Author: Critical Links

Multi-purposing a Common Science Tool for Critical Appraisal

September 1, 2019September 19, 2019 Critical Links

By Zack Dumont Healthcare and medical literature is fraught with limitations: It’s complex, vulnerable to various interpretations, and ultimately not well served by fleeting headlines. To effectively translate the knowledge uncovered in a research study into clinical practice, one must first determine whether the research methods are valid (i.e., did they conduct a good study?)…

Science, ScienceChek

A really useful machine

August 29, 2019August 29, 2019 Critical Links 3 Comments

The other day someone came to me and asked my advice concerning the potential purchase of a new machine. It was meant to help with the following problem: Software often gets into a state in which people do not know whether certain features or functions ever get used or are even reachable by “flows” through…

Read More “A really useful machine” »

critical thinking

Prediction, Scientific Realism, and Testing Kids

July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 Critical Links 1 Comment

I didn’t manage to get a July Conundrum in, and nobody had much to say about the June one. I press on with one that educational policy people should really think hard about. (HINT!) Predict the next value in this sequence: 0, 1, 1, 3, 2, 5, 3, 7, 4, … Now, imagine data from…

Announcement

Unplanned

July 25, 2019July 25, 2019 Critical Links

Now showing at a theatre near you: Unplanned, based on the story of a former director of a Planned Parenthood who becomes converted from feminist pro-choice champion to zealous anti-choice advocate. Articles in Maclean’s and The Walrus review the movie here and here and CBC News discusses how a low-budget, poorly reviewed movie (which some have…

What the Heck is ‘Oumuamua?

June 13, 2019October 15, 2023 Critical Links

It seems impossible, given how long humans have been studying the skies, but last October 19, a Canadian astrophysicist at the University of Hawaii observed the first confirmed interstellar object to travel through our solar system. The object is called ‘Oumuamua (the apostrophe is not a typo).

ScienceChek