Tag: science

Accommodating Trans Athletes Without Rejecting the Reality of Human Biology

If the world’s sporting bodies were forced to choose between (a) the traditional differentiation of sports competitions along male-female lines, and (b) a system of unfettered gender self-identification, the choice would not be difficult: The idea that half the planet should focus on being a good loser while male bodies dominate the medal podium is preposterous and sexist.

From puberty onwards, male physiological advantages express themselves as increased muscle mass, higher lung capacity and blood flow, and increased bone strength. As recent studies have shown, these advantages generally don’t go away simply because an athlete has changed their pronouns and hormone chemistry. At the highest levels, the difference between male and female world records typically hovers around 10 percent. The men’s world record in the 100m dash, for instance, is 9.58 seconds. The record among women, by contrast, is 10.49 seconds—a time that is routinely bested by teenaged male athletes at high-school track meets. And so while the number of transgender women competing may still be small, their likelihood of out-competing biological females is high. And in sports that involve physical contact, such as rugby and boxing, ignoring the biological differences between men and women isn’t just unfair, but also dangerous.

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Everything They Don’t Like Is Now a Public Health Emergency

Dissecting the Letter

“White supremacy is a lethal public health issue.” The language used here is important. White supremacy is lethal. Racism kills people. What is not written is, “Sometimes white supremacists, acting out of hatred, kill black people,” or even, “All white supremacists are culpable in the murder of black people.” Instead, the agency is assigned to racism itself. It is racism, not racist people, that is the public health issue; it is white nationalism that kills people. This is the same tactic used by antigun lobbies in their slogan “Guns kill people.” If guns kill people, guns need to be illegal. People killing people with guns is already illegal, just as white supremacists killing black men is already illegal. To advance further legal change, you have to change the language. “White supremacy kills people” leads the same people who want guns outlawed to want white supremacy outlawed. While the letter does not draw out these ideas to their logical conclusions, the logic employed is well down the slippery slope of sacrificing free speech.

“We do not condemn [demonstrations that call attention to the pervasive lethal force of white supremacy] as risky for COVID-19 transmission.” That’s weird because every other kind of gathering is condemned by these people as risky. 

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Leftist Activists Try To Ban Researchers From Studying Transgender People

The University of California at Los Angeles’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior was preparing a National Institute of Health-backed study to better understand brain structures and responses among people living with gender dysphoria. The study was titled, “Gender identity and own body perception – implications for the neurobiology of gender dysphoria.” Its researchers were seeking transgender participants when LGBT activists demanded the study be shut down.

According to the physicians attempting to conduct the study, “We want to understand the neurobiology of gender dysphoria and the interactions between sex hormone therapy treatment, the brain, and the body phenotype.” However, the executive director of the local activist group Gender Justice LA objected, claiming the study “opens the door for advancing the highly disregarded and dangerous practice of conversion therapy.”

Gender Justice LA claims the study is designed to “trigger” gender dysphoria in those who have not begun treatment and therefore would be psychologically harmful to the participants. They asserted that because the study could be used “for the creation of therapeutics to treat gender dysphoria as one would treat anorexia” it could be used as a method of conversion therapy.

The California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network circulated a letter to local LGBT communities urging transgender and gender-nonconforming people to stay away from the “dangerous” study.

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Nuclear Scientists to Examine Potential Earhart Evidence for New Clues

A pair of nuclear scientists in Pennsylvania is applying their expertise to a piece of metal that may have come from Amelia Earhart’s doomed aircraft in an attempt to glean new insights into the legendary pilot’s disappearance. Director of the Penn State Radiation Science and Engineering Center, Daniel Beck reportedly had his interest piqued when he saw a cable TV documentary on the case last year and, on the program, they showcased some intriguing potential debris from the aviatrix’s plane and mused that perhaps someday modern science could unlock clues hidden in the material. “I realized that technology exists,” he recalled, “I work with it every day.”

With that in mind, Beck connected with Earhart researchers who were intrigued by the possibility that neutron radiography could detect critical details in the metal that might otherwise not be visible. His colleague Kenan Unlu, who is working with him on the project, explained that scanning the piece with a neutron beam may reveal “paint or writing or a serial number” that have been largely worn away over time to the point that they can’t be seen with the naked eye. Additionally, the duo subjected the metal to a “neutron activation analysis,” which “helps precisely identify the make-up of material” down to the “parts-per-billion level.”

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Suddenly Opposing the CDC and Ignoring Science Is Not a Crisis When it Is the Biden Administration

It was a common theme heard throughout 2020 — Donald Trump would dispute recommendations from the Center for Disease Control, and in the course of ‘’ignoring science’’ put lives at risk. As far back as February Trump was said to have discounted advice from the CDC regarding flying American citizens back from Asia. Frequently we were told how the administration would discard recommendations from the agency on matters such as initial quarantine orders, reopening the economy, how he would listen to administration officials first, and refused to follow guidance on opening schools and churches. 

According to Bloomberg News, ‘’Ordinarily, presidents listen to experts because it serves their own political interests. That’s not happening this time.’’ These issues, of course, caused consternation and accusations he was ignoring science, elevating things to scandal levels, we were told. It then becomes rather telling how changing the curtains in the oval office makes these exact same actions far less serious and grave for the nation.

For two consecutive days this week we have seen bright and shiny new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at the podium during her daily press briefings contradicting the CDC, directly. While her words were reported what is notable is the distinct lack of wailing to be heard from the press corps. 

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