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Saturday, August 2, 2025

A Useful, Extensive website: Our World in Data

 Our World in Data is a really interesting, and never-ending, website where you can find legitimate data on just about anything imaginable - not necessarily science data, like for physics, but governmental, societal, global, health, and so many other areas and fields that are out there! All the sources of information are vetted and provided on everything this group does. This could be really useful for those who are doing historical and social science type research. 

For those looking for science data, a good starting point is on the CABS site: online datasets

"Writing is Thinking" - editorial about the importance of humans doing their own writing, NOT AIs

 Nature, one of the premier peer-reviewed scientific journals in the world, had an editorial in June that specifically calls for and encourages scientists to do the writing of their papers that are submitted for publication, rather than have AI engines do the bulk of the writing. 

When we write, numerous sections of our brain are active, meaning there is a deeper level of thinking, analysis, reflection, creativity, and synthesis happening than when we do other activities. Very little of these processes happen when we ask an AI to do this for us. The editors argue that science will take a step backwards should this become the common, accepted practice, because the level of real human thinking will step backwards. 

Students, this is an early wake-up call to you, and do not fall into the trap of allowing ChatGPT or any other AI platform do the bulk of your work for you...engage your brain, think deeply about things, be creative and innovate new ideas and products! We need to exercise our brains just like muscles, if we don't want to see diminishment of what our amazing brains are capable  of doing!