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Logan Airport travelers might have been exposed to measles, health officials warn
Travelers at Boston Logan International Airport earlier this month might have been exposed to measles, health officials warned Wednesday. The Boston Public Health Commission and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said that a person with measles visited Terminal C at Logan Airport shortly after midnight on Tuesday, April 14. The person traveled to Boston on JetBlue Airways flight 470,…
WATCH LIVE: Senate meets as Republicans try to secure DHS funding through budget reconciliation
With Midterms Coming Up, G.O.P. Is Bogged Down in Congress
Republican majorities are at odds on big issues as the Senate resorts to extraordinary measures to pass homeland security funding over a Democratic blockade.
Earth Day Spotlight: Florida International University showcases world-leading ocean science — from unique undersea lab to global shark conservation
FIU's commitment to ocean science spans ecology, policy, forensics and public engagement.
Health officials warn Oregon measles outbreak is growing
A state epidemiologist joins us with more details about where the outbreak stands and how people can stay safe.
With vaccine skepticism rising, Utah health officials face uphill battle on measles education
How the lessons Utah health officials learned from the COVID-19 pandemic are shaping how they respond to the state's measles outbreak.
UM Health-Sparrow named among the top maternity hospitals in the country
UM Health-Sparrow has been named one of the best hospitals in the United States for maternity care, earning a four-ribbon designation on Newsweek’s “America’s Best Maternity Hospitals 2026.”
When Summer Screen Time Poses a Mental Health Risk for Teens
Beyond headlines and courtrooms, many families are seeking an answer to a more immediate question: How do we know when social media use is affecting a teenager’s mental health?
So, You Want to Buy a Telescope?
Are you getting ready to buy your first telescope? Carnegie experts offer some helpful advice for how to begin your backyard astronomy adventure!
UNE launches new Institute of Public and Planetary Health in honor of David Evans Shaw
Rooted in science and inspired by UNE’s mission to improve the health of people, communities, and the natural world, the David Evans Shaw Institute of Public and Planetary Health brings together expertise UNE's broad expertise to address complex, interconnected challenges, from coastal resilience and climate change to aging populations and mental health.
College of Health and Human Development names spring 2026 student marshals
Hannah Bucher, a health policy and administration major, and Nicholas Eppley, a nutritional sciences major, will serve as the college marshals for the Penn State College of Health and Human Development’s spring 2026 commencement ceremony.
Morehouse medical students connect environment, public health during Earth Day cleanup on the Beltline
Anti-tech violence is a response to political failure
The original Luddites were locked out of politics. Today’s activists aren't.
Fermat's Last Theorem: still a must-read about a 350-year maths secret
Simon Singh's exploration of mathematical proof – in particular Pierre de Fermat's last theorem – remains an absolute treasure, almost three decades after it was first published
The week in politics (April 22, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. And author Ashanté Reese considers how gardens, reunions, and everyday meals can create connection.
Community outraged by potential $45 million in health-program cuts
The proposed spending reduction comes from the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
My grandmother sold homemade tamales. Today’s rules wouldn’t allow that.
Home chefs should be able to build a business in Colorado.
GM suspends next-gen electric trucks amid pivot back to gas engines, hybrids
The move has major implications for a pair of assembly plants in Michigan and the automakers' suppliers.
RFK Jr. faces Senate health committee in final, decisive hearing for MAHA movement
All eyes are on Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, a Republican who has been critical of the Health and Human Services secretary’s vaccine policy.
Riverhead sets hearing on condemning science center building
A split Riverhead Town Board voted Tuesday to set a May 20 public hearing on the proposed condemnation of the Long Island Science Center’s long-vacant building.
Virginia congressional map vote could embolden Florida Republicans to push for boundary changes, says Jeffries
House Democratic leader says result should serve as a warning to Ron DeSantis after latest blow to Donald Trump’s redistricting battle
The behavioural science behind vaccination acceptance
The ECDC, Europe’s public health agency, has collated a set of tools for improving immunisation rates based on social and behavioural science
Women’s sports rule at this revamped Arlington bar
The Washington Spirit, the Mystics and D.C. Divas are among the teams whose games will get priority at the reimagined Westover Taco.
Trump blasted Obama’s Iran deal. Now he faces similar tradeoffs.
As U.S. envoys pursue peace talks, the president confronts persistent sticking points: sanctions relief, enrichment limits and the risk of empowering Tehran.
CDC won’t publish report showing covid shots cut likelihood of hospital visits
The report, which had cleared the agency’s scientific-review process, had been delayed. It now won’t be published at all, people familiar with the decision told The Post.
‘The GOP should’ve done more’: Virginia Republicans point fingers after gerrymandering loss
They are frustrated the party didn’t spend extensively and are putting pressure on Florida to give them back an edge.
Who are the Democrats hoping to run against Rep. Warren Davidson?
Two Butler County Democrats are competing for the chance to unseat Republican Rep. Warren Davidson this May.
Petroleum infuses a multitude of everyday items the Iran war could make more expensive
The Iran war’s most tangible and immediate effect for many people outside the Middle East has been spiking gasoline prices.
Cougar science sidelined as pressure takes over
Editor’s Note: This is the final part of a three-part series. By the time Washington’s cougar debate reached its peak intensity, the conflict was no longer limited to public meetings or policy discussions. It had infiltrated the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife itself. What had started as pressure from outside — from parents, hunters,
The politics of trust in science
Public confidence in scientific research is spread unevenly across the population
The politics of trust in science
Public confidence in scientific research is spread unevenly across the population
GE HealthCare touts international expansion of its partnership with RadNet
The companies say they’re entering the next phase of collaboration, offering GEHC mammography systems paired with AI offerings from DeepHealth.
5 takeaways from the Virginia redistricting vote
Tuesday’s vote makes the tit-for-tat redistricting war that’s played out over the past several months something close to a draw. Republicans could still come out with a slight advantage if Florida passes a new map in the coming weeks. But what’s clear is that it seems the fight launched by President Donald Trump hasn’t landed Republicans near the advantage they might have imagined it would last year.
Virginians approve Democratic map targeting 4 Republican congressional seats
Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a new Democratic-drawn congressional map that could flip four Republican U.S. House seats in November's midterm elections, U.S. media projected.
Why forest conservation is also public health
In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers trapping small mammals in the Manombo Special Reserve caught tuft-tailed rats in the intact interior forest. In the nearby littoral forest, despite repeated efforts, they found none. The traps held black rats instead. The observation appears in […]
Health questions mount after Rep. Paul Gosar’s public remarks go viral
Rep. Paul Gosar's rambling remarks have raised questions among Democrats about whether he's healthy enough to run for reelection.
Public News Service Story: Michigan group pushes to get big money out of politics
This story was originally published by Public News Service. By Chrystal Blair, producer Public News Service April 21, 2026 A new push to limit corporate money in Michigan politics appears to be gaining traction. There is strong bipartisan support for restricting political contributions from regulated monopolies and companies seeking government contracts, according to a survey commissioned by
RKF Jr. declares public health emergency for Hawaii in wake of storms
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency for the state of Hawaii due to the impacts of the Kona-low storms in March.
Dan Eggen, who shaped politics coverage at The Post, dies at 60
He helped guide Pulitzer Prize-winning projects, including coverage of Russian election interference in 2016 and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
With acting AG at his side, FBI Director Patel publicly addresses Atlantic allegations
FBI Director Kash Patel, standing at a podium beside his boss Tuesday, publicly addressed recent allegations that he has drank to excess, interfering with his duties.
Feud between Mace and Mills flares as the Republicans trade barbs, expulsion threats
A deeply personal grudge between a pair of Republicans — Reps. Cory Mills of Florida and Nancy Mace of South Carolina — has escalated on Capitol Hill, as Mills accused his long-time foe of trying to profit off efforts to oust him.
New Orleans court clerk Calvin Duncan is symbolically sworn in as GOP races to eliminate office
New Orleans court clerk Calvin Duncan is symbolically sworn in as Republicans race to eliminate office. He is scheduled to take office May 4 but Republicans hope to eliminate his position by then
On Capitol Hill, RFK Jr. defends vaccine policies, ongoing shakeups
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had another long day on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with lawmakers questioning him on his vaccine views, agency shakeups and a proposed budget that would slash HHS spending on medical research and public health.
Expert Quits US HIV Role, Rebukes Trump Global Health Approach
By Simon Lewis WASHINGTON, April 21 (Reuters) - The chief science officer for the U.S. flagship HIV/AIDS program left his role this week and criticized the Trump administration's cuts to foreign assistance and what he said was its use of aid as leverage for U.S. commercial interests. Republican ...
Atlanta City Council approves entertainment district for World Cup fans
Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches this summer, the Atlanta City Council has approved designating parts of downtown as a temporary “Public Entertainment District” for fans.
Ottawa County Department of Health confirms first case of measles since 1991
For the first time since 1991, Ottawa County Department of Public Health has confirmed a case of measles.
Republicans launch a new effort to fund the Department of Homeland Security
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted on Tuesday to launch a new effort to reopen the Department of Homeland Security and end the longest partial government shutdown in history. The 52-46 vote was the first step in a budget process that Republicans hope will unlock the funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. […]
How Al Gore Politicized Climate Science
An Inconvenient Truth turns 20 next month. In the 2006 documentary, former vice president Al Gore argued that human-driven climate change was an urgent, civilization-threatening crisis. The film became a cultural phenomenon, winning two Academy Awards and making climate change one of the defining political issues of our time. I am sure that there will be many retrospectives seeking to relitigate the scientific claims in the film. But the far more important anniversary story is not about the accuracy of any of Gore’s individual claims but rather about what the film helped to unleash in the scientific community: bringing partisan politics into the institutions of science. Gore did not simply make a film about climate change: He implored the scientific community to join him in overt climate advocacy. The fuel that Gore added to the fire of pathological politicization of the climate science community is the most important legacy of An Inconvenient Truth. Almost three years after the film’s release, Gore took the stage at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)—the country’s largest and most prominent scientific organization—and delivered something much closer to a revival sermon than a scientific lecture. Gore told the assembled scientists that they could no longer “in good conscience accept this division between the work you do and the civilization in which you live.” His directive was clear:
Approval of Trump on economy falls in new AP-NORC poll, as Iran war drives up prices
The findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show a president who is struggling with unfulfilled promises to tame inflation and testing Americans’ patience with a conflict in the Middle East that has dragged on longer than expected.
Dallas County Republican Party sues over precinct-based voting
The lawsuit is asking that a judge force the county to conduct the May 26 runoff election using precinct-based voting.
The key areas to watch in Virginia tonight as voters weigh Democrats' redistricting plan: From the Politics Desk
Plus, Georgia's Republican primary for Senate is heating up.
Key GOP senators push back on Trump’s plan to cut NIH, reorganize HHS
Lawmakers seem poised to reject cuts to biomedical research and public health spending for a second straight year.
Dept. of Health and Human Services declares public health emergency for Hawaii after March storms
The declaration aims to address the health impacts caused by severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides that occurred in March 2026.
Democrats win Virginia redistricting fight, threating Republican House majority
Virginia voters passed a redistricting referendum that could boost Democrats with four additional House seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Kentucky governor blasts UK athletics' 'decision-making'
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has publicly questioned the "decision-making" at the University of Kentucky, including the seven-figure gig retiring athletic director Mitch Barnhart was recently given.
Special edition: POLITICO Health Care Summit highlights
Republicans and Democrats agree: Soaring health care costs will be a pivotal issue in the midterms. But they have very different ideas on what to do about it.
Health care is expensive. This could help.
Health care, drug pricing and Medicare-for-all, in readers' eyes.
Responding to Today's Gaps for Tomorrow's Health Emergencies: 2026 Ready or Not Report
Join Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) for a Congressional Briefing and National Webinar on the latest information on public health emergency readiness and findings from TFAH’s upcoming report, Ready or Not 2026: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism – releasing May 7th. The past year alone saw the U.S. facing the most […]
Santa Cruz County business filings: Week of April 7
Businesses operating in Santa Cruz County must register with the county clerk. Lookout Santa Cruz reviews the public filings from local businesses to report on new businesses starting in the area.
Public Health Certification: CPH, CDI and the new CPHN
Please join representatives from the National Board of Public Health Examiners as they summarize opportunities for certification in public health.
FactCheck.org Wins People's Voice Webby Award in News & Politics | The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
FactCheck.org has won the popular-vote People's Voice Award as best news and politics site at the 30th Annual Webby Awards.
Data centers are dealing hidden damage to environmental and public health—costing the economy $25 billion every year
In the murky economics of data centers, local communities get to pick up the tab too.
GOP strategists required to sign NDAs at meeting on midterm plans
The unusual secrecy surrounding the Waldorf Astoria meeting has frustrated some looking for funding clues as Trump’s popularity has dropped to near historic lows.
Visiting Fulbright scholar from Poland joins INL researcher to study actinide physics, unlock atomic secrets
For Adam Piotr Pikul of the Polish Academy of Sciences, there is always more to understand about the basic physics of uranium atoms. That’s why Pikul, a professor at the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research in Wrocław, is studying actinide quantum materials at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on a Fulbright Senior Award. Actinides are a group of 15 radioactive elements, including uranium.
Seven Key Moments: Hearing with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ways and Means Committee Republicans emphasized the importance of expanding access to health care for Americans – particularly...
Health Youth Corps Showcase held at Fresno City College
Dozens of students across Fresno County are taking action to help educate the public with their year-long research projects.
House Ethics Committee Weighs Punishment for Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick
The House Ethics Committee will meet Tuesday to determine what punishment they will recommend for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick with Republicans calling for expulsion. The ethics panel found that the Florida Democrat violated 25 House rules and ethical standards. She is also accused of stealing $5 ...
Trump will participate in marathon Bible-reading event with other top Republicans
The America Reads the Bible event — with each participant reading a passage aloud — is being livestreamed this week from the Museum of the Bible in Washington and other locations.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill endorses Julia Letlow for U.S. Senate
Murrill joins Gov. Jeff Landry and President Donald Trump in backing Letlow. It’s a rare case of prominent Republican officials supporting a challenge against a member of their own party.
Experts Confront Misinformation and AI Risks at National Public Health Week
From artificial intelligence (AI) to misinformation, public health leaders say the next crisis may be as much about communication as it is about disease. At Hofstra University’s School of Health Sciences’ (SHS) “Public Health Preparedness: Identifying Risks and Crisis Response Strategies” panel,
/dev: Apex Tier Ranked Reset
Why we’re doing a Ranked reset for Master+ in NA, EUW, EUNE, BR, LAN, and TR in 26.9.
Kash Patel files $250M suit against The Atlantic
Patel accused the magazine of publishing a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece”
From Donald Trump to Jacob Frey — has politics lost its profanity filter?
If there was ever a set of rules for politicians interfacing with the public, steadfast avoidance of profanity might have been at the very top of such a list. Robert’s Rules of Order, which are often invoked in political spaces, certainly prohibit personal insults, including profanity. But these are new times. Just last week, President Donald Trump […]
Scientists Take a Step Toward a Quantum Internet Using New York City's Fiber
NYU researchers, working with Qunnect and Cisco, show quantum signals can run on NYC’s existing network
Introducing the Databricks Excel Add-in for Business Users
Now in public preview, the Databricks Excel Add-in brings governed lakehouse data into Excel, helping business users move from data to decisions faster.
South Florida tops WalletHub list of 10 best cities to start a business
According to a new report by personal finance company WalletHub, Miami and Hialeah, Florida, are among the 10 best large cities to start a business in.
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
Rep. Blake Moore discusses health care affordability
Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, vice chair, House Republican Conference and member of the House Ways and Means Committee and its Subcommittee on Health, joined Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health and AHA chair-elect, for a fireside chat. While the conversation covered topics including health care access and regulation, the overarching theme was making health care more affordable for both patients and hospitals and health systems.
‘Healthy Rounds’: The Silent Success of Public Health
Douglas Brugge, chair of the UConn School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, joins Dr. Anthony Alessi’s podcast
In new memoir, Bottoms says hardships shaped her political identity
The Democratic contender for governor writes about private trauma and public slights, arguing those hardships forged the leader now asking Georgians for a promotion.
This CDC conference was always open to the public. Until now.
A federal ruling against Kennedy's gender declaration, when food insecure families don't qualify for SNAP, and other health news
Wasted Investments, Looming Crisis: The Impact of U.S. Global Health Funding Cuts on HIV in South Africa
Executive Summary Starting in 2025, the Trump administration abruptly slashed and disrupted funding for global health, jeopardizing hard won public health gains and irreplaceable investments in infrastructure and partnerships for disease response, health security, and research. As of late March 2026 – more than a year after the disruptions began – HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and […]
Ben McAdams leads fundraising race for Utah’s new, blue congressional district by nearly $1M
Democrats have flocked to run in Utah's new 1st Congressional District race. Here's how much money they've raised so far.
Behind the science: Why it pays to fight a virus on the home turf
The emergence of a nasty new virus or even an unexpected flu strain can pose a big public-health headache. Meanwhile, antiviral drug development moves at an agonizingly slow pace and cringingly high cost. But there’s a way around that.
California Water Science Center Scientists Share their Research at 2026 IEP Annual Workshop
From March 16th through the 18th, Scientists from the USGS California Water Science Center (CAWSC) presented their research at the 2026 Interagency Ecological Program (IEP) Workshop in Sacramento.
What can science fiction tell us about sex-change and the transsexual experience? | The Clayman Institute for Gender Research
Though science fiction describes future sociocultural worlds impacted by scientific and technological breakthroughs, a conundrum persists when it comes to science fiction on transgender, transsexual, and sex-change themes. Why is it that fantasies and imaginaries of sex-change in the breakthrough years of hormonal science did not register with authors writing science fiction in this period?
Citizen scientists wanted: Find a project that's right for you
NOAA offers a variety of volunteer opportunities that can be done outdoors and online.
Mechanohealth: Where life science meets physical forces for health innovation
Integrating mechanobiological principles into disease pathogenesis, therapeutic development, and tissue engineering is reshaping our understanding of biological systems and accelerating the advancement of mechanotherapy and mechanohealth. This field reveals how mechanical cues regulate cellular behavior, such as force transmission along integrin-nucleus pathways and collective cell migration, and tissue functions. In doing so, mechanobiology connects fundamental research with clinical applications, from limiting cancer metastasis and fibrosis to promoting bone regeneration and maintaining vascular homeostasis. Building on discussion from the Inaugural International Conference on Mechanobiology (ICM) 2025, integrating mechanobiological research with clinical strategies offers new opportunities to address unmet needs, including personalized anti-fibrotic interventions or precision bone regenerative therapies. At the same time, it supports the broader concept of mechanohealth -- a paradigm focused on preserving the physiological mechanical balance within tissues.
Cone Health’s Jamilla Pinder Named? to List of Outstanding Women in Business
Triad Business Journal honor recognizes top leaders in business.
Cone Health’s Jamilla Pinder Named? to List of Outstanding Women in Business
Triad Business Journal honor recognizes top leaders in business.
Why Business Owners Delay Exit Planning
Most business owners know they should plan their exit—but identity, fear of loss, and complexity quietly make it far harder than it seems.
Morocco debates electoral reform as key to restoring trust in politics |
Participants stressed that political participation, particularly among women and young people, remains a decisive factor in any successful democratic reform.
4 Pitt students won DAAD RISE scholarships
Students selected can study at leading German universities for a summer.
Dr. Aditya Bardia elected to American Society for Clinical Investigation
Each year, the organization selects up to 100 physician-scientists in recognition of their outstanding contributions to research and patient care.
Learn how Pitt connects local small businesses and drives regional economic impact on May 29
Doing Business with Pitt is a no-cost informational session on securing University contracts.
Tuesday letters: Decency in politics, airport spending and banking concerns
Call for decency in public life Our country needs another Joseph Welch moment. Welch was the lawyer hired by the U.S. Army in 1954 to defend it against allegations of lax security at a top-secret...
The Death of Public Health
During the recent measles outbreak, the largest in more than 30 years, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. refused to clearly recommend the measles vaccine, saying instead that it was a “personal decision,” and that parents should “do their own research.” Similarly, during her recent confirmation hearing for United States Surgeon General, Casey Means was questioned by Senator William Cassidy (R, La). “You’re the nation’s doctor,” said Cassidy. “Would you encourage [a mother] to have her child vaccinated!” “I’m not an individual’s doctor,” Means said. “And every individual needs to talk to their doctor before putting a medication in their body.” In June 2025, Marty Makary, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said that COVID vaccines for pregnant women should be a “personal choice”, even though every other country in the world recommended the COVID vaccine during pregnancy due to a higher risk for severe disease. It doesn’t end there. On January 5, 2026, RFK Jr. reduced the number of routinely recommended vaccines from 18 to 10. For vaccines that protected against influenza, COVID, and rotavirus, parents were urged to speak with their doctors—to make an individual choice. (On March 16, 2026, in a ruling by a federal court in Boston, RFK Jr.’s revised schedule was invalidated.) What’s happening? Why are public health officials moving away from making recommendations for the public? The origin of this change might be rooted in the first two years of the COVID pandemic. In 2020, during the first year on the pandemic, we didn’t have anything to stop a virus that was killing hundreds of people a day and could be spread asymptomatically. We didn’t have antivirals until October, monoclonal antibodies until November, and vaccines until December. All we could do was restrict travel, close businesses, shutter schools, and mask, isolate, quarantine, test, and social distance. During the second year of the pandemic, when we had vaccines to prevent COVID, people couldn’t go anywhere without their vaccine cards. They couldn’t go to their favorite bar or restaurant or sporting event or place of worship without proof of vaccination. Some people were fired from their jobs for refusing to get vaccinated. For many, this was seen as massive government overreach and energized what has been called the “medical freedom movement.” Indeed, a headline in the New York Times declared, “How Health Freedom Became a Winning Rally Cry.” As expressed in the comments of RFK Jr., Casey Means, and Marty Makary, the medical freedom movement focuses on the individual not the community—the opposite of public health. In an article titled “Ethics and Social Value Judgments in Public Health,” ethicists from Yale University distinguished public health from medical freedom. “Public health policies,” they wrote, “are population oriented. Because individual health affects the health of others, public health measures regulate individual behavior to achieve population health goals. All raise questions about how individual autonomy and freedom should be balanced against public health interests…which respects individuals’ sovereignty over their bodies and actions as long as their actions do not harm others.” The medical freedom movement fails to recognize that it often limits the freedom of others. For example, a parent who is afraid to send a child to school where many of the students are unvaccinated. Or immune compromised children who depend on those around them to for protection. The question then becomes “Freedom for whom?” Is it your right, in the name of medical freedom, to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection—and in so doing, take away the freedom of others? In Four Essays on Liberty, Isaiah Berlin sums it up best. “Liberty for the wolves,” he wrote, “is death to the lambs.” Thanks for reading Beyond the Noise! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe
Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred Review - Embrace The Hate
Lord of Hatred is an exceptional cherry on top of Diablo IV, further cementing the entire package as among the best action RPGs of the generation.
Two-sun planets keep disappearing: Here’s why scientists point to Einstein
Science News: The idea of a planet orbiting two suns has long captured both scientific curiosity and public imagination. Popularised by science fiction, such worlds.
Entertainment district approved for downtown Atlanta
The Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance creating a public World Cup Entertainment District downtown, but officials excluded a provision that would have allowed fans to have open containers.