Spring 2017- Why Science Can’t Be Silent
Spring 2017

Table of Contents

Why Science Can’t Be Silent

From the Editors

From the Editors: Why Science Can’t Be Silent

Up against the White House’s “alternative facts” and attempts to hide climate data, new allies—citizens and science—can prevail against politicians and corporations.

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Science Isn’t Just for Scientists—We Can All Take Part

The internet and new technology are reviving the role citizens can play in documenting the world around us.
Madeline Ostrander
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To My Fellow Climate Scientists: Be Human, Be Brave, Speak Truth

With climate deniers sweeping into the White House, it’s time for scientists on the front lines of climate change to speak from the heart.
Peter Kalmus
Small Acts of Scientific Civil Disobedience

A Small Act of Scientific Civil Disobedience

Big science publications put important peer-reviewed research behind expensive paywalls. But some scientists have found creative ways around them.
Margaret Beaton
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What DNA Ancestry Testing Can (and Can’t) Tell You

The social justice implications of spitting into a test tube.
Zenobia Jeffries Warfield
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Wildfires Are Essential: The Forest Service Embraces a Tribal Tradition

The Karuk were once denied the right to practice an ancient tradition. Now scientific and resource management circles are seeing the merits of controlled burning.
Nathan Gilles
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What It Takes to Change Hearts and Minds

To get someone’s support, you need more than just facts.
Colin Beavan

How Public Money Supports Big Pharma

Public money and public universities boost Big Pharma’s profits, so shouldn’t the public be able to afford the drugs?
Clo Copass & Tracy Matsue Loeffelholz
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6 Ways to Put Public Interest Ahead of Big Pharma Profits

Increase access to generics, end “evergreening” drug patents, and other ways to put people before profits.
Clo Copass
Counter Culture Labs founder Kathy Buehmann and secretary Maureen Muldavin

6 Ways Citizens Across the U.S. Are Using Science to Build a Better World

By collecting climate change data, monitoring air quality, and reverse-engineering insulin, locals are creating a more just and equitable society.
Shannan Lenke Stoll

Solutions We Love

Explore Section
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A Woman in Trump’s America: 5 Simple Ways to Support Your Sisters

Here’s how to show other women you have their backs.
Melissa Hellmann
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How Chicago Became the First City to Make Reparations to Victims of Police Violence

The ordinance provides a meaningful model for creating reparations at the local level.
Sarah Macaraeg & Yana Kunichoff

The Woman Giving Refugee Kids Free Lawyers

And two other people advocating for immigrants and refugees.
Jaime Alfaro
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How Norway Avoided Becoming a Fascist State

Instead of falling to the Nazi party, Norway broke through to a social democracy. Their history shows us polarization is nothing to despair over.
George Lakey

Culture Shift

Explore Section
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An Outside-the-Doctor’s-Office Approach to Health Care

Research is showing that health care can be an engine for community change.
Daphne Miller
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How to Reinflate the Dream of College-for-All

Financial aid doesn’t work unless we’re honest about costs.
Valerie Schloredt
Seed: The Untold Story

Why You Should Be Saving Seeds (Even If You Don’t Have a Garden)

Watch this movie to get inspired about saving seeds. And then do it.
Doug Pibel

Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things

“Love people, use things, because the opposite never works.”
Kim Eckart

Incarcerating US: The Failings of America’s Prison System

The documentary dates the problem to the war on drugs and the establishment of mandatory minimum sentences.
Kim Eckart
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5 Old-Fashioned Ways to Predict the Weather

Have you noticed how nature gives its own subtle forecast clues?
Lydia Cain
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To Survive, the Democratic Party Needs to Stand Up to Wall Street and Global Corporations

If Democrats want to retake government, they will need to do more than be the party that isn’t as bad as Trump, starting with closing the wealth gap.
Sarah van Gelder