caulfieldtim.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

The truth isn't always found halfway between two opinions. Sometimes it's firmly on one side. Learn more about Middle Ground Fallacy here. 👉 scienceupfirst.com/misinformati... #ScienceUpFirst

submitted 15 hours ago • 1 comment

Nonsensical. Evil. And so incredibly harmful. Why, why, why isn't this a bigger political issue? Cuz it isn't about the price of eggs? 25 million deaths: what could happen if the US ends global health funding www.nature.com/articles/d41...

submitted 14 hours ago • 2 comments

Did cult sacrifices in ancient Egypt give rise to the cat? www.science.org/content/arti... "...may have been domesticated in Egypt after all, possibly as recently as 3000 yrs ago." "There must have been something very special about cats—& not just that they’re so freaking cute & adorable." #Meow!

submitted 14 hours ago • 0 comments

"High muscle strength & cardiorespiratory fitness were significantly associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. In addition, increases in CRF were associated with a reduced risk of cancer-specific mortality." Study: bjsm.bmj.com/content/earl... Sum: #Move & #Lift!

submitted 21 hours ago • 0 comments

Decoding Misinformation: Why we fall for fake news www.ipsos.com/en/decoding-... "Addressing misinformation requires a collaborative effort across different sectors, from policymakers and educators to media organisations and individuals."

submitted 22 hours ago • 1 comment

Political lies have a pattern — and radical-right populist parties are leading the charge www.psypost.org/political-li... Misinformation "...disproportionately linked to radical-right populist parties." From the study: "...part & parcel of the current wave of radical right populism."

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

RFK Jr's appointment boosts Europe's anti-vax movements www.euronews.com/2025/04/16/r... "More than half of the top-performing posts analysed were found to be spreading misinformation..." "Clear connection' between misinformation and outbreaks." #VaccinesWork

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

With outbreaks occurring, we’re reposting this to clear up any misconceptions you may have heard about herd immunity 👂 Learn more about what herd immunity is and isn’t here 👉 scienceupfirst.com/project/if-o... #ScienceUpFirst #VaccinesWork

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

RFK Jr. calls rising autism rate an ‘epidemic.’ Nope. www.statnews.com/2025/04/15/r... via @statnews.com Reality: “…3.2% of kids surveyed in 2022 have autism spectrum disorder, a slight uptick from 2.8%” “RFK Jr. is turning back the clock on autism rhetoric & [dragging] us backwards by decades.”

submitted 1 day ago • 21 comments

The anti-science spiral continues… Alberta replacing top public health official as province deals with measles outbreak /via @globeandmail www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alber... “Ms. Smith came to power in part by harnessing angst from vaccine skeptics…” Dark Age 2.0

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

“…misinformation and disinformation can cause immense harm by undermining trust in science through their impact on public narratives.” Disinformation damages democracy, but perhaps not in the way you think phys.org/news/2025-04...

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Vaccine safety, politics and the nocebo effect By @caulfieldtim.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

“Autism surveillance report found that 1 in 31 8-year-olds had the condition.” “The CDC attributed the increase to better screening.” www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/... If RFK jr says it, assume it is wrong.

submitted 2 days ago • 5 comments

Does massage help after a workout? No magic. Mostly just relaxing. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/w... "The reality is that most of the purported physiological benefits of massage aren’t backed by strong evidence." “Massage guns are not some secret way to improve your recovery.”

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Our politics, expectations, & media consumption impacts vaccine experiences, including adverse events. Needed: new strategies to counter the vaccine concern vortex! My new article: Vaccine safety, politics and the nocebo effect healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Predatory journals even worse since "Get Me Off Your Fckng Mailing List" was accepted for publication boingboing.net/2025/04/12/p... "The paper, which repeats the phrase 'Get me off your fucking mailing list' for ten pages," published in 2005. Need to clean up academic literature!

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

Amazing day at the Tate Modern. So many compelling — dark & light — themes. I couldn’t help thinking Trump would likely ban 80% of the content. Dark Age 2.0 What would Tate Trump contain? Dogs Playing Pool? Hmmmm… Suspiciously diverse. #ArtMatters

submitted 2 days ago • 2 comments

COVID-19 analysis shows that US investment in vaccine more than paid off medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04... “…the national vaccine strategy more than paid for itself after just one year…” Science works. #VaccinesWork

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

From conspiracies to insurgence link.springer.com/article/10.1... Political engagement, both violent & non-violent, results from the interaction between the quest for personal significance + conspiracy beliefs + network normative influence. “…impact of conspiracy beliefs on political engagement.”

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Exploring expert figures in alien-related UFO conspiracy theories www.nature.com/articles/s41... “…common use of expert figures, often without empirical backing, to bolster conspiracy theories.” “…underscores the importance of scientific literacy & critical thinking in combating disinformation.”

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

A 2024 study found "the more a jurisdiction voted Republican, 'the more likely their vaccine recipients or their clinicians are to report COVID vaccine adverse events.'" Sum: > Republican politics = > vaccine adverse events. My take...👇 cc @picardonhealth.bsky.social @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Las Vegas schools face alarming measles vaccination shortfall lvrj.com/post/3349572 via @reviewjournal "More than three-quarters of Clark County schools began the academic year with a reported kindergarten vaccination rate of less than 95%..." Dark Age 2.0 update.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Spotting climate misinformation with AI requires expertly trained models www.sciencenews.org/article/clim... "Conversational AI chatbots are making climate misinformation sound more credible, making it harder to distinguish falsehoods from real science."

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Study: Authoritarian attitudes are linked to MAGA support www.psypost.org/authoritaria... Zero surprise. A bit like saying people who like big loud trucks that flip enjoy monster truck rallies? (No offence to moster truck rallies.)

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

Our politics, expectations, & media consumption impacts vaccine experiences, including adverse events. Needed: new strategies to counter the vaccine concern vortex! My new article: Vaccine safety, politics and the nocebo effect healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

History & context matters. Why history instruction is critical for combating online misinformation theconversation.com/why-history-... "Since context is key to critical thinking, learning to analyze information about current events likely requires knowledge about politics and history..."

submitted 4 days ago • 3 comments

According to my own survey, The Certainty Illusion, by @caulfieldtim.bsky.social will make you 30% more annoying to your friends and family, but that rises to 68% if they get their information from social media. Read the book!

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

Dr Peter Marks, "Vaccines have been studied very extensively for being potentially associated with autism" "That theory has been debunked" "One study in Denmark, over 600,000 children. It shows that if anything, children had a lower rate of autism than unvaccinated children"

submitted 6 days ago • 477 comments

RFK Jr's autism 'epidemic' study raises anti-vaxx fears f24.my/B5U6.X "...autism organisations, doctors & scientists rejected the idea that there is an 'autism epidemic', saying 5 months was not enough time for such a study - and this subject has already been extensively looked at."

submitted 5 days ago • 3 comments

Measles, Vitamin A & RFK Jr.’s About-Face www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/... by @drlabos.bsky.social "The dangers of misrepresenting the science are not abstract. Real children are getting sick & dying." Vitamin A "doesn’t prevent or limit the spread of measles, and in very high doses it can be toxic."

submitted 5 days ago • 5 comments

Public health under attack from misinformation, measles; Where is Alberta's top doctor? edmontonjournal.com/opinion/colu... "The problems that Kennedy & his disinformation accomplices have manufactured are not limited to the U.S. The problems have arrived in Alberta." Yep.

submitted 5 days ago • 8 comments

An unending flow of simplistic, science-free, conceptually incoherent, & stigmitizing BS... Satire? Does RFK Jr think he's playing an RFK Jr "like" character on Veep? RFK Jr. Blames the Sick for Their ‘Choices’ But Not the Unvaxxed www.thedailybeast.com/rfk-jr-says-... via @thedailybeast

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Flu vaccine: "...substantial increases for Black & Hispanic older adult... while White older adults with lower educational attainment and/or living in rural areas had decreased rates of vaccination." One big reason? Politics. Flu Vaccination Rates jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Happy National Pet Day! ❤️ My colleague, Professor Maxwell, super excited. #Meow.

submitted 6 days ago • 4 comments

Incredible how he just makes up doubtmongering sh*t. Health secretary RFK Jr. declares certain vaccines have ‘never worked,’ flummoxing scientists www.statnews.com/2025/04/10/r... via @statnews.com Sum from experts: "He’s wrong." He is wrong about everything, so just add this to list...

submitted 6 days ago • 9 comments

Health misinformation: How to identify reliable sources online iuhealth.org/thrive/healt... - Be skeptical of sensational quick-fixes or $ asks - Medical information affects everyone - Health misinformation is dangerous - Fact-check suspicious health claims - Help fight bunk!

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

Don't let the FEARDEMIC – about crime, immigration, etc – drive election. My take: There’s a reason fear runs our lives. Let’s not let it win www.thestar.com/opinion/ther... via @thestar.com

submitted 6 days ago • 1 comment

The arrogance. The ignoring of the scientific process & the body of evidence. The fearmongering. The lies... It is staggering & sickening. U.S. will know cause of autism epidemic by September, Health Secretary RFK Jr. says www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-pol...

submitted 7 days ago • 18 comments

How Trump’s Tariffs Fit the Autocrat’s Playbook [and the manosophere BS] www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a... via @newyorker.com Müller: “…about the glorification of manufacturing and 'real men' who are in factories & produce things, tangible things. That has always been part of the Trumpist package…”

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

"...genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway." Science’s big problem is a loss of influence, not a loss of trust www.nature.com/articles/d41... via @nature.com More engagement! More voices! More #scicomm! #GoScience!

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

The positives & negatives of AI. @nature.com survey of researchers...

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

Yep. "Natural" = King of BS health halos. 👑 Ignore. Why we assume ‘natural’ food is better, even when it’s not wapo.st/3R9AJUf @alanlevinovitz.bsky.social: "The appeal of natural foods is also our intuition, right or wrong, that we understand how those foods are created."

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

He's a disaster. Now his lies are, I guess, "official" lies? RFK Jr. suggests some vaccines are risky or ineffective, downplays measles threat www.statnews.com/2025/04/10/r... via @statnews "Some anti-vaccine groups see in Kennedy’s statements an endorsement of their long-held views."

submitted 7 days ago • 4 comments

Agree. Embrace of bunk tied to identity (e.g, a political community). Diverse Social Identities Can Protect Against Misinformation www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/misg... @matthewfacciani.bsky.social "...people with higher social identity complexity are less biased and more tolerant of outgroups."

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Have you heard that testosterone levels seem to be dropping? Some have used this as an opportunity to spread fear, conspiracy theories, and to push unproven products and practices. Let’s explore! 👉 scienceupfirst.com/public-healt... #ScienceUpFirst

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Thx! 🙏 ‘The Certainty Illusion’ shows how misinformation thrives aiptcomics.com/2025/04/08/c... via @aiptcomics.com "...excellent as a tool that shows how to dissect claims & what kinds of things to look out for..." "...does a fantastic job pointing out the large-scale problems..."

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

The Misinformation Wars sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-misinfor... "...it requires not only fact checking but scientific literacy, critical thinking skills, and media savvy. You essentially have to give someone a new way to understand the world." "You can’t just tell them their belief is wrong."

submitted 7 days ago • 1 comment

Promising.👇 Can dialogues with AI systems help humans better discern misinformation? [preprint] "AI interaction significantly boosts participants’ accuracy in identifying real versus fake news content from approximately 60% to 90%" "...may not produce lasting improvements." More research needed.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments