Otakar Horak
@otakarhorak.bsky.social
Science writer at @dennikn.bsky.social, Slovakia.
Reposted by Otakar Horak
A new PNAS paper finds that polarization increased immediately after the invention of smartphones and the advent of social media, which both appeared around the same year, 2008.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
December 14, 2025 at 5:29 PM
A new PNAS paper finds that polarization increased immediately after the invention of smartphones and the advent of social media, which both appeared around the same year, 2008.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing.
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...
english.elpais.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:34 AM
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing.
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Chimps that use lethal aggression to expand their territory gain reproductive advantages news.umich.edu/chimps-that-...
Chimps that use lethal aggression to expand their territory gain reproductive advantages
Fifteen years ago, researchers led by John Mitani of the University of Michigan witnessed the Ngogo chimpanzees in Uganda kill its neighbors and overtake their territory. But the question remained why...
news.umich.edu
November 27, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Chimps that use lethal aggression to expand their territory gain reproductive advantages news.umich.edu/chimps-that-...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Preprint claiming link between COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and 'transcriptomic dysregulation'/cancer (based on just 10 people who got cancer in the year after vaccination) has been withdrawn.
HT: @reeserichardson.bsky.social
preprints.org/manuscript/2...
See: scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
HT: @reeserichardson.bsky.social
preprints.org/manuscript/2...
See: scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
September 11, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Preprint claiming link between COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and 'transcriptomic dysregulation'/cancer (based on just 10 people who got cancer in the year after vaccination) has been withdrawn.
HT: @reeserichardson.bsky.social
preprints.org/manuscript/2...
See: scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
HT: @reeserichardson.bsky.social
preprints.org/manuscript/2...
See: scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Studying philosophy does make people better thinkers, according to new research on more than 600,000 college grads theconversation.com/studying-phi...
Studying philosophy does make people better thinkers, according to new research on more than 600,000 college grads
Philosophers are fond of saying that their field boosts critical thinking. Two of them decided to put that claim to the test.
theconversation.com
August 22, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Studying philosophy does make people better thinkers, according to new research on more than 600,000 college grads theconversation.com/studying-phi...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
People who cheat on their spouses are more likely to cheat at work, too.
Evidence: Marital infidelity predicts 2-3x greater odds of professional misconduct among CEOs, financial advisors, and police officers.
Integrity is not a 9-5 job. Character counts in every part of life.
Evidence: Marital infidelity predicts 2-3x greater odds of professional misconduct among CEOs, financial advisors, and police officers.
Integrity is not a 9-5 job. Character counts in every part of life.
July 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
People who cheat on their spouses are more likely to cheat at work, too.
Evidence: Marital infidelity predicts 2-3x greater odds of professional misconduct among CEOs, financial advisors, and police officers.
Integrity is not a 9-5 job. Character counts in every part of life.
Evidence: Marital infidelity predicts 2-3x greater odds of professional misconduct among CEOs, financial advisors, and police officers.
Integrity is not a 9-5 job. Character counts in every part of life.
Reposted by Otakar Horak
College students are bombarded by #misinformation. Teach them fact-checking! theconversation.com/college-stud... via @us.theconversation.com
"...in a world flooded with misinformation, helping students learn to sort fact from fiction might be the most civic thing we can do."
"...in a world flooded with misinformation, helping students learn to sort fact from fiction might be the most civic thing we can do."
College students are bombarded by misinformation, so this professor taught them fact-checking 101 − here’s what happened
Just 2½ hours of online instruction made students a lot better at identifying misinformation on YouTube and TikTok.
theconversation.com
August 26, 2025 at 3:11 PM
College students are bombarded by #misinformation. Teach them fact-checking! theconversation.com/college-stud... via @us.theconversation.com
"...in a world flooded with misinformation, helping students learn to sort fact from fiction might be the most civic thing we can do."
"...in a world flooded with misinformation, helping students learn to sort fact from fiction might be the most civic thing we can do."
Peer reviewers more likely to approve articles that cite their own work.
Peer reviewers more likely to approve articles that cite their own work
Preprint examines how citations can influence the review process.
www.nature.com
August 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Peer reviewers more likely to approve articles that cite their own work.
RFK Jr demanded a vaccine study be retracted — the journal said no.
RFK Jr demanded a vaccine study be retracted — the journal said no
In a rare move for a US public official, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr called for a Danish paper finding no link between aluminium in vaccines and disease to be retracted.
www.nature.com
August 22, 2025 at 10:43 AM
RFK Jr demanded a vaccine study be retracted — the journal said no.
Reposted by Otakar Horak
The weaponisation of published articles.
@mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social published this review on cardiopulmonary effects of COVID-19 vaccination.
The conclusions of the authors are very clear: "Despite these complications, the risk–benefit analysis still strongly favors vaccination"
@mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social published this review on cardiopulmonary effects of COVID-19 vaccination.
The conclusions of the authors are very clear: "Despite these complications, the risk–benefit analysis still strongly favors vaccination"
August 19, 2025 at 6:35 PM
The weaponisation of published articles.
@mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social published this review on cardiopulmonary effects of COVID-19 vaccination.
The conclusions of the authors are very clear: "Despite these complications, the risk–benefit analysis still strongly favors vaccination"
@mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social published this review on cardiopulmonary effects of COVID-19 vaccination.
The conclusions of the authors are very clear: "Despite these complications, the risk–benefit analysis still strongly favors vaccination"
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Hear, hear...
Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic."
#VaccinesWork!
Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic."
#VaccinesWork!
Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility
The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.nature.com
August 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Hear, hear...
Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic."
#VaccinesWork!
Cancelling mRNA studies is the highest irresponsibility www.nature.com/articles/d41...
"The rest of the world is not following the US government’s dangerous path, and will stick with the technology that helped the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic."
#VaccinesWork!
Reposted by Otakar Horak
"At no other time in modern history has a country so throughly turned its back on its core national strengths."— @vermontgmg.bsky.social
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
August 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"At no other time in modern history has a country so throughly turned its back on its core national strengths."— @vermontgmg.bsky.social
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Gift link
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
That's right.
Gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...
Gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...
August 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
That's right.
Gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...
Gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting. “On X, for example, verified accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers openly claimed in recent weeks that Covid vaccines act like ‘chemical lobotomies,’ which is false.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting
Before the shooting, social media companies relaxed their protocols around misinformation.
www.nbcnews.com
August 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Anti-vaccine myths surged on social media ahead of the CDC shooting. “On X, for example, verified accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers openly claimed in recent weeks that Covid vaccines act like ‘chemical lobotomies,’ which is false.” www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
This summer's raging wildfires in Spain are the red spike in this graph. atmosphere.copernicus.eu/copernicus-i...
August 19, 2025 at 4:33 PM
This summer's raging wildfires in Spain are the red spike in this graph. atmosphere.copernicus.eu/copernicus-i...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
How to recognize shoddy studies that claim to link vaccines and autism. Essay by @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/3UUNrIp
Opinion | The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism (Gift Article)
Data can easily be manipulated to show causation that doesn’t exist.
nyti.ms
August 19, 2025 at 6:02 PM
How to recognize shoddy studies that claim to link vaccines and autism. Essay by @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/3UUNrIp
The Guardian view on RFK Jr’s vaccine cuts: an assault on science from a politician unfit for his office. Editorial.
The Guardian view on RFK Jr’s vaccine cuts: an assault on science from a politician unfit for his office | Editorial
Editorial: The decision by the US health and human services secretary to remove mRNA research funding is ill-informed and dangerous
www.theguardian.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:21 AM
The Guardian view on RFK Jr’s vaccine cuts: an assault on science from a politician unfit for his office. Editorial.
NIH director: mRNA vaccine contracts were canceled because public lacks trust in technology. Explanation does not align with that of health secretary RFK Jr.
NIH director: mRNA vaccine contracts were canceled because public lacks trust in technology
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya offered an explanation for the cancellation of mRNA vaccine contracts that didn't align with that of his boss, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
www.statnews.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:19 AM
NIH director: mRNA vaccine contracts were canceled because public lacks trust in technology. Explanation does not align with that of health secretary RFK Jr.
After a deadly shooting at the CDC, shaken scientists demand answers from RFK Jr.
A deadly shooting at the CDC shook its scientists. Now they want answers from RFK Jr.
CDC Director Susan Monarez convened an online all-hands meeting of the agency division that focuses on vaccines, and employees called out Kennedy’s rhetoric specifically.
www.msnbc.com
August 12, 2025 at 9:18 AM
After a deadly shooting at the CDC, shaken scientists demand answers from RFK Jr.
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Kennedy’s rejection of mRNA vaccines thwarts scientific progress — and threatens national security, experts say www.statnews.com/2025/08/07/k... via @statnews.com
“We’re unilaterally disarming ourselves in a period in which the bio threats are continuing to proliferate. It’s reckless."
“We’re unilaterally disarming ourselves in a period in which the bio threats are continuing to proliferate. It’s reckless."
Kennedy’s rejection of mRNA vaccines thwarts scientific progress — and threatens national security, experts say
Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to discontinue funding for mRNA vaccines has alarmed scientists. But it is also a matter of national security, experts say.
www.statnews.com
August 7, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Kennedy’s rejection of mRNA vaccines thwarts scientific progress — and threatens national security, experts say www.statnews.com/2025/08/07/k... via @statnews.com
“We’re unilaterally disarming ourselves in a period in which the bio threats are continuing to proliferate. It’s reckless."
“We’re unilaterally disarming ourselves in a period in which the bio threats are continuing to proliferate. It’s reckless."
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
A do-or-die moment for the scientific enterprise
Reflecting on our paper “The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly”
reeserichardson.blog
August 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Today, our article "The entities enabling scientific fraud at scale are large, resilient, and growing rapidly" is finally published in PNAS. I hope that it proves to be a wake-up-call for the whole scientific community.
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
reeserichardson.blog/2025/08/04/a...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
This flawed preprint claims that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination causes transcriptomic dysregulation and cancer.
But all it does is showing that sick people differ in gene expression from healthy ones. Duh.
My critical review at Science Integrity Digest here:
scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
But all it does is showing that sick people differ in gene expression from healthy ones. Duh.
My critical review at Science Integrity Digest here:
scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
July 26, 2025 at 2:02 PM
This flawed preprint claims that COVID-19 mRNA vaccination causes transcriptomic dysregulation and cancer.
But all it does is showing that sick people differ in gene expression from healthy ones. Duh.
My critical review at Science Integrity Digest here:
scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
But all it does is showing that sick people differ in gene expression from healthy ones. Duh.
My critical review at Science Integrity Digest here:
scienceintegritydigest.com/2025/07/25/p...
Reposted by Otakar Horak
Experts say Gaza’s malnutrition crisis has progressed to a newer, deadlier phase, and the World Health Organization believes one in five children in Gaza are acutely malnourished, with the health effects potentially lasting for generations.
The Grave Long-Term Effects of the Gaza Malnutrition Crisis
The WHO believes one in five children in Gaza are acutely malnourished, with the health effects potentially lasting for generations.
www.wired.com
July 31, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Experts say Gaza’s malnutrition crisis has progressed to a newer, deadlier phase, and the World Health Organization believes one in five children in Gaza are acutely malnourished, with the health effects potentially lasting for generations.
Reposted by Otakar Horak
On his decision to end $500M worth of research on mRNA vaccines, RFK Jr. said:
“The the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”.
These vaccines saved 3.2M lives in the U.S.
He is running a disinformation op against Americans.
“The the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”.
These vaccines saved 3.2M lives in the U.S.
He is running a disinformation op against Americans.
August 6, 2025 at 1:46 PM
On his decision to end $500M worth of research on mRNA vaccines, RFK Jr. said:
“The the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”.
These vaccines saved 3.2M lives in the U.S.
He is running a disinformation op against Americans.
“The the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”.
These vaccines saved 3.2M lives in the U.S.
He is running a disinformation op against Americans.