Links 02/14/2009 (Post-Hugs Edition)
February 14, 2009 Filed in: Links
Ars Technica: Why a cold winter doesn't
mean climate change is behind us
2008 was pretty chilly, so that means climate change is over, right? Ars Technica takes a good look at the data and concludes that one year does not a trend make.
Ars Technica: Court sides with science, says no vaccine-autism link
Another good piece from Ars looks at a recent court case regarding the purported link between MMR and autism. THe article also takes a look at other vaccine-ASD correlations and finds such connections lacking. Unfortunately, autism (like global climate change) is an issue that involves punditry, politics, and emotion to such an extent as to obscure objectivity in analyzing the facts.
In other words, I doubt this is the last we’ll hear of vaccines causing autism, even if the correlation is weak and the study upon which the claims are based is fundamentally flawed.
Daring Fireball: ‘Word Count’ Script for ThisService
This is an article on Daring Fireball from two years ago, but I think it’s insanely useful if you happen to be a Mac user. I don’t think I’ve shared it before, so I’m correcting that now.
2008 was pretty chilly, so that means climate change is over, right? Ars Technica takes a good look at the data and concludes that one year does not a trend make.
The facts are that 2008 was cooler than the last few years, but warmer than most in recent history, which lends itself to spin based on the predilections of the person talking about it. But some of that spin specifically plays upon the widespread innumeracy of the public, which isn't well prepared to separate trends from short-term variability, or recognize when certain figures are selectively chosen. We'll try to separate out some of these in a way that will hopefully help readers make a bit of sense out of the conflicting noise.
Ars Technica: Court sides with science, says no vaccine-autism link
Another good piece from Ars looks at a recent court case regarding the purported link between MMR and autism. THe article also takes a look at other vaccine-ASD correlations and finds such connections lacking. Unfortunately, autism (like global climate change) is an issue that involves punditry, politics, and emotion to such an extent as to obscure objectivity in analyzing the facts.
In other words, I doubt this is the last we’ll hear of vaccines causing autism, even if the correlation is weak and the study upon which the claims are based is fundamentally flawed.
Daring Fireball: ‘Word Count’ Script for ThisService
This is an article on Daring Fireball from two years ago, but I think it’s insanely useful if you happen to be a Mac user. I don’t think I’ve shared it before, so I’m correcting that now.