Author Archives: Thoughtscapism

About Thoughtscapism

Cell Biologist, volunteer science communicator, and fiction writer.

Nuclear is a Crucial Piece of the Carbon-Free Puzzle

Posted on September 16, 2018

The findings of the recent MIT study bear repeating: to achieve a carbon-free grid, exclusion of nuclear would make the effort much, much more expensive. the team’s analysis shows that the exclusion of nuclear from low-carbon scenarios could cause the … Continue reading →

Posted in climate, energy, finance, nuclear, renewables | Tagged | 1 Comment

Saving Lives Is Not Shameful – Let’s Break the Stigma on Supporting Nuclear Energy

Posted on September 7, 2018

I own a t-shirt that says “Ask me about nuclear energy.” On the back there’s an image of a cooling tower and the words: “Sustainable. Ecological. Independent.” I wore it to my daughter’s first day at our village music kindergarten … Continue reading →

Posted in energy, environment, nuclear, parenting, psychology, renewables, society | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Lyrical in Lapland – Biologist Released into the Wilderness

Posted on August 19, 2018

Nature post! I went to Lapland for a few days, and am so bursting with happiness about the fact that I can’t help sharing some of the experience. Anyone looking to read about nature observations of plants, lichens, mushrooms and … Continue reading →

Posted in environment | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Do we fear the right things?

Posted on July 21, 2018

I had the privilege of giving a public presentation at a large Finnish political discussion and debate fair Suomi Areena for the Finnish Ecomodernist Society in Pori a few days ago. (Finnish readers can view the presentation here – skip over to … Continue reading →

Posted in biotechnology, health, nutrition, psychology | Tagged , | 3 Comments

No, Glyphosate Is Not a Threat to Bees

Posted on June 11, 2018

Glyphosate is a herbicide, in other words, it is toxic to plants. Its target enzyme is not found in insects or other animals, so it is generally not very harmful to them – and as confirmed by a recent study, even … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, environment | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Measures of Toxicity

Posted on May 7, 2018

This article is co-written by biologist Iida Ruishalme (yours truly at Thoughtscapism) and neuroscientist Alison Bernstein, aka Mommy PhD from SciMoms. We live amidst a mind-bogglingly rich sea of molecules. Nowadays, we also have astonishingly sophisticated methods of chemical detection … Continue reading →

Posted in biology, chemistry, health, methods, science communication | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Risk In Perspective: Population Risk Does Not Equal Individual Risk

Posted on April 4, 2018

This series is a collaboration between neuroscientist Alison Bernstein and biologist Iida Ruishalme. Errors in risk perception are at the core of so many issues in science communication that we think this is a critical topic to explore in detail. … Continue reading →

Posted in health, society | Tagged | 4 Comments