scientific research

Disrupting Science with Crypto

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 18:04:27 +0000

Let’s say I am afflicted by a common but non-life-threatening condition. I shall refer to this fictional misfortune as “chin gribbles.” I have chin gribbles. Many people have chin gribbles. It’s annoying and it affects our quality of life. When we go to the pharmacy or speak to a doctor, we’re told there are very few treatment options for chin gribbles, if any.

Not All Scientific Studies are Useful

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 22:58:10 +0000

Why do we pursue science? Because we want to know what to eat, what medications to take, what cleaning agents to use, what chemicals to avoid, which personal care products to buy, what sort of exercise to engage in, and how to avoid disease. Basically, we want science to work for us with a goal of guiding us towards a healthy, problem-free long life. Yes, we also do have an innate curiosity for how the world works that prompts fundamental, non-goal oriented research, but here too, the hope is that somehow it will provide some practical benefit.

What a Journal Impact Factor Is and Isn’t

Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 11:00:00 +0000

You may have heard of the impact factor. It is a number given to an academic journal (think Nature or The New England Journal of Medicine) which is often erroneously used a proxy for how good the papers it publishes really are. If the journal has a high impact factor, it must mean the research you will find within it is solid, goes the sentiment; if the number is low, be skeptical.

The Loopy Science of Stressed Rats and Froot Loops

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 15:34:35 +0000

If you are a male rat and have to spend two hours every day in a polypropylene tube in which you cannot move, and want to preserve the integrity of your penis, you better stay away from eating Froot Loops. That would be the takeaway from a study published by Brazilian researchers in the peer-reviewed journal Heliyon. But if you are a man, I think this paper provides no useful information other than insinuating that Froot Loops do not exactly belong in the “health food” category, which would seem to be a self-evident truth.