antiscience

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is running for president of the United States on a record of anti-diversity, pro-censorship, white nationalist measures. He has targeted education, LGBTQ rights and access to health care, and should he prevail, his anti-science candidacy stands to harm millions of Americans. DeSantis has banned books in school libraries, restricted teachers’ classroom discussions about diversity, prohibited high school classes that focus on Black history and people, politicized college curricula,…

Editor’s Note (3/30/23): This editorial from June 2021 is being republished to highlight the ways that ongoing anti-trans legislation is harmful and unscientific.  On April 6, the Arkansas state legislature passed a law that would prohibit transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming medical care. It was not alone: before 2021 had even reached the halfway point, at least 35 similar bills—all of them in Republican-controlled states—had been proposed or passed, setting a regrettable record. Advocates for these laws…

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who turns 82 on Saturday, wants the record to reflect that he is not retiring. Really, he isn’t. It’s just that after 54 years as a government scientist and advisor to seven presidents, he is leaving the National Institutes of Health at the end of the year.The nation’s top infectious disease doctor insists he still wants to write, make public appearances and continue to shape research on infectious diseases. So he will continue to be a presence in the lives of his many fans — and his equally zealous…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain The same four factors that explain how people change their beliefs on a variety of issues can account for the recent rise in anti-science attitudes, a new review suggests. …