New biomedical techniques, like next-generation genome sequencing, are creating vast amounts of data and transforming the scientific landscape. They’re leading to unimaginable breakthroughs – but leaving researchers racing to keep up.
Author: Tom Chivers
I'm a freelance science writer. Until January 2018 I was science writer for BuzzFeed UK; before that, I was a comment and features writer for the Telegraph, having joined in 2007. My first book, "The AI Does Not Hate You: Superintelligence, Rationality and the Race to Save the World", for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, is due to be published June 2019. Since leaving BuzzFeed, I've written for the Times, the Guardian, New Scientist, the i, the Telegraph, UnHerd, politics.co.uk, and elsewhere.
What’s the point of arguing with an idiot? – UnHerd
Sure, the Remain-Leave argument can get pretty angry. The rows between Labour and Conservatives, too, and the respective supporters of Israel and Palestine. But the deadliest and most intractable fight of all is between people online and their completely made-up imaginary opponents.
Pay me to do things!
I’m a freelance science writer. Until January 2018 I was science writer for BuzzFeed UK; before that, I was a comment and features writer for the Telegraph, having joined in 2007. My first book, The AI Does Not Hate You: The Rationalists and Their Quest to Save the World, for Weidenfeld & Nicolson, is due to be published in June 2019. Since leaving BuzzFeed, I’ve written for the Times, the i, the Telegraph, UnHerd, politics.co.uk, New Scientist, CNN, and elsewhere.
Contact me via Twitter or by email.
Below, I’ve added a few links to some of my favourite things that I’ve done over the years.
The header pic is the Cassini space probe’s final image of Saturn, because Cassini is the best space thing.
THC rising: Failed war on drugs sees cannabis grow out of control – politics.co.uk
It is tempting to describe the government’s approach to cannabis as a spectacular failure. But that would be untrue: the government’s approach cannot fail, because the government has no approach. It has no goals, it has no aims, it has no policies.
Read the rest here.
A Controversial Therapy For ME Has Led To Claims Of Death Threats, Harassment, And Pseudoscience – BuzzFeed UK
A recent scientific trial has led to acrimonious debates over chronic fatigue syndrome, aka ME, and boosted interest in a secretive therapy that some call a “cult” and others call a “miracle”.
Read the rest here.
The Spaceship That Took Some Of The Greatest Images Of The Solar System Has Died – BuzzFeed UK
After 20 years in space, some amazing science, and some unbelievable images, the Cassini-Huygens mission finally came to an end. We asked two of the scientists who worked on it what the mission meant to them.
Read more here.
How Online Filter Bubbles Are Making Parents Of Autistic Children Targets For Fake “Cures” – BuzzFeed UK
Analysis by BuzzFeed News found that more than half of the most-shared scientific stories about autism published in the last five years promote unevidenced or disproven treatments, or purported causes.
Read the rest here.
