Controversy Archives – Make Science Easy

If you are reading this and are unsure about the safety of vaccines, the first thing I need to tell you is that absolutely, unequivocally, without the slightest shadow of a doubt - vaccines are safe. So the question is why exactly are the likes of Robert De Niro and Robert F. Kennedy issuing a challenge about vaccine safety? Are they genuinely concerned with the safety of vaccines? I suppose it is possible that they are, but the reality is that there is absolutely no reason to be worried. Vaccines have been shown for a long time to be safe. Well as safe as any medicine can be anyway. There are always some risks involved when taking medicines. It's why every medicine you ever take has a warning label. Because there is a risk - a risk that is considered to be acceptable. The reason we know that there is a risk is because there is a rigorous system of regulation in...

At the end of every year, the major dictionaries like to publish their words of the year. In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary went with Post Truth, an apt term if ever there was one. Well, a mere two months into 2017, and it is already looking like there are two hot contenders for their words of the year. I predict it's either going to be "Fake News" or the wonderfully weaselly words, "Alternative Facts". Not that either of these two things are new phenomena. No, we have just called them what they are in the past: lies, nonsense and - well - plenty more colourful terms mainly linked to bovine excrement. Alternative facts and fake news are worrying, because they are used to sway public opinion about a whole myriad of topics but especially about science. You merely need to take a quick look at your Facebook or Twitter feed and there it is, fake news. If it was easy to...

Category: Controversy

A Response to Robert De Niro and Robert F. Kennedy’s $100,000 Vaccine Safety Challenge

How to Weed Out Fake News Like a Scientist