6 Tips to Help You Detect Fake Science News

I’m a professor of chemistry, have a Ph.D. and conduct my own scientific research, yet when consuming media, even I frequently need to ask myself: “Is this science or is it fiction?”

There are plenty of reasons a science story might not be sound. Quacks and charlatans take advantage of the complexity of science, some content providers can’t tell bad science from good and some politicians peddle fake science to support their positions.

If the science sounds too good to be true or too wacky to be real, or very conveniently supports a contentious cause, then you might want to check its veracity.

Here are six tips to help you detect fake science.

Tip 1: Seek the peer review seal of approval

Scientists rely on journal papers to share their scientific results. They let the world see what research has been done, and how.

Once researchers are confident of their results, they write up a manuscript and send it to a journal. Editors forward the submitted manuscripts to at least two external referees who have expertise in the topic. These reviewers can suggest the manuscript be rejected, published as is, or sent back to the scientists for more experiments. That process is called “peer review.”

Research published in peer-reviewed journals has undergone rigorous quality control by experts. Each year, about 2,800 peer-reviewed journals publish roughly 1.8 million scientific papers. The body of scientific knowledge is constantly evolving and updating, but you can trust that the science these journals describe is sound. Retraction policies help correct the record if mistakes are discovered post-publication.

...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

How to Spot a Credit Repair Scam

It’s no secret that living through the pandemic has caused many of us to have to deal with financial hardships. Closed businesses have meant lost jobs, and lost jobs can mean missed payments. Identity theft is also a real and ongoing threat. With these and many other factors in play, it can be difficult to maintain a good credit score. And yet, we all depend on good credit when we make some of the most important financial decisions of our lives, from buying a car, to buying a home, to starting a business.

If financial hardships have lowered your credit score, there are many ways to improve your credit. Depending on the severity of your credit situation, you may have considered working with a credit repair company. 

You can't remove legitimate claims on your credit report; you can only remove errors.

But here's a warning: No credit repair company can "erase bad credit forever," so don't fall for that compelling hook. You can't remove legitimate claims on your credit report; you can only remove errors. Plenty of credit repair scams exist. That means you could end up paying thousands of dollars (which you most likely don't have to spare) only to see no significant increase in your credit score.

That's why our friends at Money.com put together a comprehensive guide to help you navigate credit repair and separate the scams from the credit repair companies that are legitimate and helpful.

 

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Grammar Quirks: Tiffany Rosenhan on 'Poronkusema'

Grammar Girl: What’s your favorite word and why?

Tiffany Rosenhan: "Poronkusema." It’s an untranslatable Finnish word meaning “how far a reindeer can walk before needing the toilet.” It’s brilliant in its universality, because it can be applied to children as well. Every morning of my mothering life, I have left the house under a timeframe of poronkusema. (I first found this word in "What a Wonderful Word" by Nicola Edwards and Luisa Uribe and promptly asked my Finnish neighbor who confirmed its authenticity!)

GG: What’s a word you dislike (either because it’s overused or misused) and why?

TR: "Duh." It should be used only when essential, duh.

GG: What word will you always misspell?

TR: "Witch" and "which"! I type too fast to counterbalance my Hogwarts education.

GG: What word (or semblance of a word) would you like to see added to the dictionary? Why?

TR: "Techilliterate"! I made it up one night, desperate to describe myself.

GG: Any grammar pet peeves we should know about?

TR: Boring pronouns.

GG: To what extent does grammar play a role in character development and voice?

TR: It becomes more important the farther I get into revisions! During the creative stage, when maintaining flow is essential, constantly editing poor grammar is far more distracting than simply skimming over mistakes. However, once I start to ruthlessly edit, grammar and syntax become key parts of each character’s voice.

GG: Do you have a favorite quote or passage from an author you’d like to share?

TR: “Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company” - Lord Byron

GG: What grammar, wording, or punctuation problem did you struggle with this week?

TR: Punctuation kills me. I’m not detail oriented enough to catch misplaced parenthesis and quotation marks!

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Can You Get Fit in Virtual Reality?

When I woke up this morning, I was raring to go. I made a cup of coffee while doing my morning "Get Moving" routine. Then I headed out for a walk. I took in some fresh air and sunlight, got my blood pumping, cleared my head, and set my intentions for a movement-filled day.

I love being outdoors, so getting outside in the morning is kind of my thing. But, like many people, I find that opportunities to keep moving my body drop off in the evening hours. And that's the perfect time to strap on a virtual reality (VR) headset and have fun moving as I play some games.

What is virtual reality gaming?

Without getting too geeky, VR is a type of computer simulation where a person can experience a three-dimensional environment. In VR gaming, players interact with that environment to solve puzzles, complete tasks, battle virtual monsters, or explore.

Generally, the gear required to enter a VR world is a headset (or very large goggles) and two hand controllers, usually with multiple buttons and joysticks. Once you put on the headset, the real world is all but blocked out and you're visually immersed in a 3-D world. With the help of the hand controllers, you can move around the world in all directions, use tools, and interact with elements you find there. 

I have to admit that before I received the headset from Oculus (a brand of Facebook Technologies, LLC) I assumed VR games were gimmicky and cheesy. But I was dead wrong. After a few weeks of playing, I am still blown away by how cool and immersive gaming can be using the Oculus Quest 2. 

A quick disclaimer! Facebook Technologies, LLC gave me a free Oculus Quest 2 headset to review. They didn't make any attempt to influence my review or encourage a positive review.

How fitness and VR go together

Gamers have gotten a bad reputation for being snack-food-eating, energy-drink-swilling nerds who live in their mom’s basements far beyond an acceptable age. And while that stereotype isn't universally accurate (check out the top gamers in Korea and you'll see some stylish, slick, and well-to-do youngsters), it's not hard to see why it exists. I mean, sitting on your butt in front of a gaming console or monitor for hours on end isn't exactly the path to optimal health and wellness.

That's where VR gaming flips the stereotype on its head.

To succeed at the majority of VR games, you'll need to stand. That's a win right there.

First of all, to succeed at the majority of VR games, you'll need to stand. That's a win right there. (As I've mentioned before, I swapped my traditional desk...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Are People and Situations Frustrating You at Work? Let's Fix That

In the earliest days of my running my business, I remember being fascinated (and horrified) by the black hole into which every proposal seemed to fall. Back then, I’d meet with a leader seeking a program or some consulting. I’d follow up with exactly the proposal they’d requested, and … [insert sound of crickets chirping].

I was so frustrated. Our conversation had made clear that they had a need and I had a solution. And their inability to close the loop was so bleeping frustrating. I’ll confess to having spent a hot few minutes, or maybe months, stewing in my frustration over their failure to respond.

Then, one day my brave husband gently suggested that perhaps I needed to look at how I was contributing to this frustrating outcome.

Ugh. I hate it when he’s right.

What role do you play in your frustration?

As it turned out, I was indeed playing a role in this broken record of frustration. These people were busy doing their day jobs; they weren’t sitting around waiting for my proposals. I realized I needed to sharpen my calls-to-action in my cover notes. I needed to follow up, sometimes three or four times, to land the next meeting. 

This reflection was a game-changer for me. I made some tweaks to my approach and, magically, their behavior changed! Suddenly proposals became contracts, which inevitably became a business.

When you’re looking for the reason people around you seem to be denying or ignoring what you’ve said, you may need to look for that answer in the mirror.

Being this brand of reflective—asking ‘What am I doing that’s contributing to this problem?’—can be hard. But in your own moments of repeated frustration, consider what your role might be, and what you can do to change the tape. I'm not talking about one-off frustrations like when your neighbor's landscaper shows up with a leaf blower just as you're about to virtually present a big pitch. I'm talking about those frustrations that seem to rear their heads again and again on an endless loop.

When you’re feeling frustrated on repeat, before you bang your head against the wall, take a pause and reflect. Ask yourself, what is my opportunity to contribute to a different outcome next time?

Here are some surefire places to start.

Make sure you've been clear

When I run programs on effective communication skills, I always include a nod to a favorite quote of mine, often (and probably incorrectly) attributed to George Bernard Shaw:

The single biggest problem in...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

3 Phrases for St. Patrick’s Day … and 1 to Avoid

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up on March 17. With that in mind, today we’re going to talk about three phrases you’re likely to hear on that holiday.

Who was St. Patrick?

Before we dive in, here’s a refresher on St. Patrick. His life was pretty eventful. He was born in Great Britain in the 5th century and then kidnapped as a child and enslaved by Irish raiders. He escaped back to his home country after six years.

Later, as an adult, he dreamed that a group of Irishmen were calling him back to their land. Believing he’d received a message from God, he returned to Ireland as a one-man missionary, spreading word of the Christian faith across the pagan island and baptizing people left and right. 

Legends surround his stay there. He’s best known for having driven all the snakes out of Ireland (which is probably a metaphor for driving out the druids). He’s also said to have raised 33 people from the dead, some of whom had been buried for years.

Partly due to this legend, shamrocks have become the national flower of Ireland, and are symbolic of all things Irish, especially St. Patrick’s Day.

He’s even said to have placed a curse on an Irish clan who didn’t take kindly to his promotion of a new deity. Their spirit animal was a wolf, and they howled at Patrick when he came close. Patrick retaliated. The legends say he put a curse on them that turned one couple, every seven years, into wolves—wolves that spoke like humans and craved human flesh. You could say he turned them into werewolves.

On a more peaceful note, St. Patrick is also supposed to have illustrated the Holy Trinity of Christianity by using a shamrock, showing its three leaves growing from a single stem. Partly due to this legend, shamrocks have become the national flower of Ireland, and are symbolic of all things Irish, especially St. Patrick’s Day.

Now that you know who St. Patrick is, let’s get back to words you might hear on this holiday. We’ll start with “Begorrah.”

What does 'begorrah' mean?

Begorrah is a euphemism for the phrase “by God.” You sometimes hear it in the phrase, “faith and begorrah.” It’s the Irish equivalent of an American saying, “by golly” or “by gosh.”

Its first recorded use was 1839. An English newspaper published in 1885 made fun of the word, suggesting that the Prince of Wales, when visiting Ireland, should familiarize himself with Irish slang such as “arrah,”...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

6 Tricks to Save Time (and Your Sanity!) This Spring

Now that spring is almost here, my family and I are looking forward to spending much more time outdoors. So before the lazy days of summer arrive, I always enjoy doing a thorough spring cleaning so that everything is in order for our much more laid-back schedule. 

In addition to a good, old-fashioned dusting and purging I also like to freshen up our daily routines including finding smarter ways to save time and energy on many of our everyday tasks. 

Today, Mighty Mommy shares 6 springtime sanity savers that will save you some energy and allow you more time with your family.

Tip #1:  Rise and shine

Throughout my entire life, I’ve always been more of a night owl rather than a morning person.  I enjoy the peace and quiet of late night hours because I have time to think, write, pay bills, plan meals, and get lost in a great book without any interruptions from my kids and even our dogs! The downside to this is it’s not as easy to roll out of bed early in the morning. This is especially true during the winter months because it’s so cozy and warm in my soft, flannel sheets on those frosty, dark winter mornings. Once daylight savings occurs, however, the days are longer and it’s much easier to get the day going.  By simply getting up 20  or so minutes before the rest of your family, you can not only grab a little peace and quiet, you can get your day off to a super organized start which will save you time from the usual morning scurry if you tend to hit the snooze button one too many times. Rise and Shine a bit earlier and your entire family will benefit each day.

RELATED:  6 Key Ingredients for a Successful Morning Routine

Tip #2:  Evaluate your daily schedule

Now that you’re getting up a few minutes earlier each day, use this time for some reflection on how life is going.  Are you always behind the eight ball each day running crazy looking for backpacks, kid’s shoes, missing...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips