The Long Division series probes the origins and influence of the notion of biological race, and asks: Why does a debunked theory endure — and can its dubious impacts ever be truly overcome?
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Non-profit & editorially independent. Exploring science as a frequently wondrous, sometimes contentious, and occasionally troubling byproduct of human culture.
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"In addition to a cosmos-spanning origin story, this book is also both an homage to researchers across the centuries and a reminder of the pitfalls embedded in the scientific research process," says Emily Cataneo in her review of "What's Gotten Into You."
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Opinion | "The U.S. health care system is failing us all. The most vulnerable among us are truly suffering and unable to get the care they need," argues Tara Lagu, a health services researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
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"Levitt’s work is brilliant popular science in that he renders this tale deeply accessible," writes Emily Cataneo in her review of Dan Levitt's "What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body’s Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night’s Dinner."
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Opinion | "Programs that aim to shift incentives and increase care coordination have done almost nothing to improve patient experience, reduce physician burnout, improve outcomes, or reduce cost," says health services researcher Tara Lagu.
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While the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare monitor the quality standards in labs, no federal agency checks to make sure lab-developed tests work the way they claim to before they reach patients. (via ProPublica)
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"Alongside this epic story of how our atoms journeyed from the beginning of time into our bodies, Levitt also tells another, parallel story: how scientists discovered that narrative," says Emily Cataneo in her review of "What's Gotten Into You."
Opinion | "While many of us may be able to tolerate sporadic or short medical appointments when we are young and healthy, it is only a matter of time before we require the care that the current system simply cannot provide," says Tara Lagu.
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Until now, regulatory takings claims have typically been used to push back against government lawmaking. (via Hakai Magazine)
"Is there some as-of-yet undiscovered secret? Or can known physical processes explain intelligence, self-awareness, humanity?" asks Emily Cataneo in her review of Dan Levitt's "What’s Gotten Into You."
While some proponents of the bill still hold out hope for the VALID Act, others said it’s unlikely to get traction again anytime soon. (via ProPublica)
"Many components of our atoms’ story were dismissed at first; even Einstein had trouble believing in the Big Bang," writes Emily Cataneo in her review of "What’s Gotten Into You."
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Opinion | "The attitudes and behaviors expressed by doctors in our recent study are inexcusable, unethical, and possibly illegal under the ADA," says pharmacist and hospitalist Tara Lagu.
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The makers of prenatal screening tests weighed in on the bill, too. Illumina, for example, spent more than $3 million over two quarters of 2022 on lobbying activities. (via ProPublica)
Patients don’t just go undiagnosed, but often are misdiagnosed, said Annika Montag, an epidemiologist and public health scientist at the University of California San Diego.
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Opinion | "My father did not have a disability and he was never refused care, but the system failed him nonetheless," says Tara Lagu, a pharmacist and health services researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
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Multiple attempts to link state actions with the impacts of climate change in U.S. lawsuits have failed, says Randall Abate, an environmental law expert at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. (via Hakai Magazine)
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Opinion | "During medical school, I had not been trained to care for people with disabilities. Now a resident, I didn’t even know to ask whether the clinic had access to a height-adjustable exam table," writes Tara Lagu.
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The VALID Act, which had bipartisan support, had been developed after nearly a decade of debate among stakeholders about ways to close a regulatory loophole and clarify the FDA’s role in overseeing the testing industry. (via ProPublica)
FASD is thought to impact 1 to 5 percent of people in the United States, according to a study of more than 13,000 first graders.
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Current and former FDA officials have expressed befuddlement at how difficult it has been to regulate these tests. (via ProPublica)
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The sales of oil leases, potentially coupled with long-term state investment in oil, has contributed just over 1% of the extra global carbon dioxide emissions added to the atmosphere since 1973. (via Hakai Magazine)
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Several people involved in bill negotiations told ProPublica that concern over how it would affect academic labs is what killed it. (via ProPublica)
The real problem with pursuing a regulatory takings lawsuit would be in drawing a clear link between Alaska’s participation in and promotion of the oil and gas industry and the destruction of the land on which Alaska villages sit. (via Hakai Magazine)
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As climate change continues to destroy the habitability of coastal communities, the question of who should pay for adaptation and relocation efforts remains thorny. (via Hakai Magazine)
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“There’s this long history with Native peoples in the United States and elsewhere being used as pawns for research,” says lawyer Elizaveta Barrett Ristroph. (via Hakai Magazine)
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FAS tended to occur in people who were exposed to alcohol between gestational weeks seven and 12.
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Advocates are currently pushing for bills that will make support for children with FASD and their families more widely available, but experts say much more is needed in order to connect them with resources.
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“People need to see the advantages of learning programs specifically for FASD and why that would matter,” said Christie Petrenko, FASD specialist at the Mt. Hope Family Center in Rochester, New York.
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"The high-resolution view of so many particulars involved in such a specific subclass of drugs can make the overarching analysis a shade too subtle," writes Peter Andrey Smith in his review of "For Blood and Money."
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Typically, to get a true diagnosis patients need to be evaluated by FASD specialists, and there aren’t many of them.
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"'For Blood and Money' superficially resembles those formulaic airport biz-books where some heroic outsider wins big with a previously unknown play," writes Peter Andrey Smith in his review of Nathan Vardy's new book.
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Opinion | "Strip away the fear and look at the facts, and we’d see that nuclear energy has always been relatively safe, while climate change is very dangerous," argues science journalist Tyler J. Kelley.
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"Vardi does his best to guide readers through this insular world in all its excruciatingly technical detail," says Peter Andrey Smith in his review of Nathan Vardy's "For Blood and Money."
Today, some of the nation’s top-ranked criminology programs are thriving hubs of biosocial research.
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Opinion | "Wind and solar power may well be cheaper and less risky. But that doesn’t mean nuclear power is as bad as people think it is," argues Tyler J. Kelley, author of “Holding Back the River: The Struggle Against Nature on America’s Waterways.”
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"Underlying the tale is a broader conflict between business and science: the desire to make money while also making an earnest effort to improve people’s lives," writes Peter Andrey Smith in his review of the book "For Blood and Money."
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Opinion | "When emissions are of paramount importance, the way we value technologies has changed. And nuclear power has a previously unacknowledged upside: It emits practically nothing," argues science journalist Tyler J. Kelley.
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"The origin story of these blood cancer drugs will be unfamiliar to most readers, but, as Vardi has it, they’re part of the 'hot new field of tyrosine kinase inhibitors,'" writes Peter Andrey Smith in his review of Nathan Vardi's "For Blood and Money."
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“In my view, we’re not at the stage where any of this stuff can be put into practice in a responsible way,” said Michael Rocque, an associate professor at Bates College.
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