Science

how learning one scientific concept deeply can change how you read news forever

I learned Bayes' theorem while trying to understand why a headline about a “miracle” health cure would inevitably be followed by a half-dozen articles undermining it a few months later. At first...

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how to explain climate science to friends without starting an argument

I have lost count of the number of times a conversation about the weather has slid, almost imperceptibly, into a debate about climate change. Those moments have taught me more about listening than...

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how to use basic statistics to judge the credibility of everyday science headlines

Every morning, while making coffee, I scroll through headlines the way some people check the weather. "New study shows coffee cuts risk of X by 40%!" the feed proclaims, next to a photo of perfectly...

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what the smell of rain reveals about urban pollution and human memory

I remember once standing on a rooftop in London after a long dry spell, watching the first fat drops hit the hot pavement. The sound was soft, but what stole me was the sudden, sharp inhalation I...

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