Why you fear science and robots | Fear of the unknown
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" – H.P. Lovecraft (1927). The thing about fearing…
CRISPR weapons? The dark side of gene editing
Did you know that US intelligence has listed gene-editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas as weapons of mass destruction threats in the Worldwide Threat Assessment? The technology we’ve welcomed as our disease-fighting,…
How to diagnose virus infections | 2 methods, which one is best?
I was about to write another post for today, but people keep requesting the answer to one question above all this week. You want to know how to diagnose virus…
COVID-19 by age group | splitting the generations
So much information about who’s affected by the coronavirus and COVID-19 that you ultimately feel like you know even less. Let's divide the situation with the new coronavirus by age…
Why keeping the cure for cancer secret is implausible and dumb
“Is it true that Big Pharma hides the cure for cancer?”, "Do conspirators keep the cure for cancer secret?" You cannot imagine how often I answer these questions once I…
Biology vs. Trump: do we need a wall? Liquid–liquid phase separation
In a world where walls seem to be the next big thing, science shows us this might not be the answer. It seems that our cells have a new superpower:…
The R0 of COVID-19: Dealing with the misconceptions
This post will try to rip apart some misconceptions around the basic reproduction number of an infection defined as R0 and, more precisely, the R0 of COVID-19, the new Coronavirus…
How we deliver scientific thinking | The Ivory Embassy in 2019 and 2020
We know it’s too late to say it, but what the heck! Happy new year, fam! Lovers, haters, and in between, all of you. “Why the sudden good mood?” you…
Image by PDPics from Pixabay
Are CRISPR designed babies the future? Update 1 year after birth
The German news site n-tv.de interviewed me about a week ago about the possibilities and risks of the CRISPR gene-editing technology. The reason for this piece was the first anniversary…
Creating better scientific stories. Should we fight fake fire with fire?
Using anecdotes in a scientific context may be a double-edged sword. Still, we need captivating strategies to replace pseudoscientific stories with better ones without losing accuracy and trust. The time…