03 July 2009

Science communication by clothing

On science blogs that focus on more medical research than here, there is a lot of characters typed about the fear of vaccination. Here’s one and another, just for examples. I generally stay away from the topic, because others are so much better qualified to talk about the science than I am.

In cases like this, fear can really run rampant because success is invisible. You can’t look around in a crowd and know who’s been vaccinated or not, and think, “Wow, there are all those people who have been vaccinated and are fine.”

I'm vaccinatedSo I thought the pictured T-shirt was funny, timely, and rather poignant. It’s particularly appropriate that kid’s sizes are available.

In my own field, I am also quite fond of the series of “Teach the controversy” T-shirts. I'm very tempted by the one showing that fossils are the handiwork of the devil.

And I can’t help but think that there are a lot of other topics where people routinely flaunt bad science that could do with some T-shirts.

I declare that I have no financial stake in manufacturers of T-shirts or any other clothing, apparel, jewelry or accessories.

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