challenges of using racial categories for assessing health risks and making treatment decisions. One of the alternatives proposed is to substitute measures of health indicators for racial categories, to move away from contingent causes and towards more proximal biological markers. Among the common and readily obtainable metrics are weight and the related body mass index (BMI). Here again, correlations do exist between weight & BMI and health outcomes, but also, a single measure fails to … [Read more...] about Science Corner: A Measure of Health
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: Slowing Down to Build Trust
The votes are in, the bracket is complete, and we have a most pressing science & faith question: How much should science inform religious practice? If I thought my seedings had any meaning, this would be a Cinderella story, the lowest seed in the Theology & Religion going on to take it all. Now that the results are known, I'll work on getting you some answers to the last quartet of questions, so stay tuned for those. In the mean time, I had planned on bringing you some science news about honeybee communication. But in … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Slowing Down to Build Trust
Science Corner: Immunization is a Team Sport
The Most Pressing Science & Faith Question tournament has reached the final round; scroll down or click here to vote between now and midnight EDT on Sunday (April 11). We're going to take a break from answering these questions while I line up other folks to offer their perspectives. This week, I'd like to address some omissions from the bracket. Arguably, the most pressing science & faith questions of the moment have to do with religiously motivated COVID-19 vaccine refusal. I left out pandemic topics in part because I … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Immunization is a Team Sport