How many people has COVID-19 really killed in the U.S.?

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Evan Arnet

In late August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their provisional death counts page to indicate that COVID-19 was the sole cause of death listed on death certificates in only 6% of cases.

This fact was interpreted by some as only 6% of reported fatalities, or around 10,000 people, actually died of COVID-19. This misleading claim became social media fodder for groups contending that the pandemic has been blown out of proportion.

Unfortunately, the CDC meant nothing of the sort. The CDC states, “COVID-19 should not be reported on the death certificate if it did not cause or contribute to the death.” Assuming accuracy of reporting, this statement means that COVID-19 at least contributed to 100% of the deaths listed on the Provisional Death Counts page. You can read the CDC’s detailed guidance here.

Moreover, COVID-19 is listed as the “underlying cause,” or disease or injury which set in motion the events leading to death, on more than 90% of death certificates.

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COVID-19 at IU and the importance of waiting for the evidence

Posted on September 19, 2020 by Evan Arnet

Before classes had even started this semester, pictures of student parties began to circulate on social media. A college experience had been promised, but not everyone read the fine print about the degree of isolation and social distancing that would be required. The reactions ranged from indifference, to abject horror, to finger wagging, to smug “I-told-you-so’s”.

Since then, additional cases of partying have been caught on camera. COVID-19 cases at IU Bloomington have increased since the beginning of the semester, particularly in communal living environments, such as fraternity and sorority houses. Although, IU’s reported cases are down slightly as of this Wednesday.

However, from a scientific perspective, we need to be careful when apportioning blame before the evidence comes in.

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Connected? The new world of 5G

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Guest Contributor

This post was written by undergraduate ScIU Social Media Intern Sam Bolla. He was a Media Science major in The Media School’s Class of 2020!

5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology for digital cellular networks. This improved technology is said to fuel the future of innovation in our world. It can transform the way we live, work, and entertain, not only by allowing us to connect with our friends faster, but also by giving us the ability to interconnect with machines, objects, and devices. The new connection offers upload and download speeds 10 times faster than 4G, allowing more devices to access the internet and more information to be transferred.

5G technology is in its beginning stages and currently raises more questions than answers. While the service will heighten our access to information and connectability, it will raise a variety of other issues that impact our society. Data privacy, health, the economy, and infrastructure are all variables that play a role in the future of 5G. It will be a slowly-adopted process that can only be evaluated when problems emerge from it. (more…)

Goldfish myths: Does their memory really only last seven seconds?

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Guest Contributor

This post was written by ScIU Social Media Intern Junhui Wu, an undergraduate student in The Media School at Indiana University.

Have you ever dreamed about having a good relationship with your pet from day one? I believe that all pet owners have good hearts and the intention of sharing their lives with these cute creatures. Unlike dogs, who are often thought of as the symbolic figure of human beings’ most loyal friends, cats are considered more conservative in terms of revealing their feelings or emotions towards their owners. There is one pet’s feelings, however, that people might find more challenging to interpret — goldfish.

A goldfish is trapped in a transparent light bulb filled with water. — A goldfish is trapped in a transparent light bulb, alluding to the myth that goldfish have a poor memory compared to other animals (image credit: Pixabay: Bruno-Marie ).

Do goldfish have emotions and perceive the feelings of their owners, like other common household pets? Do goldfish remember their past experiences with their owners? In today’s blog post, I will introduce you to some scientific studies on learning and memory in goldfish and discuss what has been discovered so far. (more…)

The highest price of fashion: Environmental destruction

Posted on August 29, 2020 by Guest Contributor

This post was written by ScIU Social Media Intern Ava Steensland, an undergraduate student in The Media School at Indiana University.

The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world. Here, we’ll take a closer look into tip number one from the ScIU post 7 Tips on How You Can Help the Environment, which focuses on the impact of textiles on the environment.

A model holds up shopping bags to represent the end result of a shopping spree. — Image credit: Pexels (freestocks.org).

All of us wear clothes, but we often do not realize all that goes into making them. Yet, the water pollution, waste, and environmental impact of the fashion industry is almost as severe as the oil industry.

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Cancer cells and their invisibility cloak

Posted on August 22, 2020 by Vaishnavi Muralikrishnan

I remember being mind blown when I first read about how Harry Potter was able to disappear into alleys by wearing his invisibility cloak. The idea that someone could hide in plain sight always fascinated me as a child. What if I said that this happens right in the human body, where certain cells are able to use an invisibility cloak to camouflage themselves? You read it right: cancer cells have this extraordinary ability to hide in plain sight in the body. But, scientists are working on ways to get cancer cells to come out of hiding and to target them for destruction.

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The science behind meteor showers in Animal Crossing

Posted on August 15, 2020 by Jennifer Sieben

Animal Crossing has proven again and again to be an exquisitely well-designed game and has surprised many with its excellent representation of scientific concepts. Many players have written about the punnet squares of flower breeding, and others have made videos about all the animals in Blathers’s museum (even the bugs!). However, I’d like to turn your attention skyward. Let’s take a look at the meteor showers that happen above your island.

Animal Crossing player character bowing their head with eyes closed as they "wish" upon the star seen behind them with a faint tail — A player making a wish on a shooting star during a meteor shower in New Horizons. The star shines bigger and the player closes their eyes to make a wish. Image Credit: Uploaded by Nookipedia user Liana, Used under fair use.

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Greedy scientists and their grants

Posted on August 8, 2020 by Evan Arnet

In 2009, there was a faux controversy called Climategate, in which a climate change research server was hacked and private emails were leaked. This event was then spun to create the impression that human-caused climate change was all a big conspiracy.

What exactly was the alleged motive for these scientists to make up climate change?

Easy; they did it for that sweet, sweet grant money. A 2018 article by the Heritage Foundation think tank entitled “Follow the (Climate Change) Money” makes the same claim. (Speaking of following the money, the Heritage Foundation itself received money from ExxonMobil until 2012).

Photo of the pyramid and eye from on the back of US currency — Image licensed under stocksnap.io. *Photographer: Tim Sullivan.*

(Grant) money makes a straightforward motive for any suspicious shenanigans in the scientific community. Just say the right things in your grant application and Uncle Sam will drop a fat stack of cash on your doorstep. Who wouldn’t fudge their data a bit to live like a king off of the National Science Foundation?

Except….that’s not how grants work at all.

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Media literacy in the modern age

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Guest Contributor

This post was written by ScIU Social Media Intern Jack Reasner, an undergraduate at IU’s Media School.

The Center for Media Literacy defines media literacy as “a 21st-century approach to education. It provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate, create and participate with messages in a variety of forms — from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.” Media literacy is becoming an invaluable skill. With an internet culture that breeds the “anything goes” mindset, it’s essential to take information with a grain of salt and to remember that misinformation can have very real consequences.

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A reminder to the community: systemic racism is not just about the tools (but it’s a good start)

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Alexandra Moussa-Tooks

Content Warning: racism, violence, weapons, sexual assault, explicit language in some videos/links. Note: this is a lengthy post… sorry, not sorry.

Systemic racism has ravaged our country since its creation; America was built on it and continues to bask in it. It has taken lives and left them nameless and forgotten. More recently, though, some of those names are being heard and some of those faces are being seen.

Various calls to defund the police are ringing throughout social media and the news. And, candidly, I am for this. There are many functions that the police (as an institution) currently serve that would be better addressed by more specialized professionals. It is not realistic that (1) police training could be sufficiently expanded to provide proper education on managing such things, especially given that professionals in mental health and social work, for example, spend their entire careers learning and refining these skills nor that (2) many of those who self-select into the police force would be willing to work through such training and openly receive these lessons.

While I agree that redistributing funds from the police to more effective justice and safety measures is a critical step, I’m reminded of a quote in Bojack Horseman: “I can’t believe this country hates women more than it loves guns.” Let me explain.

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