December 10, 2021, there was a horrific tornado outbreak that devestated multiple towns in the Midwest United States. I'm going to recap what we know so far, and show you some of the behind the scenes for weather information, and talk about the climate change aspect.
References:
https://www.foxweather.com/watch/play-559343c88000f48
https://news.sky.com/video/share-12493139
https://www.foxnews.com/us/daylight-photos-tornado-damage-american-heartland
https://www.weather.gov/oun/efscale
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/efscale/
https://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/yesterday.html
https://science2017.globalchange.gov/chapter/9/
https://www.c2es.org/content/tornadoes-and-climate-change/
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/what-extreme-event-there-evidence-global-warming-has-caused-or-contributed
The Trump Administration's Higher Education Compact has caused quite a stir. What does it actually say? Is this really a good idea?
References:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/2025/10/24/how-universities-are-responding-trumps-compact
Had to be away for awhile on personal trips and matters, but I'm back!
Happy Halloween! Let's talk about the grade inflation mess at Harvard.
Harvard released a report on grade inflation that was pretty damning. What's the best way to measure a student's mastery of material?
References:
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/27/grading-workload-report/
https://oue.fas.harvard.edu/faculty-resources/report-on-grading/
The recent shutdown draws me to return to a particular question, how much involvement should the federal government have in funding science?
References:
https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf24332
https://www.science.org/content/article/u-s-scientists-gird-yet-another-government-shutdown
https://fromtheprow.agu.org/agu-statement-on-the-u-s-government-shutdown/
A study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health examines the fraction of children with asthma that is attributable to gas stoves in the home. Interesting take, but there are a few things worth pointing out.
The YouTube version of the episode will be up tomorrow morning!
Article reviewed in this episode:
Population Attributable Fraction of Gas Stoves and Childhood Asthma in the United States
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/75
Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/mojo/rebel
License code: D5OVVTNIN7FRRQIR
The new one on the actions of “Affinity Groups” is quite interesting, but you can only get it as a paying subscriber! Go check it out! https://open.spotify.com/episode/0f9q192oAAwAiKCjCC6Edv?si=0b_flngGQliFxK7I_d5N6Q
There will be no content over Thanksgiving week since I'm off on vacation. Happy Thanksgiving all!
