Jonathan Jarry
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jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Jonathan Jarry
@jonathanjarry.bsky.social
5.2K followers 140 following 2.7K posts
Science communicator with McGill University's Office for Science and Society. Separating sense from nonsense. Not all studies are created equal.
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jonathanjarry.bsky.social
James Watson, co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA, has died.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
Comments on race At a conference in 2000, Watson suggested a link between skin color and sex drive, hypothesizing that dark-skinned people have stronger libidos.[72][100] His lecture argued that extracts of melanin—which gives skin its color—had been found to boost subjects' sex drive. "That's why you have Latin lovers", he said, according to people who attended the lecture. "You've never heard of an English lover. Only an English Patient."[101] Watson has also said that stereotypes associated with racial and ethnic groups have a genetic basis: Jews being intelligent, Chinese being intelligent but not creative because of selection for conformity, and Indians being servile because of selection under caste endogamy.[102] Regarding intelligence differences between blacks and whites, Watson has asserted that "all our social policies are based on the fact that their (blacks) intelligence is the same as ours (whites) – whereas all the testing says not really ... people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."[103] Watson has repeatedly asserted that differences in average measured IQ between blacks and whites are due to genetics.[104][105][106] In early October 2007, he was interviewed by Charlotte Hunt-Grubbe at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). Watson discussed his view that Africans are less intelligent than Westerners.[107][108][109] Watson said his intention was to promote science, not racism, but some UK venues canceled his appearances,[110] and Watson canceled the rest of his tour.[111][112][113][114] An editorial in Nature said that his remarks were "beyond the pale" but expressed a wish that the tour had not been canceled so that Watson would have had to face his critics in person, encouraging scientific discussion on the matter.[115] Because of the controversy, the board of trustees at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory suspended Watson's administrative responsibilities.[116] Watson issued an apology,[117] then retired at age 79 from CSHL from …
November 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Some of these "emerging diagnoses" will be proven to be real, while others will be shown to be false attempts at explaining real symptoms.

I'm not convinced at the moment that histamine intolerance is real....
Histamine intolerance, however, is looking more and more like chronic Lyme disease, where the symptoms are real but the idea of a persistent Lyme infection is not supported by scientific evidence. It is still possible that some people are indeed intolerant to the histamine content of certain food items, perhaps because of mutations in the gene that codes for DAO. Indeed, many such mutations have been found, although few have been shown to cause problems in how the enzyme behaves. But it’s also likely that the very concept of histamine intolerance is not real, unlike histamine poisoning linked to fish that has gone bad.
November 7, 2025 at 7:03 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Histamine intolerance has become the sort of mythical condition that can never be disproven. There's always a way to tie the symptoms to histamine.

But when oral provocation studies have been done, the majority of participants display symptoms... to the placebo.
Oral provocation studies have cast serious doubt that these symptoms—which are real—have anything to do with the much-condemned histamine molecule. A 2011 paper reported on a study done at four Austrian medical centres with 39 patients suspected of having histamine intolerance. They first gave them histamine dissolved in a peppermint tea (which is naturally low in histamine) and told them what it was: if they experienced symptoms, they were enrolled in the next phase where they were given peppermint tea that was either spiked with histamine or not, and the participant did not know. Nearly two-thirds of participants had at least one symptom after drinking the peppermint tea that had not been spiked.
November 7, 2025 at 7:03 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
That moment when @mikehall314.bsky.social, going rogue, ordered—ORDERED!—the foot-tapping anthem “Duggadoo” from Doctor Who to be played full blast before #QEDcon began.

I will never forget his bravery.
November 6, 2025 at 8:41 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
A quick snapshot of the official end of #QEDcon: Nicola, Andy, Marsh & Mike walking off stage after a standing ovation.

There is unlikely to be another skeptical conference like QED but I can only hope the organizers inspired the next generation to be as considerate and passionate as they were.
A sepia-toned photo of four backlit people walking off the stage at QED after a job well done.
November 6, 2025 at 12:37 AM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Here is talented artist @kempchi.bsky.social summarizing one of #QEDcon 's many talks as a drawing. At the first QED I attended, I had the privilege of being turned into a cartoon by Matt.

Super talented, and what a cool contribution!
A man hunched over on the floor is drawing on a piece of paper entitled "Who do they think THEY are?" in a black-and-white photo.
November 4, 2025 at 2:12 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
#QEDcon was really special this year. Here are a few shots I took during the event, including the awarding of a special book of memories to the organizers.
B&W shot of the organizers walking on stage at the end of the conference. B&W shot of the organizers hugging in front of a clapping audience. Nicola and Marsh looking at a special photobook that was made of QED over the years.
November 3, 2025 at 10:34 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
LinkedIn is apparently quite tolerant of white supremacy. This fascist messaged me on the platform to ask me questions about an article I wrote. I looked at his profile.

Jesus fucking H. Christ.

There's no option to report for inappropriate content.
LinkedIn profile from a Hungarian man who says he "rejects transgenderism, feminism, woke ideology, and all other related progressive mental illnesses." His banner image of a DNA double helix with the phrase "White DNA Is Pure DNA."
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Sorry if I’m late to the party but, @kermodemovie.bsky.social, is this a bit?

😂

#Bottom
Book cover for Mark Kermode’s Surround Sound “Typeset in Minion”
October 31, 2025 at 7:06 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
It’s windy and rainy, and it reminds me of The Batman (I wonder why).

This is the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool. Batman action figure sold separately.
The Royal Liver building, built in the early 1900s, with stone birds (looking like Cormorants) atop each clock tower.
October 31, 2025 at 12:40 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
#QEDcon ends with a standing ovation, hugs, and tears.

And yes: you were all “good enough.”
Shot of a camera’s rear screen showing a black-and-white photo of the QED organizers hugging on stage.
October 26, 2025 at 4:43 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
#QEDcon is about to officially start.
Massive room with attendees sitting down, with the QED logo onscreen.
October 25, 2025 at 7:48 AM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
A favourite British treat of mine. We really need to start importing blackcurrant goods to Canada. The British have to stop hogging it all!
A bottle of Ribena blackcurrant juice next to a black mug.
October 24, 2025 at 11:37 AM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
It was a blast! Standing room only, with so many interesting questions during the Q&A. Thank you to everyone who came. See you at QED!
The people who came to my talk. Dozens, I say, dozens!
October 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Everyone Else Is Lying to You presents an interesting challenge, however: what do you do with the piles of tweets, speeches, and podcasts that these contrarians have left behind? How do you turn them into an interesting story?
Howard himself admits in chapter 2 that he is “a collector and curator more than an author,” and that his books are reference tomes. I couldn’t help but think of journalist John Carreyrou’s page-turning denunciation of the fraud behind Elizabeth Holmes’ Theranos: the award-winning Bad Blood. There is a story to be told about Prasad, Makary, Bhattacharya, and their ilk, a book that digests their lies and wrong predictions and educates the reader. I don’t think this book succeeds in telling a compelling story, however, as much as I respect and admire Howard’s painstaking work of documentation. I remember him writing at some point that many readers of the prequel, We Want Them Infected, wanted to throw the book across the room because of how depressing the mountain of falsehoods it reported on was. I think there is a way to write a book about a damnable subject that one still devours cover to cover.
October 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
He captures a lot of the hatred and bold threats made by people who have now been handed the keys to the healthcare system in the U.S.
Mockery is just the tip of the iceberg, though. As Howard reminds us, distressing threats and allusions came out of the keyboards of these pro-infection influencers. Dr. Paul Alexander, a former health advisor to Trump during the pandemic, called for the public execution of the people “involved” in the public health crisis: “HANG them HIGH!” he repeatedly wrote on his Substack blog. Prasad himself ironically wrote that pandemic protection measures were akin to the rise of Nazism in Germany. That he predicted that a sadistic, authoritarian regime was brewing in the United States turned out to be correct, but like so many of his pandemic prognostications, he got it backwards. He is now part of an administration that kidnaps people off the streets and sends them to foreign prisons, that incessantly names enemies within including mayors and governors, and that is stained by corruption and cronyism.
October 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
It all suddenly feels so real. I'll be opening the QED Fringe this year. The beginning of the end, the very last QED. It will be quite bittersweet.

I believe you can still spectate online for 49 quid (though not for my talk). Full schedule available here: qedcon.org/schedule

Cc @qedcon.org
Screenshot of the QED schedule
October 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Make sure to answer Gwyneth in the replies.
Variety headline: "Gwyneth Paltrow Slams ‘Gwyneth: The Biography’ as ‘Rubbish’ and Shades the Author: ‘It’s Very Sexist… Why Do the Men Get Walter Isaacson and I Get This Hack?’"
October 15, 2025 at 6:10 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
No artist has left a bigger mark on film marketing than Drew Struzan. His paintings are iconic and gorgeous.

He passed away yesterday at the age of 78.

variety.com/2025/film/ne...
Posters for "Star Wars," "Back to the Future," and "Harry Potter."
October 14, 2025 at 7:26 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
Our new media reality.

A Joe Rogan clone releasing an 8-hour interview with a SEAL guy, and it gets three quarters of a million views on YouTube alone.

Young men presumably playing this in the background for an entire workday.

cc @knowrogan.bsky.social
Shawn Ryan podcast thumbnail, with guest Pete Scobell. Length: 7:58:37. 753K views.
October 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
We are bombarded with the message that nature is one giant pharmacy.

But extracting drugs from it is a lot harder than wellness influencers believe.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social
When a natural compound is introduced inside of a piece of plastic in the lab where individual cells grow, scientists will often see something interesting happen, and these preliminary findings are often used to market the plant to an eager audience. Natural compounds are said to have anticancer activity, or antibacterial activity, or anti-inflammatory activity. It’s true. In artificial conditions, when a large dose of some natural compound is repeatedly dropped on top of cells that have been plucked from the human body, they do cause interesting changes. But that’s a little bit like choosing a child who has just learned to ride his tricycle and immediately putting them in the driver’s seat of an eighteen-wheeler to drive cross-country. Driving in the real world is a little bit more complicated than this.
October 10, 2025 at 3:10 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
"The really bright students at UATX get a hoodie whose logo is so invisible, they can actually wear it outside of campus."
Close-up of a black hoodie with a dark grey UATX logo that's embossed and barely visible. Caption "UATX Blackout Hoodie. Only available to prospective students who attend a High School Honors Program (see above)."
October 4, 2025 at 3:02 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
From the latest UATX newsletter. I don't thinks these buffoons are living on the same planet as the rest of us.
News: Steve Doocy, Fox & Friends: “This place seems like exactly the kind of learning place that Charlie Kirk was trying to turn every American campus into.”
October 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
To anyone who uses PubMed, it may not be updated while the U.S. government is shut down.

This is not the end of PubMed; just an irritation for now, but one we should keep in mind.
October 3, 2025 at 5:50 PM
jonathanjarry.bsky.social
And while the bystander effect has been reproduced again and again in contrived laboratory setups, a very different type of real-world experiment showed the exact opposite.
A few years ago, a completely different study was published that cast all of this carefully controlled laboratory research in a different light. Instead of playing recordings of a person in distress in a room at the local university, these researchers pulled video footage from CCTV cameras in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the Netherlands, specifically of 219 public conflicts. How often did bystanders intervene? In nine out of 10 conflicts, at least one person, but typically several, would do something to help. On average, they found a little shy of 4 interveners per conflict captured on video. In fact, the more bystanders were present, the greater the chances of the victim receiving help. This is the exact opposite of the bystander effect.
October 3, 2025 at 2:55 PM