AI is Full of Bullshit. Now It’s Faking Science

I used to think AI was a hyped-up distraction. I thought it would do a clumsy job of things, and be annoying, but mostly harmless. I’ve changed my mind. What initiated my change of mind was playing around with some AI tools. After trying out chatGPT and Google’s AI tool, I’ve now come to the […]

Guest Post: Woof. Woof woof woof. Woof. Woof.

Because I’m traveling today, to the annual science writers’ conference, I’ve taken the unusual step of running a guest post without clearing it with the rest of the LWON team. My sweet baby Chihuahua mix T.S. Eliot Nestor (pictured above) asked to respond to Our Jenny’s post this week (Little Dog Big Heart), in which […]

Little Dog Big Heart

I’ve never been a small-dog person. I get that they have a touch of cuteness to offer; they are, after all, tiny, furry things with big eyes, and some have silly faces, floppy ears, and goofy antics. But most that I’ve met are just perpetual barkers of the piercing sort, or teeth-bearing growlers, trying to […]

Infectious Diseases in the Wild

A conversation struck up at a writing workshop a few weeks ago between me and a computational biologist who studies the molecular biology and population genetics of the HIV virus and other virulent diseases including Ebola, Hepatitis, and Covid. She’s what you would call a veteran virus tracker, compiling and interpreting viral genetic sequences and […]