SCIENCE FOR PEOPLE WHO GIVE A SHIT
IMPORTANT, NOT IMPORTANT

Essays Episodes

The weekly tent-pole essay, plus Action Steps. 10/10, you're welcome.
Issue #245: Will The Levees Hold?
Aug. 27, 2021

Issue #245: Will The Levees Hold?

This week: Wind NIMBY’s; More nurses, stat; Diabetes on the rise; Evictions; Cybersecurity commitments. Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Email us at questions@imp…
Issue #244: These Are The Easy Wins
Aug. 20, 2021

Issue #244: These Are The Easy Wins

This week: Operate from a place of self-awareness; God, we are so bad at math; A half-century later; Drive pediatric cancer research; What’s the future of meat work? TikTok misinformation enters the chat. Find links from thi…
Issue #242: Facebook's Oil Ads Are Killing Us
Aug. 6, 2021

Issue #242: Facebook's Oil Ads Are Killing Us

This week: 50% isn’t good enough; Facebook fossil fuel ads; How to get shots to Africa; Oysters!?; Why has AI failed to help during COVID? Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got …
Issue #241: A Different Kind of Thirst Trap, Back to the Mask, Where’s Smokey the Bear when you need him?
Aug. 2, 2021

Issue #241: A Different Kind of Thirst Trap, Back to the Mask, Where’s Smokey the Bear when you need him?

This week: FDA got next?; Flooded subways; Delta's a game-changer; Epic (AI) fail; Fire predictions; Food stamp groceries delivered. Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedba…
Issue #240: The Pizza King of Vaccines, Beef: It’s (Still) for Dinner, Investors on Notice
July 23, 2021

Issue #240: The Pizza King of Vaccines, Beef: It’s (Still) for Dinner, Investors on Notice

This week: The climate crisis kicked down the door of the west and global north this week; The Pizza King of Vaccines; Mental health care now available everywhere; The Human-Machine interface; You like drugs, Danny? Find lin…
Issue #239: Go to Farmers’ Markets, Climate Reparations, Held Hostage by Hackers
July 16, 2021

Issue #239: Go to Farmers’ Markets, Climate Reparations, Held Hostage by Hackers

This week: deep breath; COVID all around the world; there are two Americas and it’s obvious why; the global hungry jump to 768 million; call your doctor!; money for nothing; held hostage by hackers. Find links from this news…
Issue #238: Seattle in the Oven, Vaccine Money Grab, Building Biased Robots
July 9, 2021

Issue #238: Seattle in the Oven, Vaccine Money Grab, Building Biased Robots

This week: To understand Africa, look to India -- or not; Reverse course; Don’t believe everything you read -- especially Best Buy food labels; New headline, who dis? Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnoti…
Issue #237: Do the Dew Point, Thanos SNAP Benefits, Putting the AI in Ethical
July 2, 2021

Issue #237: Do the Dew Point, Thanos SNAP Benefits, Putting the AI in Ethical

This week: What’s a dew point, anyways?; The COVID Delta variant is here; And then there were six; An all female Justice League of social media. #51: Are We Talking About CRISPR All Wrong? Also, What The Hell Is CRISPR? Find…
Issue #236: Amazon Held to Ransom (Not That One), COVID Doesn’t Discriminate (But We Do), Vaccinate the 99%
June 25, 2021

Issue #236: Amazon Held to Ransom (Not That One), COVID Doesn’t Discriminate (But We Do), Vaccinate the 99%

This week: it’s Bolsonaro all the way down; the 99%; 44 thousand patients can’t be wrong; “fire beats water” should be relegated to D&D; Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got fe…
Issue #234: Tripping Over Our Bootstraps, Cover My Crops, AI is as Bad as Us
June 11, 2021

Issue #234: Tripping Over Our Bootstraps, Cover My Crops, AI is as Bad as Us

This week: “Do not come”; The pandemic is not over for everyone; We can do better, can’t we? Cover crops; Language barriers in AI. Visit ImportantJobs.com to find your next role working on the frontlines of the future. Find …
Issue #233: Big Renewable Energy, AI Isn’t All That (Yet), Hot Vax Summer
June 4, 2021

Issue #233: Big Renewable Energy, AI Isn’t All That (Yet), Hot Vax Summer

This week: bigger doesn’t mean better; COVAX has got next, finally; a brand new day… and vaccine; AI and medicine – so close, and yet so far. Visit ImportantJobs.com to find your next role working on the frontlines of the fu…
Issue #232: These Shrooms Aren’t Fungi, Climate Change Is Costly, Keep the Vaccines Rolling
May 28, 2021

Issue #232: These Shrooms Aren’t Fungi, Climate Change Is Costly, Keep the Vaccines Rolling

This week: a brutal day for oil; fungi on the move (not great); wastewater: so hot right now; paying for climate protection; vaccine inequities; and facial recognition on the way out (for now). Find links from this newslette…
Do Better Better #18: Back to the Future
May 26, 2021

Do Better Better #18: Back to the Future

Synopsis: We can time travel to the past to understand how we got to where we are today. But the past doesn’t dictate the future - not anymore. So we have to look forward. The decisions we make today will guarantee that the …
Issue #231: Electric Truck Boogaloo, Get Your Colon Checked, What’s Your Beef
May 21, 2021

Issue #231: Electric Truck Boogaloo, Get Your Colon Checked, What’s Your Beef

This week: An electric truck for the masses; India’s vaccine production stays home; Better cancer screening; Beef emissions. Find links from this newsletter and more at importantnotimportant.com/newsletter Got feedback? Emai…
Issue #229: Fossil Fuel Funding, MDMA Magic, Leaky Legislation
May 7, 2021

Issue #229: Fossil Fuel Funding, MDMA Magic, Leaky Legislation

This week: fossil fuel financing under the microscope, India’s COVID summer, MDMA to the rescue, how to fix our water pipes. Psychedelics 101: Books, Documentaries, Podcasts, Science, and More – The Blog of Author Tim Ferris…