Health

Building Momentum for Equity in Medical Devices December 2, 2022

Through a systematic approach, stakeholders can work to close racial disparities in medical devices in the near-term and advance health equity.

In closing February 5, 2014

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled. Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, in an appendix to the report on the loss of the space shuttle Challenger. The first post in this series was put up a little more than two years ago and I’ve written […] The post In closing appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

A foolish consistency January 7, 2014

Consistency is good – there’s a sense of security in knowing that some things will generally remain constant over time. We can always count on gravity, for example, to hold us firmly to the ground; politicians are typically pandering and self-serving; I can count on radioactivity to consistently decay away; and so forth. Of course, […] The post A foolish consistency appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

The Mexican radiation accident (Part II) December 20, 2013

A highly respected colleague and friend of mine says he no longer refers to “lessons learned” but, rather, to “lessons recognized” because he has noticed that we don’t always learn our lessons. It’s not too early to recognize some lessons from the Mexican accident of the other week, but the fact that this accident happened […] The post The Mexican radiation accident (Part II) appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

The Mexican radiation accident (Part I) December 10, 2013

Most news stories involving radiation are, to be blunt, overblown. Radiation can be dangerous, but the risk it actually poses is usually far lower than what the media stories would have us believe. So my first inclination when I hear about another story involving “deadly radiation” is to be skeptical. And then every now and […] The post The Mexican radiation accident (Part I) appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

That Fracking Radon December 3, 2013

Although there continues to be a great deal of comment-worthy material about Fukushima (including the latest idiotic suggestion that a collapse of the spent fuel storage in Unit 4 might call for the evacuation of California) I’d like to take a bit of a break from the apparent never-ending story. Partly I’d like to cover […] The post That Fracking Radon appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

Death by polonium? November 11, 2013

Last year I posted a piece that, in addition to 2 other short bits, briefly discussed the possibility that Yassar Arafat might have been poisoned with polonium-210 (Po-210) in 2004, including the apparent finding of elevated levels of the nuclide in Arafat’s remains. At the time I was dubious that there would be enough Po-210 […] The post Death by polonium? appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

Once more into the breach November 6, 2013

I’d been planning on waiting a little longer before returning to the topics of Fukushima and radiation health effects, but a particularly egregiously bad New York Times op-ed piece deserves some attention. So once more into the breach. Writing in the October 30 New York Times, pediatrician and anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott used the nuclear […] The post Once more into the breach appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

The dose makes the poison October 8, 2013

One of the most potent arguments against all things nuclear is the idea that even a vanishingly small amount of radiation exposure has the chance to cause cancer. Even if that risk is incredibly low there’s still a risk, and if a huge number of people are exposed to even a small risk then there […] The post The dose makes the poison appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.

Yucca Mountain: Questions and Concerns September 19, 2013

Yucca Mountain raises a lot of controversy – let’s face it; if it didn’t then a 4-part series of blog postings would hardly be necessary. Part of the reason for the controversy is that there are a number of worries about the impact of spent fuel disposal on the environment and on the health of […] The post Yucca Mountain: Questions and Concerns appears on ScienceWonk, FAS's blog for opinions from guest experts and leaders.